TASB Report Says Industry Should Help Design High School Curriculum

Texas Association of Schoolboard's report examines the college and workforce readiness of Texas students.

AUSTIN, TX, Jan. 29, 2009 -- Legal and policy barriers to postsecondary success and workforce readiness are examined in a report recently released by the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) as part of a two-year project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The report, Barriers to Implementing College and Workforce Readiness Initiatives in Texas, focuses on legal, regulatory, and practical obstacles that keep students from making a successful transition from
high school to college or the workforce.

“Local school board members, district administrators, and legislators should each consider how to address the relevant barriers in their own districts. Some will require local solutions; others must be addressed statewide,” said Jackie Lain, TASB associate executive director of Governmental Relations. “This report identifies a number of important policies designed to improve college and workforce readiness in Texas. The next steps are to assure that local school districts have appropriate resources to support their implementation.”


One of the project’s goals is to help state and district policymakers better understand the existing legal and policy framework for preparing all Texas students for college and work. “TASB has identified laws and policies that are impeding Texas public schools from successfully preparing young adults for future success,” said Catherine Clark, TASB associate executive director of Governance Services. “By studying not only the legal requirements but also how they are implemented, we have identified laws and policies that support students in making that transition successfully and those that impose unintended barriers. Understanding the challenges will help policymakers refine and calibrate those requirements to better facilitate high school graduation and post-high school success,” Clark said.

Although Texas has made great strides in improving academic preparation of students, more work must be done to achieve college and workforce readiness. Among the report’s major conclusions:
* Research consistently shows that teacher quality has the greatest impact on student learning. Therefore, the state should ensure that traditional and alternative teacher certification programs are preparing teachers with the knowledge and skills they need to help students meet the demands of higher education and the workforce.

* College and career counseling must be made more readily available to students, especially in schools with high populations of students who are historicallyunderrepresented in higher education.

* The state must invest in the creation of a longitudinal data system to help educators in public and higher education institutions understand the relationship between teaching, learning, outcomes, and postsecondary preparedness.

* Finally, labor market representatives should be involved earlier in the process of developing curricula standards for public and higher education courses, and course offerings should be aligned with workforce needs.

In coming months, TASB will share the report’s findings in presentations to statewide organizations, Texas legislative staff, school board members, district administrators, and other interested groups. “All stakeholders need to be aware of existing barriers in order to overcome them and help Texas students successfully transition from high school,” Lain said.

TASB is a nonprofit organization established in 1949 to serve local Texas school districts. School board members are the largest group of publicly elected officials in the state. The districts they represent serve more than 4.7 million public school students.

In the United States, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is focused on increasing opportunity for all Americans by ensuring all students—regardless of race or family income—can graduate college-ready and earn a postsecondary credential with real value in the workplace.