College Readiness: Trends for Success by Subject (page 2)

English Requirements and Trends for Success

• To be successful in college and well-paying jobs, high school graduates must have strong oral and written communication skills.⁴²
• In English, the vast majority of workers in good jobs had taken “four years of English that is at least at grade level.⁴³

National Trends

• 32 states and the District of Columbia require all students to take four English courses to graduate with a general diploma. Six other states require three courses.⁴⁴
• Nearly one-third of high school graduates are not ready for college coursework in English Composition.⁴⁵

State of Michigan Graduation Requirements (Beginning with students entering eighth grade in 2006)

• Students will be required to complete 4 credits of English language arts for graduation.

Mathematics Requirements and Trends for Success

• ACT reports that students taking Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II and one additional higher-level course are more likely to succeed in college.⁴⁷
• High school students who complete advanced math are 12.6 times more likely to earn a four-year degree at an in-state public institution than peers who stop at geometry.⁴⁸
• 68% of students who completed Algebra II felt they were extremely or very well prepared for work.⁴⁹
• College professors and employers agree that to be successful beyond high school, graduates should have mastered the content typically taught in a rigorous four-year course sequence of Algebra I, Geometry and Algebra II, as well as data analysis and statistics.⁵⁰
• Just 40% of high school graduates are ready for their first course in college Algebra.⁵¹

Career Impact

• 84% of individuals who currently hold highly paid professional jobs had taken Algebra II or higher as their last high school math course.⁵²
• Among those who hold well paid, white-collar, skilled jobs, 67% had taken Algebra II or a higher-level math course, and 84% had taken at least Geometry.⁵³

National Trends

• 29 states and the District of Columbia require students to complete three or more years of math.⁵⁴
• 5 states — Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, South Carolina and West Virginia — require all students to complete four math courses to graduate.⁵⁵
• 20 states had more than 60% of students taking Algebra II or Integrated Math III by graduation, and eight states had more than 75% of students at this level. Fifty-three percent of Michigan students took these courses.⁵⁶
• In 2002, 41% of graduating high school students nationwide completed four years of challenging high school math.⁵⁷
• In 2002, eight states had more than 50% of high school students taking trigonometry or precalculus by graduation.⁵⁸

National Trends

• On average, states require three social studies courses, and all but seven states specify at least the equivalent of one full course that students must take.⁷⁴
• 34 states and the District of Columbia require students to study U.S. history, 32 states and the District of Columbia require U.S. government, and seven states and the District of Columbia require state or local history or government.⁷⁵
• 21 states and the District of Columbia require students to study world history or civilizations, and 19 states and the District of Columbia require world geography.⁷⁶
• 19 states require students to study economics, whether economics is included among the social studies course requirements or listed as a separate area of study.⁷⁷ 

State of Michigan Graduation Requirements (Beginning with students entering eighth grade in 2006)

• Students are required to complete 3 credits of Social Studies including: .5 Civics, .5 Economics, US History and Geography; World History and Geography for graduation.

References

⁴² Achieve, Inc., The Expectations Gap: A 50-State Review of High School Graduation Requirements, 2004.
⁴³ Carnevale and Desrochers, Educational Testing Service, Connecting Education Standards and Employment: Course-Taking Patterns of Young Workers, American Diploma Project: Workplace Study, 2002.
⁴⁴ Achieve, Inc., The Expectations Gap: A 50-State Review of High School Graduation Requirements, 2004.
⁴⁵ Crisis at the Core: Preparing All Students for College and Work, ACT 2004.
⁴⁶ Michigan Department of Education High School Graduation Requirements Survey, October 2005.
⁴⁷ Crisis at the Core: Preparing All Students for College and Work, ACT 2004.
⁴⁸ Perna, Laura and Titus, Mavin, “Understanding Difference in the Choice of College Attended,” April 2003.
⁴⁹ Peter D. Hart Research Associates/Public Opinion Strategies, Rising to the Challenge: Are High School Graduates Prepared for College and Work? prepared for Achieve, Inc., 2005.
⁵⁰ Achieve, Inc., The Expectations Gap: A 50-State Review of High School Graduation Requirements, 2004.
⁵¹ Crisis at the Core: Preparing All Students for College and Work, ACT 2004.
⁵² Carnevale and Desrochers, Educational Testing Service, Connecting Education Standards and Employment: Course-Taking Patterns of Young Workers, American Diploma Project: Workplace Study, 2002.
⁵³ Carnevale and Desrochers, Educational Testing Service, Connecting Education Standards and Employment: Course-Taking Patterns of Young Workers, American Diploma Project: Workplace Study, 2002.
⁵⁴ Achieve, Inc., The Expectations Gap: A 50-State Review of High School Graduation Requirements, 2004.
⁵⁵ Achieve, Inc., The Expectations Gap: A 50-State Review of High School Graduation Requirements, 2004.
⁵⁶ State Indicators of Science and Mathematics Education 2003, R. Blank & D. Langesen, CCSSO, 2003.
⁵⁷ CCSSO, State Indicators of Science and Mathematics Education: 2003
⁵⁸ CCSSO, State Indicators of Science and Mathematics Education: 2003.
⁵⁹ Michigan Department of Education High School Graduation Requirements Survey, October 2005.
⁶⁰ CCSSO, State Indicators of Science and Mathematics Education: 2003
⁶¹ Crisis at the Core: Preparing All Students for College and Work, ACT 2004.
⁶² Crisis at the Core: Preparing All Students for College and Work, ACT 2004.
⁶³ Peter D. Hart Research Associates/Public Opinion Strategies, Rising to the Challenge: Are High School Graduates Prepared for College and Work? prepared for Achieve, Inc., 2005.
⁶⁴ CCSSO, State Indicators of Science and Mathematics Education: 2003.
⁶⁵ CCSSO, State Indicators of Science and Mathematics Education: 2003.
⁶⁶ Michigan Department of Education High School Graduation Requirements Survey, October 2005.
⁶⁷ CCSSO, State Indicators of Science and Mathematics Education: 2003.
⁶⁸ Crisis at the Core: Preparing All Students for College and Work, ACT, 2004.
⁶⁹ Judith Torney-Purta and colleagues, Citizenship and Education in Twenty-Eight Countries: Civic Knowledge and Engagement at Age Fourteen, International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA): Amsterdam, 2001. (Chapter 3)
⁷⁰ Response to Findings of the NAEP 1998 Civics Report Card for the Nation Charles N. Quigley, Executive Director, Center for Civic Education.
⁷¹ Kurtz, Karl T., Rosenthal, Alan, and Zukin, Cliff, “Citizenship: A Challenge for All Generations. National Conference of State Legislatures, September 2003.
⁷² Jerry L. Martin and Anne D. Neal, Losing America’s Memory: Historical Illiteracy in the 21st Century, Washington, DC: American Council of Trustees and Alumni, p. 3 and Appendix A, p. 2, February 11, 2000.
⁷³ Carrie Donovan and Mark Hugo Lopez, “Youth Voter Turnout in the States, During the 2000 Presidential and 2002 Mid-Term Elections,” Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, School of Public Affairs, University of Maryland, http://www.civicyouth.org/.
⁷⁴ Achieve, Inc., The Expectations Gap: A 50-State Review of High School Graduation Requirements, 2004.
⁷⁵ Achieve, Inc., The Expectations Gap: A 50-State Review of High School Graduation Requirements, 2004.
⁷⁶ Achieve, Inc., The Expectations Gap: A 50-State Review of High School Graduation Requirements, 2004.
⁷⁷ Achieve, Inc., The Expectations Gap: A 50-State Review of High School Graduation Requirements, 2004.
⁷⁸ Michigan Public Act 205 of 1931.
⁷⁹ Michigan Department of Education High School Graduation Requirements Survey, October 2005.
⁸⁰ Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and Student Academic and Social Development. Arts Education Partnership. 2002.
⁸¹ Disciplined Mind: Beyond Facts Standardized Tests K 12 education that Every Child Deserves. Howard Gardner, 2000.
⁸² What Work Requires of Schools: A SCANS Report for America 2000. The Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills, a publication of the US Department of Labor, June 1991.
⁸³ Instruction and Graduation Requirements – Arts in Education. Artscan Database Report. Education Commission of the States, 2005.
⁸⁴ Arts Education in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools: 1999-2000. National Center for Education Statistics. Statistical Analysic Report. 2002.
⁸⁵ Michigan Department of Education High School Graduation Requirements Survey, October 2005.
⁸⁶ College Board, 2002 College Bound Seniors, Table 3-3
⁸⁷ College Board, 2002 College Bound Seniors, Table 3-3
⁸⁸ Altonji, Joseph, “The Effects of High School Curriculum on Education and Labor Market Outcomes,” Journal of Human Resources, summer 1995, p. 424
⁸⁹ Standards for Success, 2003, p. 67
⁹⁰ Achieve, Inc., The Expectations Gap: A 50-State Review of High School Graduation Requirements, 2004.