Giving Compass' Take:

• Michael Cohen explains how Achieve’s new graduation requirements website is bringing transparency to students and families navigating a range of high school graduation options. 

• Is transparency sufficient to help students navigate their graduation options? 

• Learn about competency-based education graduation requirements. 

Despite the celebrations of rising high school graduation rates across the country, it’s no secret that far too often, graduating from high school doesn’t mean what it should. College faculty and employers of high school graduates report high levels of dissatisfaction with the preparedness of recent grads.

Far too many students and their families are caught by surprise; if you graduate from high school, doesn’t that mean you should be ready for what comes next?

States across the country are working to provide students with more options — and that’s good news. Students should have choices in school to tailor their education to their interests and goals. Providing options in which courses to take and how graduation requirements are structured can increase both the number and the diversity of students who finish high school college- and career-ready.

These state graduation pathways have significant implications. Gaps in college and career readiness are often highest among students of color, low-income students, and English learners, perpetuating societal inequities as graduates move through life. But in an increasingly complicated space, it is harder for students and families to understand where all pathways lead.

Achieve’s new graduation requirements website — which includes a data explorer with details of every state’s graduation options, as well as a new policy brief exploring the equity implications of how those options are structured — seeks to add transparency and encourage states to make sure their K-12 systems connect with the needs of higher education and the workforce.

Read the full article about transparency around graduation options by Michael Cohen at The 74.