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I was very frustrated about five years ago when I read the headlines about college and career readiness. Standardized-testing companies were telling the world that our students were woefully unprepared for life beyond high school. One organization painted a bleak picture of public schools with a single statistic: Only 26 percent of America's students met all four of its college-readiness benchmarks.
At the time, I had more than two decades of experience as an educator. I was serving as president of AASA, the School Superintendents Association, as well as superintendent of High School District 214 in Chicago's suburbs.
Like the global economy we live in, 21st-century students are driven by ideas and innovations. I didn't think they should be reduced down to, or defined by, a single test score. So my district, one of the largest high school districts in Illinois, worked with AASA to conduct a meta-analysis of existing research on college and career readiness.
As we dug into the data, we found a variety of research showing that a standardized-test score is not the only indicator of success after high school. We also realized that we were in the midst of a pivotal moment in time. The student-debt crisis was ballooning, and various industries faced a shortage of skilled workers.
And so, in 2015, we launched Redefining Ready!, a national movement that reframes how we measure students' postsecondary potential using research-supported indicators. Metrics include GPA, attendance, success in dual-credit courses and Algebra 2, community-service participation, workplace learning experiences, and others.
Simply put, these indicators more accurately reflect the educational landscape of the 21st century. As part of our Redefining Ready! work, two areas of research really stood out.