High School, College Standards Out of Sync, Survey Finds

A study released today highlights the gap between what high schools are teaching in their college-preparatory courses and what colleges want incoming students to know.

The study, by the Iowa City, Iowa-based ACT Inc., the producer of the ACT college-admissions tests, is based on a national curriculum survey of more than 6,500 middle school, high school, and postsecondary English, reading, math, and science teachers. The testing company conducts the survey every three to five years to help shape the content of its assessments.

The new survey found that college professors generally want incoming students to have a deeper understanding of a selected number of topics and skills, while high school teachers in all content areas tend to rate a far broader array of content and skills as...