Start Over

Turnarounds should be the first option for low-performing schools.

By Arne Duncan

My top priority as U.S. secretary of education is to make sure our K-12 students are prepared to succeed in college and the workforce. If we can do this, we’ll be able to meet President Barack Obama’s ambitious but reachable goal that by 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.

Working with states to preserve jobs and reform schools using resources from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the U.S. Department of Education is focusing on four assurances that will prepare K-12 students for success after graduation. We’ll be working with states to make sure they’re creating policies to implement them.

First, states need to adopt rigorous K-12 standards that prepare students for success in college and the workforce. Second, they should create data systems that will track from year to year whether students are making the progress they need to graduate from high school ready to succeed in college or the workforce; these systems also will provide the information to determine whether a teacher is effective in improving student performance. Third, the states need plans to find effective teachers and make sure those teachers are working in classrooms where they will have the greatest impact on the students who need the most help. Finally, states must have plans to turn...