A new survey of parents, teachers, and business executives shows broad agreement about the importance of college and career readiness for high school graduates. But opinions about what exactly that means, how high a priority it should be, and what changes are needed vary.
About 93 percent of parents of secondary school students, 85 percent of secondary school teachers, and 80 percent of business executives said that having every graduating high school senior ready for college should be a priority, according to the MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Preparing Students for College and Careers, conducted last fall by Harris Interactive and released last week.
There was a bigger difference when the respondents were asked: Should such readiness be “one of the highest priorities in education?” Seventy-three percent of the parents said yes, in contrast to 54 percent of the teachers and 48 percent of the executives.
Looking at what it means to be prepared for college and careers, the teachers, parents, and executives all said they believed that writing skills, critical thinking, problem-solving skills, self-motivation, and teamwork skills are more important than math and science knowledge.
