Elementary and secondary schools increasingly see the need for a curriculum that equips students for higher education. A March 2003 report from Stanford University's Bridge Project, based on research in six states, found that there exists a misalignment between colleges' expectations of entering students and K-12 requirements.The report noted that today, 90 percent of high school students express a desire to attend college, but only 70 percent actually matriculate within two years of graduating high school.Institutions are responding to this problem with strategies to align K-12 requirements with college admissions requirements. Some of these strategies are highlighted below.

Strategies and Programs

• California-- "A-G" Curriculum
• Indiana--"Core 40" Curriculum
• San Diego, California schools--Eighth-Grade Algebra

California

The Stanford report found that California high schools require one fewer year each of mathematics and English to graduate than the state's public four-year colleges and universities do to matriculate. In California, admission to public four-year colleges and universities requires particular coursework, otherwise known as the "A-G curriculum." About 64 percent of California's high school graduates enroll immediately in some type of postsecondary education, often community colleges, yet only 35 percent successfully complete the A-G coursework required for admission to the state's public four-year colleges and universities. Since there is evidence that a large majority of high school graduates want to go on to college, the report urges that schools equip all of them with the curriculum necessary for admission to (and success at) the state's public four-year colleges and universities.

Indiana

Many states have embarked on curriculum reform to ensure a better transition for students from secondary to postsecondary education. For example, the state of Indiana implemented a curriculum where education, business, labor and government leaders in Indiana have agreed on education expectations for high school students called "Core 40." Except for elective courses, Core 40 is a single, flexible high school curriculum that is based upon a single set of agreed-upon competencies that direct the content of both college preparation and technical preparation courses. The college preparation and technical preparation courses differ in instructional and learning approaches, not in course content.

Since 1998, the state of Indiana has required that students complete the "Core 40" as a prerequisite for admissions to Indiana's state colleges and universities. In addition, the state requires that students work with their parents or guardians and guidance counselors to develop a career and course plan before the end of the ninth grade.

San Diego

School districts are also emphasizing advanced course work to help students get an "early edge" on meeting college requirements. San Diego Unified School District is strongly encouraging students to take algebra in the eighth grade, because it is often seen as a "gatekeeper" course to college.According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the chance that a student will complete a bachelor's degree roughly doubles if he or she finishes a high school course beyond the level of Algebra II.