State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell outlined how to implement his plan for improving high school student achievement at the UC Board of Regents’ March 17 meeting. His High Achieving High School initiative calls for an improved partnership between high schools and public universities.

“This will clearly call on the UC community to engage in an unprecedented fashion with K-12,” O’Connell said. “If you expect more from our students, you will get more from our students.”

As part of the initiative, O’Connell suggested establishing a group consisting of representatives from high schools and higher education institutions to collaborate on exploring how high schools can offer more rigorous courses. The group would also decide on how to create more high school courses that would be considered to be exemplary and UC-approved “a-g” high school courses.

O’Connell also called for expanding instructional opportunities for future teachers and the alignment of K-12 and postsecondary assessments.

In order to implement the initiative, O’Connell is sponsoring a legislation package that would give schools more flexibility in spending the $450 million funds given to high schools for specific programs. The bills would also require students to complete the “a-g” courses regardless of whether or not a student will attend college, develop teachers through a California standards based professional development, and create a “seal of approval” for instructional materials that meet specific standards.

According to Senior Communications Advisor to the Superintendent Ann Bancroft, the initiative would change the focus to a higher level of achievement for high school students.

“What the superintendent is trying to do is change what high school means and change the level of preparation that we can assure students get in high school,” Bancroft said.

Bancroft also said that with greater flexibility on the funds, schools could choose whether or not to focus on the superintendent’s proposals.

“The superintendent’s bills envision giving high schools who agree to focus on raising expectation greater flexibility of their funds and building a community of support for higher standards,” Bancroft said. “Some schools could choose to have the flexibility and focus resources to improving standards.”

The superintendent first proposed the initiative through his state of education address in Feb. 11. During the Regents meeting, he stated that too many high school students are unprepared for life after graduation.

“Regrettably, far too many of our high school students are not well enough prepared for higher education and the workforce,” O’Connell said. “Far too many of our students have low expectations.”

According to Bancroft, courses do not adequately prepare students for life after high school.

“Too often today, students get tracked through an honors course load that is too basic for a job, let alone for university level,” Bancroft said.

However, some Regents voiced concerns of imposing courses for students who will not be attending college.

“There are some students who never intend to attend UC or CSU, at least by their coursework,” faculty representative to the UC Board of Regents Lawrence Pitts said. “If all students were required to do these requirements, would that increase the number of dropouts from high school?”

According to O’Connell, the improvements would benefit students regardless of where they are heading after high school.

“I know not every single student is going to attend a UC campus, but I also know all of our students in high school need to master skills needed for college access,” O’Connell said. “All of our high school graduates should be prepared for the future. All of our students need to be exposed to our ‘a-g’ classes.”

According to Pitts, while the initiative seems like a good idea, further discussions need to take place before the actual implementation of proposed programs.

“Ensuring adequate teachers to make this happen and quality tracking is important to make sure that there won’t be a downgrading of the ‘a-g’ courses,” Pitts said. “We would love to see it happen, but there are some issues that need to be addressed carefully.”

According to Student Regent Matt Murray, establishing a partnership between K-12 and higher education is an important step in helping high school students be better prepared for a life after graduation.

“The details of the superintendent’s proposals are going to be discussed and debated among the different groups,” Murray said. “There were some who raised concerns about details during the meeting, but the really important thing is to get the dialogue going and get the partnership developed.”