Current Issues

Career, College and Life Readiness as an educational focus is a more recent phenomenon.  In saying this, we are bound to see an even greater focus on college and readiness due to the changing nature of the global job market focus on 21st century skills: soft skills and the growing knowledge economy.  However an on-going issue for all students, let along continuation school students, is the misalignment between high school preparation and post-secondary expectations in career technical programs, community colleges, and 4-year colleges.  It is may not be common knowledge that students have an alarming drop out rate from college: ~ 50% of all students that start college drop out independent of any predictors.  However, the rates for students who are first-generation college, low-socioeconomic status, and or students of color have the most challenging time earning the college degree.  According to Carol J. Carter, author and student success expert,  89 percent of low-income first generation students leave without a degree.  For alternative high schools this becomes even more challenging given that the design of the school is credit recovery, not learning focus or acceleration.  Most experts, articles and resources speak of the college and career ready culture as one based in four years of high school.  The on-going challenge for our school is how to prepare students hat have struggled for many years in the traditional school setting in a minimal school day.  I am the optimist, but this can't be done for the majority of students.  Our expectations are too low and the opportunities we afford them are misaligned.  Another controversy is the seemingly simple definition of career, college, and life readiness.  The terms are complimentary and similar, but not the same.  If a student plans on earning a certificate in a 1-2 year junior college are the skills required different from a student that plans on earning a 4-year or even post-graduate degree?  The aim for Redwood High School is to learn the best practices and adapt them to the continuation or alternative school setting as best possible knowing full well that the solution is quite daunting and challenging.  But there is not other option...our students depend on our ability to transform our school to effectively meet their needs and prepare them for their futures.