Most New York Students Unprepared for College

Students graduating from high school in New York are found to be unprepared for college. In the latest set of graduation statistics, fewer than half of the students in the state of New York are leaving high school fully prepared for college or well paying careers. These new statistics are being used as a push to realign state standards with college performance.
In 2009, statistics show that only 23 percent of students in New York City graduated ready for college or careers. This number excludes special education students. Surprisingly, New York City is doing better than other large urban districts in the state. Less than five percent met the standards for being college-ready in Rochester and less than 17 percent in Yonkers, Buffalo and Syracuse. The state Board of Regents met on Monday to make decisions on how to use this new data and should reach a decision sometime in March.
Unfortunately, city and state officials have been slow to raise the standards for graduation even though they know that graduation from a public school does not mean a student is ready for college.

Throughout the state of New York, 77 percent of students graduate from high school. In some of the state’s wealthier districts, 72 percent of graduating students are ready for college or careers. That number is still far below the 95 percent of students in those districts who graduate. Charter schools were not excluded from this study and their data sheds some doubt on their ability to outperform traditional schools. Only 10 percent of students graduated at a college-ready level in 2009 while a total of 49 percent received diplomas.
State officials have started having meetings with the local districts to figure out the best solution for improving these numbers.
Via The New York Times