[Source: Eugene E. Garcia and George W. Hynd, Special for The Republic] — Within five years, most jobs paying a livable wage will require education beyond high school. Currently, fewer than two in 10 Arizona ninth-graders graduate from high school and finish college within six years. Over the past year, Arizona State University has collaborated with the Center for the Future of Arizona in exploring the development of a seamless educational pipeline to improve these outcomes.
We envision a re-engineered education system that embeds post-secondary preparation in high school or earlier and provides a seamless transition to the next educational level. This would entail:
- Early career-interest exploration in middle school.
- Streamlined educational pathways linking high school and post-secondary, tailored to student interests.
- Melding high-school and college curricula, especially in the senior year of high school and freshman year of college.
- Focusing on high return areas such as science, technology, engineering and math.
- Enhanced academic support, advisement, tutoring and counseling.
- Re-examination of teacher-preparation programs enabling these outcomes.
ASU and its community partners are committed to leading efforts to create seamless pathways for all students, building on ASU’s current partnerships and initiatives serving high-need school districts.
[Vice President Eugene E. Garcia also is a professor and George W. Hynd is dean of the Mary Lou Fulton College of Education at ASU.]