Minding the Gap: Why Integrating High School with College Makes Sense and How to Do It

by Nancy Hoffman (Editor)

Minding the Gap argues that in today s highly competitive, global economy, all young people need a postsecondary education. Yet only one in ten students from the lowest economic quintile in the United States currently earns a postsecondary credential. This timely and instructive book from Jobs for the Future explores policies and practices that would quickly enable a larger number of low-income and first-generation college students to earn postsecondary degrees. In doing so, Minding the Gap calls for a system that thoroughly integrates secondary and postsecondary education a system in which a college degree is the goal for all students.

320 pages, Paperback

First published September 4, 2007

Reviews

[Rev. Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

The authors of the essays in “Minding the Gap” are drawn from various educational policy organizations including the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, the American Youth Policy Forum, and the National Center for Higher Education Management. They also include professors and practitioners. However, the book is more directed towards a nonacademic audience. Divided into six parts, the authors: 1) make an argument for the integration of grades 9 through 14; 2) assess the state of the 50 states; 3) discuss ways to align standards, assessment, and curricula across grades; 4) examine practices, and 5) policies designed to created new pathways; and 6) present research findings about important details regarding accountability, data systems, and financing. The contributors make a strong case for why integrating high school with college makes sense, based on their diverse areas of expertise and research. "Minding the Gap" argues that in today's highly competitive, global economy, all young people need a post-secondary education. Yet, according to these authors, only one in ten students from the lowest economic quintile in the United States currently earns a post-secondary degree.