ABSTRACT
Th e United States is in the midst of a massive systemic transformation of its high schools. Th e old model of comprehensive high schools provided general education for most students, along with college preparatory courses for some and vocational courses for others (Conklin & Curran, 2005). Th e new goals are for all students to be prepared for college during high school and for a majority of students to attain two-year or four-year college degrees. Th e collegeready standard for high school graduation is also oft en stated as workforce ready. By merging the workforce and academic standards into one new higher standard for graduation, a mandate for radical and rapid change has been put in place. Even more recently there has been a new push in higher education to improve rates of degree attainment (Bowen & McPherson, 2009; Carey, 2008). Th is new emphasis on graduation rates is also workforce related and is oft en framed as a challenge for the United States to compete internationally in the new global economy. Achieving these goals of transforming high schools and improving college graduation rates will require both centralized policy and decentralized action within complex systems of education.
