[ti:8 US States to Test High School Changes ]
[ar:Steve Ember]
[al:Education Report]
[by:www.21voa.com]
[00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English 
[00:02.63]Education Report.
[00:04.63]The Obama administration says 
[00:07.27]American schools should 
[00:09.71]produce students who are
[00:11.60] "college and career ready." 
[00:14.79]What is the best way to do that? 
[00:17.83]One group that has some ideas 
[00:20.56]is the National Center 
[00:22.35]on Education and the Economy. 
[00:25.74]Marc Tucker is president 
[00:27.73]of this nonprofit organization.
[00:30.59]MARC TUCKER: "The president 
[00:31.24]has called for focusing 
[00:32.84]in on what it really takes 
[00:34.00]to be successful 
[00:34.99]in work and in college, 
[00:36.98]and he has called on America's 
[00:38.97]educational institutions, 
[00:41.46]primary and secondary 
[00:42.66]educational institutions, 
[00:45.34]to do whatever it takes 
[00:46.70]to get our kids college ready. 
[00:48.00]That is precisely 
[00:49.20]what we are doing."
[00:50.39]The National Center 
[00:51.65]on Education and the Economy 
[00:53.79]will be working with eight states 
[00:56.73]on a project to test 
[00:59.14]board examination systems. 
[01:01.72]Students who volunteer 
[01:03.97]will take board examination classes 
[01:06.92]similar to those found 
[01:09.01]in other parts of the world. 
[01:11.60]Once they pass the exams, 
[01:14.08]they can leave high school 
[01:16.15]as early as the end 
[01:18.07]of the second year.
[01:20.26]Marc Tucker says 
[01:21.80]the aim is to make sure 
[01:24.44]students finish high school 
[01:26.87]with enough skills to succeed 
[01:29.37]in at least a two-year college.
[01:33.01]MARC TUCKER:"In the United States, 
[01:34.10]one is expected to go 
[01:36.70]to high school for four years 
[01:38.31]and you get a diploma just 
[01:40.62]for showing up or attending. 
[01:42.38]It doesn't particularly attest 
[01:44.57]to any level of accomplishment. 
[01:46.91]What we're trying to do here 
[01:49.55]is to change the system 
[01:51.05]in the United States 
[01:52.10]from one that is based 
[01:53.34]on the time that is spent 
[01:54.70]in the seat to one that is based 
[01:57.45]on your actual accomplishments."
[01:58.74]The state projects will start 
[02:00.59]as early as September 
[02:02.48]of two thousand eleven. 
[02:04.67]They will involve ten to twenty 
[02:07.40]high schools in each 
[02:08.90]of the eight states. 
[02:10.90]The states include Connecticut, 
[02:13.88]Kentucky, Maine and New Hampshire. 
[02:17.69]The others are New Mexico, 
[02:19.97]Pennsylvania, 
[02:21.63]Rhode Island and Vermont.
[02:24.76]Some educators and parents 
[02:27.46]do not like the idea of 
[02:30.15]sending students as young
[02:32.50] as sixteen off to college, 
[02:35.30]before they may be socially ready.
[02:38.29]But Marc Tucker says students 
[02:41.57]who pass the exams could stay 
[02:44.71]in high school and take 
[02:46.80]a demanding set of exams 
[02:49.09]at the upper division level. 
[02:52.29]That program is designed 
[02:54.33]to prepare students 
[02:56.19]for entrance into 
[02:58.21]a competitive college or university.
[03:01.47]The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation 
[03:05.22]has provided more than 
[03:07.46]one million dollars 
[03:08.86]to start the program. 
[03:10.61]Marc Tucker says 
[03:13.29]he expects interest 
[03:21.59]in the idea to grow.
[03:23.23]MARC TUCKER:"Our hope is that 
[03:24.77]this will become the way school 
[03:26.92]is in the United States, 
[03:28.41]it will become the dominant way 
[03:29.91]of going to high school."
[03:31.05]And that's the VOA Special English 
[03:34.14]Education Report, 
[03:35.93]written by Nancy Steinbach. 
[03:37.97]Does your country use 
[03:40.57]a board examination system? 
[03:42.91]Tell us about it 
[03:44.70]-- post your comments 
[03:46.69]at our newly redesigned Web site, 
[03:49.48]51voa.com. 
[03:53.27]I'm Steve Ember.