inBRIEF Spring 2012: College & Career Readiness in Duval County
5/7/2012
In less than a decade, 6 in 10 jobs in Florida will require some postsecondary education.
How many students in Duval County are ready for that future? And what are our local schools doing to prepare more students for college and the workforce?
These are the questions tackled in the latest policy briefing from the Jacksonville Public Education Fund, "To Graduation and Beyond: College & career readiness in Duval County." Released May 7, the brief finds:
• Duval County Public Schools has raised graduation standards beyond state requirements, and increased by 50 percent both enrollment in career and technical programs and the number of students passing AP, IB or AICE exams.
• More students from Duval County Public Schools are enrolling in college after graduation.
• Critical areas of reform are needed to create a strategic and supportive college access pipeline for all students in DCPS and beyond.
• There is no agreed-upon definition of college and career readiness, and no comprehensive, unified system for tracking student outcomes beyond graduation.
As a community, we must commit to treating public education as an important investment in our city's future. Our children and our economic prosperity depend on it.
Download the brief in PDF by clicking here.
Want to help more of our kids graduate from college? Take action today:
• Mentor a child. Encourage them to think about their education beyond high school. Offer help in applying to college. Click here to find out how.
• Volunteer to help a high school student make the transition to college. Or encourage them to attend an upcoming FAFSA workshop through the City of Jacksonville and the Indo-US Chamber of Commerce. See the dates here.
• Write your school board member and thank them for adding more guidance counselors back to the most recent DCPS budget. Duval County needs more guidance counselors to help students make the transition to college, and the school board recently voted to restore funding that would add more guidance counselors. Find their contact information here.
Find out more