Welcome to the Education Commission of the States' High School Database

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State Initiatives to Improve High Schools

Why this issue matters

• Students with postsecondary aspirations who do not take the SAT or ACT may enter a community college, but are almost certain to be denied admission to a four-year institution.
• The senior year of high school has long been considered a wasted year — state initiatives can address that accusation.
• Meaningful senior year projects add the "real-world" relevance to the high school curriculum that so many students express the desire for.
• Moving from middle school to high school — the 9th grade — is one of the riskiest times for students, particularly those who demonstrate some characteristics of being "at risk." There is a need for student support systems that target kids who might otherwise fall through the cracks.
• Many students aspire to go to college, but need help navigating postsecondary options and completing college admissions and financial aid procedures.
• College and career planning can't wait till the senior year of high school.
• E-transcripts save students, parents and schools the time and cost of transfering student records.

Why our methodology matters

• Primary resources: ECS draws its information primarily from state statute, rules and regulations, recently enacted legislation, executive orders, and other primary source documents.
• As needed, policies (and their interpretation) are confirmed with state-level staff.
• We believe that policy helps institutionalize practice.
• Our goal is to document where the underlying authority lies, and where consensus has been strong enough to adopt a common approach.

Related ECS products

• High School Graduation Requirements database
• College-Ready Standards database
• High School-Level Assessment database
• Alignment of High School Graduation Requirements and State Set College Admission Requirements database
• Policy brief: Embedding College Readiness Indicators in High School Curriculum and Assessments
• Policy brief: Involving Families in High School and College Expectations
• Policy brief: Helping Equip Teachers to Answer Students' Questions on College Knowledge
• High School: Recent state policies/activities database and issue site
• Assessment — College Entrance Exams: Recent state policies/activities database and issue site

Staff contact:
Jennifer Dounay Zinth, senior policy analyst
303.299.3689
jdounay@ecs.org

A report containing all information available in the State Initiatives to Improve High Schools database for a single state. Select States and Data Points: Choose the states and data points to appear in a personalized report.

State initiatives to improve high schools (all data points for all states) State subsidizes testing fees for the ACT, SAT, PLAN, PSAT, etc. Initiatives to improve the senior year Initiatives to improve the 9th-grade year Outreach (state-funded initiatives to ensure students are well-prepared) Initiatives that require students to create long-term plans (i.e., 5-year plan, declaration of major, etc.) State requires or authorizes the use of e-transcripts

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Use the diagram below to view the components of state-level high school reform, and their relationship to one another.

Comments? Questions? Contact Jennifer Dounay Zinth at 303.299.3689 or jdounay@ecs.org.