Report: No concensus on college-ready grad

BETHESDA, Md., June 9 (UPI) -- No consensus is available on how to measure a U.S. high school graduate's readiness for a post-secondary educational career, a report indicated Tuesday.

What it means to be ready to attend college is open to debate, and educators lack a standard measure to ensure all students entering college are academically prepared, said the 2009 edition of Diplomas Count report "Broader Horizons: The Challenge of College Readiness for All Students."

Another barrier to an academically level playing field is the lack of equal resources in all U.S. high schools to help students navigate the labyrinth associated with the college- and financial aid-application process, the report said.

President Barack Obama has called on Americans to commit to at least one year of post-secondary education to help raise the county's educational profile worldwide.

Diplomas Count 2009 has analysis of high school completion conducted by the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center, which places the national graduation rate at 69.2 percent for the class of 2006, the latest year available. This year's analysis indicates that from 1996 to 2006, the national graduation rate for public high schools rose by 2.8 percentage points.

The report also examines revised No Child Left Behind Act graduation regulations issued last winter. The regulations tighten rules governing how states calculate and report graduation rates, and states' accountability. The highest-profile change requires states to represent graduation rates the same way -- as the proportion of each incoming freshman class earning diplomas four years later, the report said. Previously, states could decide for themselves how to calculate graduation rates.