Editorial: Partnering for students

Sunday, July 2, 2006 | 7:41 a.m.

A high school graduate today, as in past years, still takes a big leap into the next phase of his life, whether it is going to college, attending a career training program, joining the military or taking a job in business or industry.

But why not move high school closer to what lies ahead, through course offerings that bridge the divide between college and other career choices? The past several years have seen movement in this direction, with more cooperation between high schools and colleges.

Yet there remains a gap, one that Chancellor Jim Rogers, head of the state university system, Walt Rulffes, superintendent of the Clark County School District, and other district superintendents in the state want to close. A new partnership is developing among these top educators, and we sense that it could lead to reducing many negative trends among young adults.

"We're not saying everyone should go to college. We're saying our students should be ready to succeed in life when they graduate," Rulffes told the Sun last week in explaining the enhanced partnership.

A problem many high school graduates encounter is the ability to cope with the expectations of the world they are trying to enter. In college, for example, 40 percent of Nevada's high school graduates find themselves needing remedial help. At Nevada's community colleges, fewer than half of the freshmen return for their sophomore years. Only 45 percent of students at UNLV and UNR earn a four-year degree within six years.

Rogers and Rulffes have worked on a proposal that we believe offers a good chance to reduce these kinds of struggles for our high school graduates. One aspect is that all students would be required to enroll in a college preparatory curriculum, with a less rigorous option available only with parental permission. Also, professors at the state's universities and colleges would be working even more closely with high school teachers to ensure a more seamless educational experience for the students.

We hope the educators, who are cooperating among themselves, find a cooperative Legislature when the 2007 session begins in February. A good part of the educators' goal is to give a big boost to those students achieving middling academic results. A program for them that has proved highly successful is AVID, or Advancement Via Individual Determination. But in Clark County, it is available in just 18 of 35 high schools.

The Legislature, which has long demanded higher achievement in our schools, should listen carefully to Rogers and the district superintendents and strive to provide the funding that promising innovation requires.