Adding to the urgency about fixing our schools is this new report from the College Board about how we're falling behind at the college level (due mainly to lousy preparation in the K-12 years):

Adding to a drumbeat of concern about the nation's dismal college-completion rates, the College Board warned Thursday that the growing gap between the United States and other countries threatens to undermine American economic competitiveness. 

The United States used to lead the world in the number of 25- to 34-year-olds with college degrees. Now it ranks 12th among 36 developed nations.

…While almost 70 percent of high school graduates in the United States enroll in college within two years of graduating, only about 57 percent of students who enroll in a bachelor's degree program graduate within six years, and fewer than 25 percent of students who begin at a community college graduate with an associate's degree within three years.

The problem is even worse for low-income students and minorities: only 30 percent of African-Americans ages 25-34, and less than 20 percent of Latinos in that age group, have an associate's degree or higher. And students from the highest income families are almost eight times as likely as those from the lowest income families to earn a bachelor's degree by age 24.

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July 23, 2010

Once a Leader, U.S. Lags in College Degrees

By TAMAR LEWIN

www.nytimes.com/2010/07/23/education/23college.html