By Ken Selvaggi
WAVE 3 Vice President and General Manager
Six of every 10 of this year's high school graduates who took a college entrance exam did not have all of the skills they needed to succeed in college, according to the two big college testers, the SAT and ACT.
The hope is that will change in the next two years as 46 states, led by Kentucky, will have put into place by then, some or all of a set of common core state curriculum standards.
The expectation will be to not just graduate students from high school, but to really get them prepared to do well in college.
Community support is certainly key to encouraging high school students to focus on studies.
The Rotary Club of Louisville has removed a potential cost barrier as well – establishing the Louisville Rotary Promise Scholars Program that will provide two free years at Jefferson Community & Technical College for all Western High students who graduate in 2016 with a 2.5 grade point average, a good behavior record, and at least a 90 percent school attendance record.
The club has already raised the one million dollars to fund the program, and is working on raising an additional three million dollars to expand the program to three other schools.
The Scholars Program will allow students to earn professional certification or an associate's degree on the way to a career or additional education.
Western High has its largest freshman class in many years.
With the bar raised on expectations and tangible support given to help meet those expectations, it is very likely the college readiness metrics locally will surpass the national norm.
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