A recent Hechinger Report newsletter featured several quotes from Joel Vargas, JFF vice president, around the subject of how to improve the 12th grade.
“If there’s anywhere that has a bull’s-eye on it in terms of needing to change, it’s that last year,” said Joel Vargas, a vice president of the nonprofit group Jobs for the Future. “Communities could be more thoughtful about how to provide an on-ramp into the future for these young people.”
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That said, Jobs for the Future’s Vargas acknowledges that this kind of reinvention takes serious and shared commitment: “What set these places apart was their colleges recognized the enlightened self-interest of working with students earlier.” Without dedicated staff to close this gap and communicate expectations and strategies across the K-12-higher education divide, high school efforts to turn senior year into a launch pad for college and careers may continue to be lost in translation.
