I don't know either, and I suspect that the answer in one place won't be the answer in another so one or the other won't end up implemented thnks to our tendency to look for top-down solutions.
And that is a HUGE problem for kids from low-performing schools. It is hard enough to afford college when the max Pell grant is $6000ish and a year of college costs $20K without adding a semester or two of remedial classes just to get up to college level".
It isn't. My husband is a tradesman and my son is apprenticing in a trade. I don't have a problem with that path, but just like college, it isn't for everyone. And the demographics of one's birth shouldn't be destiny. The hostility/testiness of those in the trades, who see any argument in favor of a college prep path as an implication that the trades aren't "good enough", is part of the problem in districts like mine - rural, blue collar, working class, and chock full of tradesmen of varying degrees of skill who resent the idea that bright kids with an interest in college or a degree-dependent career should want/need a "way out" and refuse to support efforts to bring modern technology, advanced academic classes, coding and the like to the schools. It puzzles me; it feels like we've gone from wanting better for the next generation to saying "if it was good enough for me, it is good enough for them".
You last sentence is part of the problem on either side of what training or degree a kid goes to school for.
Going into a trade isn’t just “good enough”.
I am at a community college. Our trades are all AAS degrees except for 2. LPN and welding are certificate programs.
For 4 of the AAS programs, the students can choose to bridge to a BS degree program at one of the state schools. And they require academics in each area: Science, Math, English and Humanities. The students are eligible for PTK, student government, etc. The academic and career/tech instructors are wonderful at working together and if a student in an AAS program shows a lot of promise in another area, they spend a great deal of time counseling that student for the possibility of switching to an academic major or even to another AAS program.
No one is expected to “settle” for anything nor are they doing anything that is just “good enough”. The hope is that they are doing what is right for them, their choices and their interests and talents.
Almost all of our technical students are “bright” students but they are making an educated choice into a career. And perhaps some choose to have a technical degree and no debt rather than spending years in school, being 10’s of thousands in debt and not making a whole lot more money.
Carpenters, electricians, plumbers, brick layers, welders, electronic technicians all make very good money. And they have a freedom in the type of work they do that someone with a BS degree in banking (for instance) may not have.
Welding students (one year certificate) have gotten travel jobs that they really enjoy, lets them travel the country and make good money in the process. Being an LPN is a calling that most of these students have dreamed of for years.
It’s not just “good enough” it’s a career that if chosen correctly, can be exactly what that student wants to do for their life.
No student should be led toward any degree because they are “bright”. Any degree takes hard work and dedication. They have to want to “be” whatever it is bad enough to become it. And all the brightness in the world isn’t going to get a student to the end if they don’t want it. They have to be willing to do the work too.
What I do believe high schools need is more programs that help students find their path. Their own path regardless of which college it takes them to. And counselors that help them find the way to take that path.