Why are we sending illiterate high school grads to college?

Graduating from high school is easier than ever. Most states have abandoned exit exams. Online "credit recovery" is enabling students to pass classes they never attended. High schools brag about graduation rates and students who say they're headed for college, but don't track whether graduates are able to pass a college class or succeed in job training.

A debate hosted by Fordham's Michael Petrilli reached the obvious consensus: Offer more than one diploma. The "basic" diploma would certify the minimal skills and work ethic needed for entry-level jobs. Those aspiring to train for a skilled job or attend college would earn an "honors" diploma. Or there might be two levels of diploma above the basic one. Or certificates for excellence in specific academic or vocational areas.

David Steiner, executive director of the Johns Hopkins' Institute for Education Policy, suggests learning from the British. (He grew up in England.) At the age of 16, students take comprehensive exams, the GCSEs. Course grades are irrelevant. GSCE scores "count for everything that comes next, with a minimum of ambiguity." Depending on how they do, students can choose a vocational track -- each future career has its own academic requirements -- or pursue "A levels" in various subjects of interest. Universities decide how many "A levels" to require for different majors.

It's "far more transparent in linking student performance with future options," Steiner says.

The key to a multi-tiered diploma system is to make college admissions contingent on earning more than a basic high school diploma. "Open access" schools -- community colleges and unselective four-year universities -- need to raise standards for recent high school graduates, writes Petrilli. "Stop admitting students who are functionally illiterate."

"Even the military doesn’t accept a high school diploma as high enough for enlistees," he writes. Would-be recruits must earn a score that equates to a 13 on the ACT, or about the 20th percentile, to qualify for "even the most low-skill roles. How can it be that your reading proficiency can be too low to keep you from working a food service job in the Army but not from attending college?"