Diploma Matters: A Field Guide for College and Career Readiness

High school should be a gateway to a better life, not a gatekeeper. Too many students in our schools wind up with too few choices, locked in by what was decided for them by a broken system. Year after year, as we pass students out our doors, we've been handing over a diploma that holds an empty promise.  How prepared are students graduating from urban public schools for life after high school graduation?  

 Linda Murray, current superintendent in residence for The Education Trust, answers that question in her newest book, DIPLOMA MATTERS: A Field Guide for College and Career Readiness (Jossey-Bass, a Wiley Imprint; August 2011; $29.95/Paper; ISBN: 978-1-1180-0914-7). She confronts the continual disadvantages that students from low-income families and of color face.  Murray brings to life the significant changes school districts need to make in order to offer everyone the same opportunities. 

 DIPLOMA MATTERS tells the story of how the San Jose Unified School District transformed their system of education, to better prepare students for life after High School, and graduated greater numbers of college eligible students than ever before.  In 1998, only 30% of their seniors were able to attend college, today that number has risen to over 50%.

 According to Murray, the success of the San Jose High-school school district can be achieved in any school district across the country.  These achievements are not unique to the state to San Jose Unified School District, and her book shows others how to repeat their success so that all students can be prepared to take their next steps with personal and academic confidence.