The Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education has published a new report that describes the status of secondary education in the state, an issue that directly impacts the quality of our state's workforce. Achieving Excellence in Secondary Education: Georgia's Unfinished Business assesses where our middle and high school system currently stands and where it needs to improve.

For the thousands of students enrolled in Georgia's public secondary schools - and for their families, their communities and their future employers - the value of a high school diploma cannot be understated. Signifying the seamless progression and success through the middle and high school years, the diploma opens the door to a lifetime of opportunity. High school graduates have not only the skills and knowledge necessary to enter college or the workforce, but also the educational foundation that will produce benefits throughout their futures.

Across the state and across sectors, leaders in Georgia recognize the importance of excellence in our public secondary schools and have refocused efforts to improve our secondary education system. In recent years Georgia has made great progress, as evidenced by the increase in the high school graduation rate of nine percentage points over the last five years.

Yet as we recognize the many miles Georgia has trod in a journey toward educational excellence, it is incumbent on all stakeholders to realize that our work has merely begun. Other states are working just as hard as Georgia is to improve. If we are truly going to catch and surpass these other states to become the nation's leader in student achievement and secure our future as a competitive state in the global economy, then we must continue our collaborative and innovative work to improve the opportunities and outcomes for our students.

A wealth of educational data suggests that our state still has deficiencies in achievement, an alarming number of school dropouts, and too many graduates unprepared for their postsecondary paths.
•    In both reading and mathematics, Georgia's performance on the eighth-grade National Assessment of Educational Progress falls in the bottom third of the nation.
•    During the 2007-08 school year, 2,022 students in grades seven and eight dropped out of Georgia's public schools. Averaged over the length of the traditional school year, this dropout rate equates to at least 11middle school students leaving school permanently each day.
•    In 2008, 63,000 of Georgia's teens aged 16-19 were not in school and not working. This equals 11 percent of all youth in this age range.

The Georgia Partnership recognizes that moving our secondary education system considerably forward will require more than tweaks to existing programs or political "silver bullet" solutions. The five recommendations for improving secondary schools issued in this newest report are grounded in a holistic view of the education system and the belief that strengthening our educational infrastructure is the greatest prerequisite for change."

The paradox of Georgia's public education is that despite the exemplary models of teaching and learning found in so many schools and systems, our state has been unable to shake its national reputation as a persistent laggard."

At the end of each school day, at the end of each school year, the progress our students have made and the milestones achieved not only reflect the quality of our secondary education system but also foretell the social and economic health of our state.

For more information or to download a copy of the report, visit www.gpee.org.

Stephen D. Dolinger, Ed.D, is president of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education. He joined the Partnership in 2002 after serving as the Superintendent of Schools for Fulton County for seven years. Dolinger also served in the Fairfax County, Va., school system for 26 years before accepting the Fulton position. He has an Ed.D from Vanderbilt University; a M.Ed. from George Mason University; and B.B.A. from Wake Forest University. He currently serves on the Business LEADS cabinet for the U. S. Chamber of Commerce, and also the on the Board of Directors for several organizations, including: the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, Voices for Georgia's Children, Communities In Schools and the Sandy Springs Chamber of Commerce. In addition, he has been appointed to the President's Roundtable of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, the cabinet of the Georgia Children's Health Alliance, and the state team of the College and Career Ready Policy Institute.