s high school students have higher educational aspirations than ever before, yet these aspirations are being undermined by disconnected educational systems and other barriers. These educational aspirations cut across racial and ethnic lines with scant differences. As this study demonstrates, access to college-preparation-related policy information, however, follows racial, ethnic, income, and curricular tracking lines. This article presents findings from Stanford University's Bridge Project-a national study that examined (a) K-16 policies and practices and (b) student, parent, teacher, counselor, and administrator understandings of those policies and practices in regions in California, Illinois, Georgia, Maryland, Oregon, and Texas. In addition, it proposes recommendations for K-12 schools, postsecondary institutions, state agencies, and the federal government.OVER THE PAST FEW DECADES, parents, educators, policy makers, business leaders, community members, and researchers have told students that, to succeed in our society, they need to go to college. High school students have heard that message, and they are planning on attending college. Of 8th graders, 88% expect to participate in some form of postsecondary education, and approximately 70% of high school graduates actually do attend

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A KAPPAN SPECIAL SECTION ON SCHOOL REFORM tutions, while K-12 entities define the curricula for non-Advanced Placement "college prep" courses in high schools. The lack of coordination between the public K-12 and postsecondary sectors impedes successful transitions between the systems and diminishes educational opportunity for many students. Problems related to this disconnect are noticeable in areas such as access to college-prep courses, grade inflation, placement into remedial-level coursework in college, conflicting conceptions of student assessment, special problems endemic to the senior year in high school, and a lack of early and high-quality college counseling for all students. We discuss these issues below. The lack of connection between K-12 and higher education is rooted deeply in the history of U.S. education policy. The country's two separate systems of mass education-K-12 on one hand and universities and colleges on the other-rarely collaborated to establish consistent standards. In 1900 the education sectors were linked somewhat because the College Board set uniform standards for each academic subject and issued a syllabus to help students get ready for subject-matter examinations. But this connection, never very strong, first frayed and then fell apart, and the only remaining linkage of consequence is usually through teacher preparation programs in schools of education. Higher education systems and institutions have little incentive to collaborate with K-12 districts and schools. While local partnerships focused on outreach issues exist, there are few levers in place-such as K-16 accountability systems or funding mechanisms that cross the sectors-to encourage higher education to change its practices. K-12 policies, such as standards and assessments, are at the mercy of political forces, while state legislatures and governors often view higher education as comparatively untouchable. Several problems surfacing in both education systems seem to be a direct consequence of the lack of coordinated standards and the confusing signals that this situation sends to students and educators alike. For example, in response to a national survey conducted in June 2000 by ACT, Inc., 20% of students bound for four-year institutions and nearly 40% of students headed for two-year schools indicated that they would not take all the courses ACT deemed necessary for college-level work. 1 Also, retention and completion rates in many of our public colleges and universities are very low. Graduation rates at the least selective public universities in many states range between 30% and 50%. 2 The U.S. Department of Education reported that more than one-quarter of freshmen at fouryear colleges and nearly half of those at two-year colleges do not make it to their second year. 3 While many of these problems are created by structural inequalities in the schools and in society at large, it may be possible that, by coordinating reform efforts across the K-16 system, we could improve academic outcomes for all students. Forty-nine stat...