Are high schools failing to set students on path to adulthood?

Danielle Chappell had no reason to doubt she was a solid student. She earned decent grades, even scoring some A’s in English and math, while balancing schoolwork with basketball, track and a spot on the dance team. Then she graduated from Cardozo High School in Washington, D.C. and arrived at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, where she bombed the placement tests so badly that she had to take remedial English and math. Low grades overall put her on academic probation. Finally, mid–sophomore year, she was forced to withdraw. To examine the fate of one graduating class of D.C. high school students is to find multiple stories like Chappell’s—stories that illustrate how a struggling urban school system often fails to shepherd its students and set them on a promising path to adulthood. Read the article at washingtonpost.com.