[originaltext]Now, listen to Part Two of the interview.W: Well, what are the m

Now, listen to Part Two of the interview.
W: Well, what are the main factors you see in schools? Because you look at your report, and, yes, there are some places that are already approaching that 90 percent mark.
M: Yes.
W: There are—or above it. Then there are others below 60 percent.
M: One is the awareness of the gaps between these populations. Also,(6)we can predict as early as late elementary school and middle school the early warning indicators of chronic absenteeism, poor behavior, course performance in reading and math. And when these young people are falling off track, we can get them the supports they need to stay on track.(7)We’re also seeing large school systems reform and be redesigned in ways that they become more personalized and engaging to the students, smaller classroom settings, also, beyond academics, teaching social and emotional skills, things like persistence and grit and character and discipline and collaborative problem-solving, the very skills that employers are looking for.
W: I know this has been an effort for a long time, and I read in one article—one—in your report that it’s been undertaken by four presidents.
M: It’s true.
W: Why has it taken so long?
M: It’s so interesting. Four successive presidents set effectively the same high school graduation rate goal of 90 percent by some certain date.
W: Yes.
M: And we have had flatlining graduation rates for 30 years. However, in the last decade, we have increased awareness. People understood who these young people were, why they dropped out from high school, and that 50 percent of the dropouts were only found in 15 percent of the schools. So it seemed like a targeted, fixable problem. Also, a civic Marshall Plan emerged.(8)General Colin and Alma Powell assembled a group of leaders, educators, principals, administrators, community-based organizations, and said, let’s take the goal seriously. The class of 2020 is in third grade today. What does the evidence tell us about what we can do to keep those young people on track? And so all these organizations have been aligning against— this GradNation and plan of action.
W: Well, so I wonder now, looking ahead, two things. One, is there any sense that the easy part has been done...
M: Yes.
W: ...that from here on, it gets a lot harder?
M: Right.
W: And then, of course there’s the factor that we have reported on, on this program plenty of times, Common Core, a lot of changes that are being introduced into the curriculum in high schools around the country.
M: Right. I think the good news, Jenny, is that(9)the most progress since 2006 was right during the period when graduating from high school became more complicated, more difficult, more rigorous, more AP courses, more courses—courses required to graduate, exit exams to graduate. And so schools and districts are rising to a standard of excellence.(10)The Common Core will usher in an era of learning and accountability across the country in ways where we will know that young people, whether they are in Akron or Albuquerque or anywhere in the country, are learning effectively to a high standard. And that’s what we ought to be ascribing to.
W: That goes to not only the numbers, but the quality of education, which of course is still very much on the table.
M: That’s exactly right. Yes.
W: All right, John Bridgeland, thank you so much for joining us.
M: Nice to be with you, Jenny.
This is the end of Part Two of the interview.
Questions 6 to 10 are based on what you have just heard.
6. What is the main factor leading to the gaps between graduation rates?
7. What do we learn about the school systems reform?
8. What did General Colin and Alma Powell do to achieve the graduation rate goal?
9. What is the result of graduating being more difficult since 2006?
10. What do we learn about the Common Core?