Dive Brief:

• Writing for Forbes, Sara Martinez Tucker argues that all high school students must be exposed to college-level material, not just those who already know they're headed for college.
• She cites financial, social, and academic obstacles for low-income students' access to college and says that the latter remain the biggest barrier and challenge.
• Common Core standards, she says, could help set the bar higher, but shouldn't be viewed as a ceiling but rather as a foundation for more rigorous expectations.

Dive Insight:

The writer is a former under secretary of the U.S. Department of Education and is now the head of the National Math and Science Initiative. Her overarching point: The academic consequences of low standards and a lousy curriculum are the least fixable if they're not addressed from the start.