How would the American public education system have to change in order for most eighteen year olds to be qualified for most entry level jobs?

Immediate low-level changes: Improve early teaching of basic math, advanced reading comprehension, and advanced writing and presentation skills. Structure education and parenting with emphasis on working hard (never getting something for nothing), cooperating with others above and below your skill level and social status, and delayed gratification. Systemically, I think that a higher-intensity K-12 program with year-round classes, followed by a two-year program in either general service-industry skills or specialized vocational training, would be ideal. Post-high school training and job placement services could be funded by a pledge of future income; e.g. paying 1% extra in taxes at your first job, then a normal rate after that. It would incentivize trainers to find their students solid, long-term, well-paid jobs. Any program put in place, or any successful high school, needs to teach financial and media literacy, business etiquette including how to dress and how to conduct oneself on the job, and promote the understanding that your job doesn't need to be perfect for you to give it 100% of your effort.

We need to replace the last two years of high school, as many students in California pass the exit exam by their sophomore year. The students are bored stiff, with most tenured teachers being less innovative and less inclusive for change.  Measure teachers by the ability to innovate and promote students to be leaders or creative thinkers, solving issues at local, state, national or international levels.  We need to start building the creative culture with pre-school, grade school, middle school and high school.  https://cacoo.com/diagrams/gH8Vw1fnM209dZts#C4495 https://cacoo.com/diagrams/gH8Vw1fnM209dZts#C4495 http://prezi.com/skgg_ubd0ygv/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share Item number 3 is a collection of real life experiences I earned on the job, not many  women have this depth of technology expertise across many industries and with the latest innovations.  I'm offering to share what I know to enable many with proven methods of delivery.

At a most basic level we need to do a couple of things. Given the fact that fully one third of 18-year-olds are unable to read beyond the most basic level, that is the first issue that must be addressed. Other research tells us that fully 40% of those admitted to four-year universities are unprepared for classes in basic math, and English composition. The post-secondary institution is not the place to remedy the failures of Public Education   The other fundamental skill which appears to be completely lacking in most young adults is the ability to seek and obtain a job. This includes preparing the documents (resume and cover letter) necessary to obtain an interview, and the ability to present oneself to a potential employer. These issues are apparently never addressed anywhere in the public school setting.

In the 1960s the USA was in a very competitive environment vs. the USSR.  Perhaps the most notable events in this competition were the Soviet lead in space with launch of Sputnik and  president Kennedy's response with a challenge to the American people to put a man on the moon by the end of the century. The American public education system focused on math and science in this period.  It was also expected that public school students needed to perform well in their studies and test scores in order to get good grades and be promoted from one grade to another.  Success for students and the education system were based on academic achievement. High school class sizes in the 1960s and 1970s tended to be in the 30 to 35 students per class scale.  The classes were composed of students in the same "Track" where the highest track was for students destined for college, the lowest track was for students definitely not headed for college, and middle tracks having students where the future education needs and paths were not clear.  Put differently, each class had students with relatively similar learning ability with one class having the brightest students and another having those with more limited learning ability. At this point in US history we experienced the highest high school graduation rates.  Around 3 in 4 (75%) students who entered high school graduated. In the 1980s everything changed.  The notion of success for public schools changed from academic achievement to producing students who felt good about themselves without regard for actual learning in academic areas.  Class composition was changed to get a mix of the most and least talented students in each class. Under the philosophy of "Mainstreaming" students with severe learning disabilities were put in all classes.  Class sizes were reduced to the 20 students per class region and many classes had two teachers (one regular teacher and one assistant) instead of one.  It became impossible for a teacher to hold the attention of all students in a class because of the wide variety of learning skills in each class. This change corresponded to a drop in high school graduation rates to the current rate where only 2 in 3 (67%) of students entering high school graduated.  In other words the high school dropout rate increased from around 25% to around 33% nationwide.  With more teachers, smaller class sizes, and intentionally varied student skills in each class the cost of public education went up and the results went down. I think this story makes it clear that we could improve public education if we reversed the changes described above.  This means reconstituting classes so that each class has students with similar talent and probably contains more students to get back up to the 30 to 35 student per class level.  We should also change expectations so that any student who fails to achieve academic learning goals is not rewarded with good grades and promotion.  Students with high aptitude test scores should be prepared for college while those with lower scores should be prepared for entry in the work place after high school graduation.  Stated differently, those destined for college should have curricula focused on academic areas while those destined for earlier entry into the workplace should get more exposure to industrial arts and technical skills.