Following is a statement by U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige on the release of the American Diploma Project's report, "Ready or Not: Creating a High School Diploma that Counts."

"We applaud the work of the American Diploma Project in identifying a set of benchmarks that high school graduates will need to master in order to succeed in postsecondary education or in the demanding high-performance jobs of the 21st century.

"This effort supports the work of No Child Left Behind and our high school initiative, Preparing America's Future, and reinforces the need for students to be engaged in rigorous academics in order to have successful futures. The report underscores the need for high school reform as expressed in the president's 2005 budget announcing the Jobs for the 21st Century initiative which would provide funding to launch or expand activities that help meet the goals of ensuring that all students are prepared to succeed in postsecondary education and the workforce."

Details of the project can be found at http://www.achieve.org.

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