RE: Question 1: School to work

I understand your point, regarding tracking of social values such as critical thinking, public awareness and engagement, and other goals of our education system - such tracking is of course somewhat harder to do, more subjective, than tracking employment or continued education information.

Still, what good does it do us to work so hard to 'prepare our students to be productive citizens' when we are closer each year to doing NOTHING to prepare them for real work after high school.  We know that about 70% of our students do not go to college and get degrees after high school.  How will they be able to exercise their social values and ethics, when we have done nothing to help them find gainful and rewarding work?

Employment data may not be an indicator of social awareness and engagement, but lacking employability is a good indicator of the failure of our education system.