Question

Pride ofCommunity HighSchools Can BeAgain"
by Robert Balfanz and John Bridgeland
The American high school has played a storied,unappreciated role in our nation’s success.Through much of the last century, it served as adriver of individual mobility, economic growth,and social cohesion. The provision of universalpublic high schooling provided an avenue ofadvancement for families of modest means andover time, impoverished and discriminatedcommunities. In many areas, students from thewealthy and poor sides of town sat side by sidein classrooms and experienced the rituals ofhigh school together.
Today, however, in the places that need themthe most — locales that have been unable tomake the pivot from the 20th to 21st centuryeconomy — there are too many high schoolsno longer fulfilling that promise. After more thana decade of progress in improving high schoolgraduation rates, there remain about 1,300traditional high schools in need of seriousimprovement and redesign. From the inner cityto the heartland of America, these low-performing high schools are concentrated instruggling communities that sit at the fault linesof race, class, and inequality in America.
A)
Use the passage to answer the question.
What is the authors’ main purpose in thistext?
(1 point)
to explain why having a strong high
school education is important for
career success
to persuade that connecting high
schools with their communities will
improve the schools
to explain the difference between high
schools that are successful and those
that are failing
to describe the role that businesses
and nonprofits can play in serving
youth

Answer 1

to explain the difference between high schools that are successful and those that are failing

The passage contrasts the historic role of high schools in promoting mobility and cohesion with the current situation where many traditional high schools in struggling communities are no longer fulfilling that promise.