One-third of Colorado high school graduates need remedial classes when they start college every year, and everyone from principals to state bureaucrats is pressing to get higher education and school districts to work together to move kids toward degrees faster.

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At Denver’s Abraham Lincoln High School, 43 percent of graduates needed at least one remedial math or reading class in 2006. This year, that number jumped to 78 percent. At Aurora Central High School, 57 percent of graduates needed remediation in 2006. That number increased to 71 percent in 2008.

The state Department of Higher Education is having conversations across the state to define what it means to be ready for college. There is a chronic disconnect of expectations on two fronts: School districts think that a diploma should mean students can pass entry-level math and reading in college. Colleges think middle and high school teachers should know how to prepare students for tougher course work.