This report is one in a series of reference documents designed especially to assist educators who are directly involved in the revision and improvement of content standards. It presumes a basic understanding of the purposes for standards and the process of standards review and evaluation. This report may be of interest to curriculum directors, other educators, and policymakers who are working to ensure that the English standards they hold for high school graduates are adequate to satisfy the expectations of post-secondary institutions and employers. This report focuses attention on the knowledge and skills in English that recently have been identified as important for success beyond high school. The report examines whether state and national standards for high school students identify the content that two recent reports (Conley, 2003, & American Diploma Project, 2004) argue is necessary for students to be successful in post-secondary work or education. Based on the expectations outlined in these reports, McREL analysts compared national and highly rated state documents that describe what students should know and be able to do by the end of 12th grade against documents that describe the knowledge and skills that incoming college students should acquire to be successful in their first year of college.