To give states the information they need to sustain hard-fought education reform effectively, Achieve conducted research on state education reforms that have been sustained successfully for over a decade or more. Funded by the GE Foundation, Achieve hopes this work will help other state leaders, wherever they may be on their road to reform,…

To give states the information they need to sustain hard-fought education reform policy changes effectively, Achieve conducted research on state education reforms that have been sustained successfully for over a decade or more. Funded by the GE Foundation, Achieve hopes this work will help other state leaders, wherever they may be on their road to…

A policy analysis conducted jointly by Achieve, Inc. and Jobs for the Future, outlined in this report, suggest ways that North Carolina can create a more coherent, intentional, and aligned assessment and accountability system to improve both achievement and graduation rates for struggling and out-of-school students. The report includes a…

To give states the information they need to sustain hard-fought education reform effectively, Achieve conducted research on state education reforms that have been sustained successfully for over a decade or more. Funded by the GE Foundation, Achieve hopes this work will help other state leaders, wherever they may be on their road to reform,…

To give states the information they need to sustain hard-fought education reform effectively, Achieve conducted research on state education reforms that have been sustained successfully for over a decade or more. Funded by the GE Foundation, Achieve hopes this work will help other state leaders, wherever they may be on their road to reform,…

Since Achieve's first report in 2000, New Jersey has revised its Core Curriculum Content Standards in language arts literacy and math. In 2004, at the request of the governor and commissioner of education and with the encouragement and support of New Jersey United, a statewide business and education coalition, Achieve reviewed the state's revised…

In fall 2003 New Jersey Governor James E. McGreevey and Commissioner of Education William L. Librera asked Achieve to review the new academic standards the state had developed in social studies to learn how New Jersey's new standards compared with those of other states. This summary report outlines the main findings from Achieve's review of the…

High school graduation exams are in place in nearly half the states, and more than half the nation's high school students have to pass them to earn a diploma. After a detailed analysis of the mathematics and English language arts exams in Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio and Texas, Achieve reached three conclusions: (1) Tests are…

The federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) brought new challenges and opportunities for the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA). Like many states, Pennsylvania was faced with adding assessments in grades 4, 6 and 7 in reading and mathematics. However, unlike most states, Pennsylvania did not respond to NCLB by simply adding…

As many as two in five recent high school graduates say that there are gaps between the education they received in high school and the overall skills, abilities, and work habits that are expected of them today in college and in the work force. The majority of college students and high school graduates without a college degree say that they have…

Indiana was selected to participate in a new initiative--"Moving Forward: High Standards and High Graduation Rates"--jointly sponsored by Achieve, Inc. and Jobs for the Future and funded by Carnegie Corporation of New York. This effort is designed to spotlight the importance of pursuing a dual agenda of high standards and high…

This brochure provides an overview of the American Diploma Project (ADP) Network and describes the urgent need for improvements to the U.S. educational pipeline to ensure that all students are adequately prepared for the demands of the twenty-first century workplace. Through the ADP Network, states will: (1) make their high school standards,…

At the request of the Superintendent of the Montgomery County, Maryland, Public School System (MCPS), Achieve conducted an evaluation of the MCPS K-12 Curriculum Frameworks and high school semester exams in English and mathematics. The review was designed to determine how well the MCPS Frameworks and exams align with Maryland state academic…

Delaware's secretary of education and the president of the State Board of Education asked Achieve to provide an analysis of the quality of Delaware's high school content standards and its course-taking requirements. In assisting Delaware in its commitment to raising the quality of its expectations for high school graduates, Achieve examined the…

For too many graduates, the American high school diploma signifies only a broken promise. While students and their parents may still believe that the diploma reflects adequate preparation for the intellectual demands of college or work, employers and postsecondary institutions know that it often serves as little more than a certificate of…