Today's economy demands that "all" young people develop high-level literacy, quantitative reasoning, problem solving, communication and collaboration skills, all grounded in a rigorous, content-rich K-12 curriculum. Acquiring this knowledge and these skills ensures that high school graduates are academically prepared to pursue the…

"Perspective" is a monthly e-newsletter presenting news and views from Achieve. This month's issue commences with a report presenting the recommendations made by Achieve to the Senate HELP (Health, Education, Labor and Pensions) Committee for the improvement of the college and career readiness of all students. This issue also reports:…

States seeking to prepare all high school graduates for college and careers need a strategy for responding to their lowest-performing high schools, which are responsible for a disproportionate number of students who drop out or graduate unprepared for what's ahead. Continuing to rely upon incremental change strategies will not lead to effective…

For years, state and local policymakers and education leaders have embraced the goal of graduating students college and career ready, vaulting the agenda to become a national priority--as evidenced by the more recent dialogue on education reform, including Race to the Top, Common Core State Standards, and common assessments. But, while policy…

This eighth annual report has taken a directional change from prior years where the primary aim was preparing students to graduate from high school. The new focus is on the K-12 alignment where, at the direction of 48 states, the National Governors Association, and the Council of Chief State School Officers, the Common Core State Standards were…

"Perspective" is a monthly e-newsletter presenting news and views from Achieve. This month's issue commences with a commentary assessing the meaning of college- and career-readiness. In doing so, it addresses some of the questions Achieve gets asked most frequently, including: What subjects are most important in defining "Readiness"? What does…

Achieve's research suggests that for high school graduates to be prepared for success in postsecondary settings, they need to take four years of challenging mathematics--including content at least through Algebra II or its equivalent--and four years of rigorous English aligned with college- and career-ready standards. This paper offers a…

To make dramatic improvements in all students' preparation for college and careers, states need thoughtful, intentional human capital strategies that get the right teachers in the right places in the right subjects. The need is especially acute in states that have or plan to adopt college- and career-ready academic standards and graduation…

To assess the raised expectations of college and career readiness for all students, a group of American Diploma Project (ADP) Network states formed the ADP Assessment Consortium in 2005. The Consortium created Algebra I and II end-of-course exams, based in large part on Achieve's ADP mathematics benchmarks, which would provide an honest assessment…

"Perspective" is a monthly e-newsletter presenting news and views from Achieve. This month's issue commences with a report stating how Achieve commissioned a first-of-its-kind national poll of American voters to determine their views on college and career readiness. The results of the survey show that there is overwhelming support for college-and…

"Perspective" is a monthly e-newsletter presenting news and views from Achieve. This issue includes a commentary on the efforts of the states to adopt college- and career-ready policies. "Closing the Expectations Gap, 2009"--Achieve's fourth annual report--shows that states have continued to make steady progress on adopting policies aimed at…

At the 2005 National Education Summit on High Schools, governors from 45 states joined with business leaders and education officials to address a critical problem in American education: Too few students graduate from high school prepared for the demands of college and career in an increasingly competitive global economy. Since then, to monitor and…

To ensure that all high school graduates are prepared for the opportunities and challenges that await them, states have increasingly been focused on aligning their end-of-high school expectations with the demands of the real world. In 2005, no state had aligned their expectations with real world demands; now 29 states have adopted college- and…

The K-12 Common Core State Standards (CCSS) represent a major advance in standards for Mathematics and English Language Arts. They are grounded in evidence about what it takes for high school graduates to be ready for college and careers and build on the finest state and international standards. The Common Core State Standards offer an…

At the 2005 National Education Summit on High Schools, governors from 45 states joined with business leaders and education officials to address a critical problem in American education: Too few students graduate from high school prepared for the demands of college and careers in an increasingly competitive global economy. To monitor state progress…