This study compares alignment of the ACT and the American Diploma Project (ADP) national college readiness standards sets with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English language arts and reading (TEKS ELAR) standards for grades 9-12 and analyzes their cognitive complexity. It finds that a majority of the content in the ACT and ADP…

In response to the demands of the changing economy and the business community's need for better-educated, more highly skilled workers, the U.S. Department of Education, through the Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE), developed the State Scholars Initiative (SSI), which encourages students to take a rigorous course of study in high…

Recently, there has been increasing interest among state governments in establishing statewide testing of high school students. This interest has been driven by various goals, such as reforming high schools, improving the alignment between P-12 requirements and postsecondary expectations, and fulfilling the mandates of the federal No Child Left…