From the OverAchievers

You've Come a Long Way Barbie...

Given the work we do here at Achieve, we are well aware of the general anxiety that pervades any and all discussions about mathematics  education, especially when it come to what math all students need in high school to graduate college and career ready. We have even pointed out the uniquely American attitude that only certain people are innately gifted and can do math - as opposed to the more common view among our international peers that with hard work and perseverance anyone can learn advanced mathematics. All of those jokes about "not being able to balance my checkbook" might be funny if it didn't reveal a serious deficiency which impacts us all: mathematics is the foundation for innovation, which in turn drives...

College- and Career-Ready Standards to the Forefront

Speaking at the National Governors Association 2010 Winter Meeting, President Obama outlined steps to prepare America’s children for college and the workplace. The President called for a redesigned Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) that requires all states to adopt and certify that they have college- and career-ready standards in reading and mathematics, which may include common standards developed by a state-led consortium, as a condition of qualifying for Title I funding. "America's prosperity has always rested on how well we educate our children – but never more so than today," said President Obama. "This is true for our workers, when a college graduate earns over 60 percent more in a lifetime than...

Every Child College- and Career-Ready

President Obama released his proposed budget, unveiling a direction for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). A new line item -"College- and Career-Ready Students" – redirects ESEA (or No Child Left Behind, as it was formerly known) to anchor itself in the goal of graduating all students ready for college and careers. Given that college and career readiness for all students is at the core of Achieve’s mission, we are encouraged by this new direction. The Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Summary notes: "States would be asked to adopt statewide standards that build toward college- and career-readiness (CCR) and to implement high-quality assessments aligned with these CCR standards and capable of measuring indiv...

Assessment Lessons Learned for Race to the Top

Achieve President Michael Cohen testified on January 13th at the Department of Education's Race to the Top Assessment input meeting. The subject of the hearing was "Project and Consortium Management" and focused on the lessons learned from Achieve’s management of the American Diploma Project Consortia. A PowerPoint presentation accompanied Mr. Cohen’s testimony.

Race to the Top

The U.S. Department of Education's Race to the Top (RTTT) competition - and the $4.35 billion attached to it - has captivated the attention of officials in nearly every state and, in many cases, accelerated their work on the college- and career-ready agenda. As states are hard at work designing their applications for the RTTT first round deadline of January 19, 2010, Achieve recommends state leaders keep in mind several ways they can build on the work they have already begun and maximize the new opportunities presented through RTTT. Common Standards and Assessments Common, internationally-benchmarked college and career readiness expectations should be the foundation for all strategies undertaken with Race to the Top funding. The Common Co...