EVENT ALERT: REMINDER

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Closing the Expectations Gap 2010: Measuring State Progress on the College and Career Ready Agenda

On Monday, March 1, 2010, Achieve will release “Closing the Expectations Gap 2010,” its fifth annual report on the progress of the college- and career-ready agenda in all 50 states. The report surveys the states to determine which have raised standards and high school graduation requirements to a college- and career-ready level as well as which states have P-20 data systems and assessment and accountability systems that support the college- and career-ready agenda.

This year's report marks the 5th anniversary of the National Education Summit, which was co-sponsored by the National Governors Association and Achieve and at which Achieve launched its American Diploma Project Network to bring states together around the college- and career-ready agenda. In honor of this milestone, the event will include a five-year retrospective of the states' progress on the agenda since the Summit as well as a look ahead. Speakers will discuss the growing influence of college and career readiness; the importance of state leadership; recent state-led common standards and assessment activity; and the role of the federal government in the college- and career-ready agenda, including the impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Race to the Top competitive state grants and the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

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SPEAKERS INCLUDE:

• Governor Phil Bredesen, (D-TN) and Achieve Board Co-Chair
• Michael Cohen, President, Achieve
• Dane Linn, Director Education Division, National Governors Association
• John Kraman, Associate Director, Research Projects, Achieve

RSVP: Space is limited. To attend, please RSVP to Vernitta Cooper at vcooper@achieve.org or 202-419-1568.

FOR THE MEDIA: To schedule an interview with event participants or to receive an embargoed copy of the report, please contact Sandy Boyd, vice-president, strategic communications and outreach, at sboyd@achieve.org or 202-419-1542.

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Created in 1996 by the nation's governors and corporate leaders, Achieve is an independent, bipartisan, nonprofit education reform organization based in Washington D.C. that helps states raise academic standards and graduation requirements, improve assessments, and strengthen accountability. Achieve is leading the effort to make college and career readiness a national priority so that the transition from high school graduation to postsecondary education and careers is seamless.  To make college and career readiness a priority, in 2005 Achieve launched the American Diploma Project Network. Starting with 13 original states, the Network has now grown to include 35 states educating nearly 85 percent of all U.S. public school students.  Through the ADP Network, governors, state education officials, postsecondary leaders and business executives work together to improve postsecondary preparation by aligning high school standards, assessments, graduation requirements and accountability systems with the demands of college and careers.  For more information about the work of Achieve, visit www.achieve.org.