Achieve Supports Nation's Governors and Chief School Officers in Mission to Prepare All High School Graduates for College and Careers

NEWS STATEMENT

CONTACT:

Sandy Boyd, (202) 419-1542, sboyd@achieve.org

WASHINGTON – September 21, 2009 – Achieve president Mike Cohen today released the following statement in support of the draft college- and career-ready education standards for high school graduates that are being released today by the National Governors Association and Council of Chief State School Officers:

"If American students nationwide are to benefit from rigorous, focused and internationally competitive expectations, the Common Core Standards Initiative is the best opportunity in a generation to finally realize this goal. The draft college- and career-ready standards released today will provide the foundation for states to collaborate in the development of high quality curriculum, instructional tools, professional development and assessments – tools that are essential to prepare all students for postsecondary education and 21st century careers and ensure that high quality standards are actualized in the classroom.

"Achieve has been pleased to play a part in the development of today’s draft end of high school expectations and will provide content experts and staff as the focus turns to developing K-12 standards. Drawing on more than a decade of experience, Achieve will continue to work with states to improve standards, graduation requirements, assessments and accountability systems so that all American students graduate from high school prepared for the opportunities and challenges that await them."

To learn more about Achieve's work on the college- and career-ready agenda, visit www.achieve.org.

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. For more information about the work of Achieve, visit www.achieve.org.