The College- and Career-Ready Agenda: Six Years Later

In February 2005, the National Governors Association (NGA) and Achieve co-sponsored the National Education Summit on High Schools. At the end of the Summit, Achieve and 13 states launched the American Diploma Project (ADP) Network to challenge states to work together to align high school expectations with the expectations of postsecondary institutions and employers. Over the past six years, the ADP Network has grown to 35 states, and across the country states have made progress adopting college- and career-ready high school standards, graduation requirements, and assessment and accountability systems. For each policy area of the college- and career-ready agenda, however, the story of state -and national -progress is varied.

Since the 2005 Summit, Achieve has conducted an annual survey of all 50 states and the District of Columbia on key college- and career-ready policies, including aligning standards, graduation requirements, assessments, and data and accountability systems with the expectations of postsecondary institutions and employers. This year marks the sixth anniversary of the "Closing the Expectations Gap" report and based on state survey response, Achieve is able to report the following:

Standards: Today, 47 states and the District of Columbia have developed and adopted high school academic standards in English and mathematics that are aligned with college- and career-ready expectations. Much of the progress in standards in 2010 was the result of widespread adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The three remaining states are contemplating adopting the CCSS or developing their own college- and career-ready standards.

Graduation Requirements: Today, 20 states and the District of Columbia require all students to complete a college- and career-ready curriculum to earn a high school diploma. Two new states, Florida and Utah, raised their graduation requirements to the college- and career-ready level in 2010.

Assessments: Today, 14 states administer high school assessments capable of producing a readiness score that postsecondary institutions use to make placement decisions. Only one new state — Delaware — has a new policy to administer a college- and career-ready test to its high school students. In a separate effort, 45 states and DC are engaged in the development of next-generation assessments through the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and Smarter Balanced assessment consortia, which have the potential to dramatically transform the assessment landscape.

P-20 Data Systems: Today, 22 states have operational P-20 longitudinal data systems that link states' student-level K-12 data with similar data from their postsecondary systems and are matching such data annually. The matching of student-level records began for the first time in six states in 2010: Hawaii, Indiana, Kansas, New Mexico, New York and Virginia.

Accountability: Today, only one state meets Achieve's criteria regarding the use of all indicators in its college- and career-ready accountability system. While progress in this area has been slowest, 25 states now incorporate at least one of the four accountability indicators that Achieve has identified as critical to promoting college and career readiness.

The K-12 education landscape has shifted dramatically in 2010. And while states have made important gains on the college- and career-ready agenda since 2005, there is much work to be done to ensure that the higher expectations they have adopted in their standards are fully implemented and reflected in related policies such as graduation requirements, assessments and accountability systems that value college and career readiness.

To view a copy of the report and accompanying PowerPoint presentation go to www.achieve.org/ClosingtheExpectationsGap2011