All students should graduate from high school ready for college, careers, and citizenship.
The Next Generation of Teaching, Learning and Leading
Across the country, the college- and career-ready agenda is taking hold and improving education for all students, and Kentucky continues to show a way forward on this ambitious agenda. The Herald-Dispatch recently reported on Kentucky’s “Unbridled Learning: College/Career Readiness for All” initiative, a comprehensive school reform effort that includes higher standards, new assessments and an improved accountability model. Kentucky was an early adopter of the Common Core State Standards and the new standards are now a central element of the state’s college- and career-ready reforms.
Terry Holiday, Commissioner of Education for Kentucky, was quoted in the Herald-Dispatch as saying: "This is the next generation of teaching, learning and leading for Kentucky schools. Our focus has moved from a focus on minimum proficiency to a focus on ensuring all Kentucky graduates are prepared for college and career."
Equally important to the commitment of Kentucky’s leaders to the agenda is the commitment of a broad set of stakeholders who are embracing and helping to advance college and career readiness as the statewide goal. The Herald-Dispatch reported that Mindy Thompson, a PTA vice president in Jefferson County, Kentucky’s largest district, and a coalition of like-minded parents, are committed to an ambitious plan aimed at educating communities about these new changes. Ms. Thompson is enthusiastic about the new reform measures which she believes will successfully prepare the “21st century student” for college and careers.