Achieve Applauds Final K-12 Common Core State Standards

Tuesday, June 1, 2010Printer-friendly version

NEWS STATEMENT

CONTACT:

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

WASHINGTON – June 2, 2010 – Achieve today praised the final K-12 Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in English and mathematics as grounded in evidence about what it takes for high school graduates to be ready for college and careers. The standards were released today by the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). Achieve served as a key partner in the effort.

"The standards released today provide a clear path – from kindergarten to high school graduation – for college and career readiness for all students. Importantly, they provide teachers, administrators, parents and students with the information they need to succeed," said Michael Cohen, President of Achieve. "These standards, fully implemented, will provide all students with a K-12 education that will give high school graduates a full range of options and opportunities to choose their path after high school. High expectations for all students that reflect the demands of the real world will open more doors for all, rather than just a few."

"Achieve encourages states to adopt and fully implement the Common Core State Standards as part of their college- and career-ready agenda," continued Cohen. "That means aligning graduation requirements, curriculum materials and instructional tools, educator preparation and professional development, assessments, accountability indicators and data systems with the Common Core State Standards so that the whole system – down to every classroom – is geared toward the same end goal: all students graduating, ready for college, careers and life. Fortunately, no state or local school district will have to tackle these implementation challenges on its own. With common standards they can pool their expertise and resources to create high quality tools."

Achieve – a long-time advocate of college and career readiness for all students – has developed materials to help states, policymakers and other advocates better understand the CCSS. These materials are available at www.achieve.org/achievingcommoncore.

To learn more about the Common Core State Standards Initiative, visit www.corestandards.org.

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

To download a PDF of this press release, go here.

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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.