College- and Career-Ready Standards: Implementation Indicators

In joint partnership, Achieve and the Aspen Institute have developed a toolkit for state and district leaders who have adopted college- and career-ready (CCR) standards and want direct feedback related to the status of CCR standards implementation statewide in order to better understand the needs of schools and districts. The toolkit includes four openly-licensed tools to support state and district leaders in monitoring implementation of CCR standards.

The promise of K–12 CCR standards will only be achieved when the standards are put into practice for the benefit of every student in every classroom. Effective implementation requires real-time and actionable data to capture progress toward that goal, the elevation of bright spots, and the identification of widespread challenges and opportunities to strengthen or redesign support to schools and school districts.

These tools are primarily designed for state leaders who have adopted CCR standards and want direct feedback related to the status of CCR standards implementation statewide in order to better understand the needs of schools and districts. State leaders should establish a plan up front for publicly sharing the data resulting from the use of these tools to ensure this exercise contributes to greater transparency, shared understanding, and evidence-based discussions with local leaders and school-based educators regarding strategies for strengthening implementation. We encourage state leaders to identify a cross-sector team that is responsible for designing a strategy and work plan for using these resources.

Four resources are available to assist in monitoring implementation:

1. School-Level Indicators of Implementation: These indicators provide a broad gauge of the extent to which the transition from states’ prior content standards to CCR standards has taken place or is underway within and across schools.¹
2. Model School-level Indicators of Implementation Survey: This open-source tool converts the School-Level Indicators of Implementation into a survey instrument, able to be administered as-is or adapted by states to fit local priorities and terminology. 
3. Local Education Agency (LEA) Feedback Survey: This survey allows state leaders to generate direct feedback from LEA leaders (and principals, if the state desires) regarding quality and comprehensiveness of implementation support.
4. Survey Guidance: Recognizing that State Education Agencies (SEAs) are increasingly using surveys, this brief guidance offers practical tips for survey design that SEA leaders can use as a guide for improving quality and clarity of survey design.

We encourage states, districts and schools to modify these tools to reflect local context and needs. In the spirit of continuous improvement, we welcome feedback on ways to improve these tools.

¹ For a more comprehensive self-assessment of school-level implementation progress for formative purposes, please visit www.corereadyschools.org.