Grad Nation Community Summits
College- and Career-Readiness Toolkit
Guide Content
- Introduction
- Resources & Best Practices (GradNation.org)
- Speaker Recommendations
- Additional Alliance Partners
- Multi-Media and Suggested Reading
- Introduction
Studies on the quality of American education during the past 20 years have emphasized the same point: our students are falling behind their peers in other countries. According to the 2012 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), which compares the 34 OECD countries, the United States ranked 24th in reading, 28th in science, and 36th in mathematics. All of those positions were LOWER than the last time the PISA tests were administered in 2009.
Other measures confirm that young Americans are not receiving the preparation they need for success in college and career. More than 50 percent of students entering two-year colleges, and nearly 20 percent of those entering four-year universities, are placed in remedial classes. Employers regularly report struggling to fill jobs, in part because of too few workers have proper skills. Lack of academic preparation is one of the main reasons only one in four young Americans qualify for military service.
College- and career-ready standards are an exciting and effective response to these difficulties. They focus on providing young people with the skills and knowledge necessary for success after high school, such as critical thinking and problem-solving, collaboration, effective oral and written communication, and analyzing information. Young people—regardless of their background or location—will now benefit from a clear set of shared goals and higher expectations.
These efforts come in a number of forms and have a number of names. The best-known example is the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), which have been adopted by more than 40 states and then implemented under a number of names. The standards focus on Mathematics and English Language Arts/Literacy – not as stand-alone classes, but as topics that should be incorporated throughout the curriculum from kindergarten through 12th grade. Other states, including Texas and Virginia, have developed their own standards that also aim to make school more challenging and engaging. Regardless of location and exact content, these efforts share the same goal: to prepare all students for success after high school.
- Resources and Best Practices
Visit the College and Career Success channel at GradNation.org where you will find a large variety of resources and best practices on this topic.
Visit MoveED.org and join to connect and share with others helping students succeed. Be recognized as a force in making Goal 2025 a national priority. MoveED for Goal 2025 brings together, on a single map, organizations that are committed to making attainment America’s cause — especially for low-income students, students of color, first-generation students and adult learners. MoveED’s mission is to increase the proportion of Americans with high-quality degrees, credentials and certificates to 60% by the year 2025.
- Speaker Recommendations
Below is a sampling of speaker recommendations for this topic. If you would like to find out more about a specific speaker or discuss additional speaker options, please contact your Summit Manager.
Every state and school system has an extensive network of people committed to implementation of college and career-ready standards. These people are often the best advocates for the standards because they can both explain the standards themselves and the status of CCSS implementation; they can easily continue the conversation after the summit; and they understand the particulars of the local landscape. Representatives from the Community Summit organizing team can also reach out to their state’s head of public instruction (see the link below) or you can contact your Summit Manager for additional suggestions.
- Additional Alliance Partners
View our list of Alliance Partners for information about their work and for potential local engagement and/or strategy development regarding your summit. If you would like to make a connection, contact your Summit Manager at America’s Promise, who can help facilitate an introduction.
- Multi-Media and Suggested Reading
BACKGROUND
Alliance for Excellent Education: State Reference Cards
This site uses statistical snapshots of high schools in each state to demonstrate why higher standards are needed. The data includes information on graduation rates, college readiness, and academic achievement.
archive.all4ed.org/publication_material/CommonStandardsStateCards
American Graduate DC – Ready for College
Three experts discuss why so many high school graduates take remedial classes in college and what can be done to better prepare students for the demands of higher education.
Common Core State Standards Initiative
The initiative’s website includes full versions of the English language arts and mathematics standards, as well as other related materials, such as explanations of how the Common Core State Standards affect English-language learners and students with disabilities.
National Association of State Directors of Career and Technical Education
The drive to make all students college- and career-ready often downplays the “career” half of that goal, or implies that the choice is college- OR career-ready. Organizations like NASDCTec show how students not only can but should prepare for both, offering resources abouthow to integrate career and technical education intocollege- and career-readiness.
National PTA
These videos are part of the National PTA’s ongoing effort to provide parents with accurate information about the Common Core. They highlight three key principles: why there’s a need for high standards, how the Standards reflect the knowledge and skills students need, andresources parents can use to support their children and their schools. There is also information for parents who want to be advocates for higher standards in their community.
NPR: The Common Core FAQ
NPR’s education team answers 25 questions (and counting) about the standards, from “What is the Common Core?” to “What was the federal government's role in creating the Common Core? “ to “How will we know if all of this is working?”
wamu.org/news/14/05/27/the_common_core_faq
GUIDANCE ON IMPLEMENTATION
Achieve: Achieving the Common Core
This page provides links to a wide range of materials that examine key aspects of CCSS, including advocacy and communications, instructional support and alignment, implementation planning tools, and state-specific materials and websites. It also offers concise fact sheets that describe the content areas and that address frequently asked questions.
Achievethecore.org
Managed by Student Achievement Partners, which had an important role in the writing of the Common Core, this website offers free, high-quality resources for implementing the Standards. Materials provide guidance and tools about both English language arts and mathematics, as well as ideas for professional development and leadership.
ASCD Common Core State Resources
A digital repository of evidence-based strategies, videos, and related documents that support educators as they transition to the more demanding – and also more rewarding – college- and career-ready standards.
Council of Chief State School Officers: Common Core State Standards, and Implementation Tools and Resources
This collection highlights promising practices for implementing CCSS. It not only covers the Mathematics and English Language Arts standards, but also examines the needs of special populations like English-language learners and students with disabilities.
Council of Chief State School Officers: Communications Toolkit
Though designed for the staff of state education agencies, this toolkit provides an overview of the standards and how to communicate their benefits to members of the public. It includes Frequently Asked Questions, refutation of myths, and sample materials like op-eds and other resources. programs.ccsso.org/link/CCSSO_Standards_Toolkit.pdf
Council of the Great City Schools
This three-minute video explains how the Common Core State Standards will help students achieve at high levels and learn what they need to know for their graduation and their life after high school.
In English:
In Spanish:
Engage NY
This 15-part video series shows how educators and administrators can implement the Common Core State Standards. Although it was created for New York State, the series can be shared across the country because it covers numerous relevant topics, including the rationale behind the Common Core what it will mean for students:
engageny.org/resource/common-core-video-series
GreatKids.org
This site uses a series of short videos to show caregivers the skills children should be developing in math, reading and writing. It also offers more detailed information for children in K-2, with expansion to higher grades coming in the future.
milestones.greatkids.org
The Hunt Institute and the Council of Chief State School Officers
These two organizations have commissioned nearly 30 video vignettes that explain the Common Core Standards. The videos were developed to help diverse groups – educators, policymakers, parents – better understand the breadth and depth of the Standards. The videos also demonstrate how the Standards will improve teaching, make classrooms better, create shared expectations, and cultivate lifelong learning for all students.
National Council of La Raza (NCLR): Common Standards
The National Council of La Raza provides resources that respond to the troubling reality that a disproportionate number of Latinos today are left unprepared for college and unqualified for good jobs.
National PTA: Parents' Guide to Student Success
The National Parent Teacher Association has created guides to the Common Core States Standards, in both English and Spanish, that show parents and other caregivers the value of the standards. There is a separate four-page guide for each grade from kindergarten through 8th grade, and then one guide for English language arts for grades 9-12 and one mathematics guide for grades 9-12.
PBS NewsHour – A Taste of College
This report from South Texas talks to students to highlight one increasingly popular approach to keeping students in high school at the same time they’re prepared for the demands of postsecondary education: early college programs.
StoryCorpsU College Readiness Curriculum – What Does Your Future Hold?
This curriculum is an interactive, standards-based, college-readiness program that uses StoryCorps content and interviewing techniques to enhance students’ skills in the areas of speaking, listening, writing, and critical thinking, while also fostering self-awareness, social awareness and school connectedness.
INFORMATION ON ASSESSMENTS
Most states adopting CCSS have also chosen to be part of one of the two consortia that are developing new assessments that make it possible for students, parents, schools, and states to evaluate more clearly how all young people are progressing and where they need additional support. These assessments focus not on memorization and multiple choice questions, but on the analytic and problem-solving skills that will be central to success after high school.
PARCC
The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) is one of the two state-led consortia developing K-12 assessments in English and math. These assessments are designed to benefit students, who will know if they are on track to graduate ready for college and careers; teachers, by offering results to guide instruction; parents, who will understand the progress of their children; and states, who will be able to compare with other states. The site includes sample assessment items.
Smarter Balanced Consortium
Smarter Balanced is the other main consortium developing assessments aligned to the Common Core State Standards. Its assessments will provide similar benefits to those from PARCC, including information and tools for teachers and schools to improve instruction and help students succeed. The website also includes sample questions.
GUIDANCE FOR NON-COMMON CORE STATES
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills
The Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills are the state’s standards for what students should know and be able to do.
Virginia Standards of Learning
The Standards of Learning (SOL) for Virginia Public Schools describe the expectations for student learning and achievement in grades K-12. Virginia also uses its established process for adopting and revising academic standards to incorporate content from the Common Core State Standards into the Standards of Learning.
As more states develop their own standards, this section will include resources that support the program in those states.
College- and Career-Ready Standards Toolkit 1