A continuing priority in education has focused on preparing students for postacademic success. The adoption of the Common Core State Standards Initiative prompted educational leaders to focus on preparing students to be "college and career ready." Definitions, perceptions, and efforts to improve college and career readiness vary widely.…

State assessment leaders are concerned about the challenges with receiving full approval from the U.S. Department of Education (USED) when using the ACT or the SAT as their assessment of high school achievement. USED has asked states opting to use the ACT or the SAT as the achievement indicator under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) to…

The lack of college readiness in the United States is a critical issue that jeopardizes our economy. The demographic inequality of the crisis, particularly for low-income as well as Black and Latinx students, emerges from systemic problems of race and class in American education and society which suppress students' educational and economic…

Using a college admissions test as the statewide summative assessment is an attractive but risky option for some policymakers and parents. These assessments are used for admissions by nearly all higher education institutions, are shorter in length than most state-designed and consortia assessments, have brand name recognition, and are known for…

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of implementing a unique and systematized version of curriculum planning and documenting across all levels of a Pre-K-Grade 12, US-curriculum, and international school in the Dominican Republic. Based on the Backwards by Design philosophy, cemented with a standards-based approach highlighting…

In 2016 the state of Massachusetts began a process to end the confusing series of alterations to education by revising and aligning the state's academic standards and tests. In March 2017 the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) approved revisions to the state English language arts (ELA) and math standards. The purpose of this report…

The Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBAC), implemented in California in 2014-15 as part of the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress, is designed to evaluate students' levels of college and career readiness. Student scores on the Smarter Balanced Assessment are currently used for both accountability and school improvement…

In 2014, the state of California implemented the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) in order to align state assessment and accountability policies with the newly adopted Common Core State Standards (CCSS). At the heart of the new performance and accountability system is the Smarter Balanced Assessment. The Smarter…

In the 2013-14 school year, twenty-four states required students to be proficient on standardized tests in order to graduate from high school. But starting next year, and in the years to come, states will launch more rigorous, college- and career-ready assessments aligned to the Common Core. As they do so, they should revisit the stakes on these…

Presented at the College Board National Forum, October 2011. In this session on academic preparedness and the Common Core, presenters summarized research on academic rigor and current course taking patterns for students and discussed how the new common core state standards will impact curriculum and expectations for student coursework.