Keeping the End in Mind: The Rigor of College and Career Readiness in Virginia

1. Keeping the End in Mind: The Rigor of College and Career Readiness in Virginia Dr. Linda Wallinger Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Virginia Department of Education July 1, 2012

2. Why College and Career Readiness? • Everyone should have the opportunity to go to college if he or she has the desire. • Most employers will likely provide or expect some kind of postsecondary training and continuous learning for career readiness.

3. Preparation for College and Career Readiness • In order to succeed in careers and college, our students must have the preparation that ensures them that opportunity. • AP, dual enrollment, and IB courses • Associate’s Degree concurrent with high school diploma • Industry credentials • Apprenticeships or career-related training programs • Two- and four-year college

4. Purposes of K-12 Education • Helping students to: • Master academic content; • Cultivate their intellect; • Develop communication, inquiry, and reasoning skills; • Achieve personal excellence; and • Become responsible citizens. • Many of these purposes are evident in the vision, mission and goals of school districts across the nation.

5. Virginia Board of Education Goals • The Virginia Board of Education has as one of its goals: • Expanded Opportunities to Learn: . . . . Our schools will lead the nation in rigor and quality and our students will compete and excel in postsecondary education and/or in the global workplace. • One way this goal has manifested itself is in Virginia’s College and Career Readiness Initiative.

6. Virginia’s College and Career Readiness Initiative • 2007 - Board of Education authorized the Department of Education to conduct studies to determine factors contributing to success in postsecondary education. • The Mathematics Standards of Learning that were adopted in 2009 and the English Standards of Learning adopted in 2010 reflected the results of these analyses, along with content and skills introduced by the Common Core State Standards.

7. College and Career Ready Performance Expectations • Virginia’s Standards of Learning establish expectations for what students should know and be able to do at the end of each grade or course in all content areas in Virginia. • The next step involved the development of college and career ready performance expectations in English and mathematics that define the level of achievement students must reach to be academically prepared for success in entry-level credit-bearing college courses.

8. College and Career Ready Performance Expectations • Developed with involvement of faculty from Virginia’s two- and four-year colleges and universities, members of the business community, and high school educators •  The Department of Education, the State Council of Higher Education, and the Virginia Community College System have endorsed the performance expectations as the achievement and performance levels students must reach to be academically prepared for success in entry-level credit-bearing college courses

9. Senior Seminar or Capstone Courses in English and Mathematics • Virginia has developed senior seminar or capstone courses in English and mathematics. • Support students who need additional instruction to meet college and career ready performance expectations before leaving high school – students who are “college intending but not yet college ready.” • Four public universities are providing professional development and instructional materials to support teachers of the seminar courses.

10. Senior Seminar or Capstone Courses in English and Mathematics • The courses help students reach higher levels of critical reading, strong writing, and effective communication skills in English – and in mathematics, to apply advanced mathematical skills and reasoning. • They are intended to be taught in such a way as to simultaneously reinforce readiness skills and dispositions in adaptability and flexibility, creativity and innovation, leadership, team work, collaboration, and work ethic.

11. Foundation for Success in College and Careers • The content and skills stated in the standards and performance expectations are reinforced by the involvement of higher education and business and industry. • Teachers will need to develop instructional strategies that help students develop the habits of mind that allow them to transform their school learning into postsecondary success.

12. Habits of Mind for Success in College and Careers • Clear oral and written expression • Ability to discern applicability and credibility of information • Ability to draw inferences and reach conclusions independently • Analytical thinking and problem solving • An inquisitive nature • Willingness to accept critical feedback • Openness to possible failures • Desire and ability to cope with frustrating and ambiguous learning tasks • Ability to use technology as an effective tool to assist in the learning process Higher education faculty and business leaders have expressed these habits of mind in terms such as:

13. Preparing Our Students for A Changing World • We need to develop strategies that will position our students to compete successfully across a broad spectrum of talents, interests, and needs. • Certainly, students need basic knowledge in all content areas to establish the foundation for a strong international presence. • But they also need to develop skills that help them create and innovate to meet the challenges of the changing world.

14. Virginia’s College and Career Readiness Initiative More information about Virginia’s College and Career Readiness Initiative and the College and Career Ready Performance Expectations is available at the Department of Education’s Web site at : http://www.doe.virginia.gov/instruction/college_career_readiness/index.shtml

15. Resources Used In This Presentation • Conley, D. T. (2005). College Knowledge: What it Really Takes for Students to Succeed and What We Can Do to Get Them Ready. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Summary at http://www.avid.org/dl/res_research/research_collegeknowledge.pdf. (Retrieved April 30, 2012.) •  Virginia Board of Education Web Site. http://www.doe.virginia.gov/boe/index.shtml. (Retrieved May 6, 2010.) •  Virginia Department of Education. College and Career Readiness Web Site. http://www.doe.virginia.gov/instruction/college_career_readiness/index.shtml. (Retrieved May 6, 2012.)