Achieve, Inc.

2. Achieve, Inc. Created in 1996 by governors and concerned CEOs Bipartisan, independent, non-profit Work with states to improve the quality of standards, tests and accountability systems Organized 1999, 2001, and 2005 National Education Summits

3. Achieve’s purpose is to: Prepare all young people for postsecondary education, work and citizenship by raising academic standards and achievement in America's schools.

4. Achieve’s work: help states benchmark their standards, assessments and accountability systems against the best in the country and the world build partnerships that allow states to work together to improve teaching and learning and raise student achievement provide sustained public leadership and advocacy for the movement to raise standards and improve student performance

5. American Diploma Project • How well prepared are our students for the world after high school? • What does it mean to be prepared for college and work? • Do we expect all of our students to be prepared? • Closing the expectations gap — what will it take?

6. American Diploma Project • How well prepared are our • students?

7. U.S. high school graduation rates have dropped over past 20 years Public high school graduation rates, 1981–2000 Source: Mortenson, T., “Chance for College by Age 19 by State in 2000,” Postsecondary Education Opportunity: The Environmental Scanning Research Letter of Opportunity for Postsecondary Education, No. 123, The Mortenson Research Center on Public Policy, September 2002.

8. High school graduation rate: United States trails most countries Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Education at a Glance 2004, 2004.

9. A high school diploma is not the last educational stop required Share of new jobs, 2000–10 • Jobs that require at least some postsecondary education will make up more than two-thirds of new jobs. Source: Carnevale, Anthony P. and Donna M. Desrochers, Standards for What? The Economic Roots of K–16 Reform, Educational Testing Service, 2003.

10. Change in the Distribution of Education in Jobs, 1973 v. 2001 -9% +16% -23% +16% Source: Carnevale, Anthony P. and Donna M. Desrochers, Standards for What? The Economic Roots of K–16 Reform, ETS, 2003.

11. Too many U.S. students drop out of the education pipeline Source: National Center for Public Policy & Higher Education, Policy Alert, April 2004. Data are estimates of pipeline progress rather than actual cohort.

12. Only about half of African American and Latino students graduate from high school in four years On-time high school graduation, 2002 Source: Manhattan Institute, Public High School Graduation and College-Readiness Rates: 1991–2002, February 2005, http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/ewp_08.htm.

13. College bound does not necessarily mean college ready Percentage of U.S. first-year students in two-year and four-year institutions requiring remediation • Nearly three in 10 first-year students are placed immediately into a remedial college course. Source: National Center for Education Statistics, Remedial Education at Degree-Granting Postsecondary Institutions in Fall 2000, 2003.

14. Very few high school graduates are “college ready” Source: Manhattan Institute, Public High School Graduation and College-Readiness Rates: 1991–2002, February 2005, http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/ewp_08.htm.

15. Too few minority students in U.S. graduate from high school “college ready” Source: Manhattan Institute, Public High School Graduation and College-Readiness Rates: 1991–2002, February 2005, http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/ewp_08.htm.

16. Most U.S. college students who take remedial courses fail to earn degrees Percentage not earning degree by type of remedial coursework • Many college students who need remediation, especially in reading and math, do not earn either an associate’s or a bachelor’s degree. Source: National Center for Education Statistics, The Condition of Education, 2004.

17. Clearly, we’ve got a problem • Students are following all the rules; • Meeting all of the requirements for a HS diploma; and still-- • Falling through the cracks between high school and the expectations of postsecondary institutions.

18. American Diploma Project • What does it take to be • prepared for postsecondary • education and work?

19. American Diploma Project • Partnership of Achieve, Inc.; The Education Trust; and the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation. • Partnered with Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nevada and Texas. • Involved wide variety of K–12, higher education and business representatives. • Key finding: Unprecedented convergence of skills required for success in college and work. • Created end-of-high-school benchmarks to convey the knowledge and skills graduates will need to be successful in college and the workplace.

20. Expectations are the same for both college & “good jobs” • The knowledge & skills that high school graduates will need in order to be successful in college are the same as those they will need in order to be successful in a “good job” that • pays enough to support a family well above the poverty level, • provides benefits, & • offers clear pathways for career advancement through further education & training.

21. American Diploma Project Methodology • Coming from the workplace perspective: • Defining workplace expectations • Securing input from employers on preliminary workplace expectations

22. What does it take to succeed in “good” jobs? • ADP research found that: • 84 percent of highly paid professionals took Algebra II or higher in high school. • Employees in vast majority of good jobs took four years of grade-level English. • Employers emphasize importance of workers being able to think creatively and logically and to identify and solve problems. • Fastest growing occupations require some education beyond high school (e.g., certificate, bachelor’s degree, associate degree, on-the-job training).

23. American Diploma Project Methodology • Coming from the postsecondary perspective: • Defining postsecondary expectations for credit-bearing work • Test content analyses • Meetings with higher education faculty

24. American Diploma Project Methodology • Meetings with 2-year and 4-year college faculty: • Define math content and skills needed for success in credit-bearing courses • Articulate and prioritize these competencies • Determine degree to which state standards contain these competencies • Identify gaps

25. American Diploma Project • Convergence of workplace and postsecondary findings: • Similar intellectual demands • Some variation in relative emphasis • Importance of reasoning and problem-solving skills

26. ADP Post-secondary Institution Study:Key findings • In math, graduates need knowledge and skills typically taught in Algebra I, Algebra II and Geometry, as well as some Data Analysis and Statistics. • In English, graduates need strong reading, writing and oral communication skills equal to four years of grade-level coursework, as well as research and logical reasoning skills often associated with honors courses.

27. In math: Four years Content equivalent to Algebra I and II, Geometry, and a fourth course such as Statistics or Precalculus In English: Four years Content equivalent to four years of grade-level English or higher (i.e., honors or AP English) To be college and work ready, students need to complete a rigorous sequence of courses To be college and work ready, high school graduates need:

28. American Diploma Project • The final steps: • Synthesizing preliminary workplace and postsecondary expectations for review • Convening content area expert/employer panels • Gathering tasks and assignments from employers and postsecondary faculty

29. In English, the benchmarks cover: Language Communication Writing Research Logic Informational text Media Literature Cross-cutting college/workplace tasks In math, the benchmarks cover: Number sense and numerical operations Algebra Geometry Data interpretations, statistics and probability Math reasoning skills Cross-cutting college/workplace tasks ADP expectations ensure high school graduates are prepared to succeed

30. American Diploma Project Mathematics Benchmarks • Benchmarks, supported by examples • Asterisks used to identify content recommended for all but required for students planning to take calculus • Technology as an important tool in problem solving but not as a replacement for fluency and accuracy in computation

31. American Diploma Project Mathematics Benchmarks • How are they being used? • Benchmarking state high school standards • Comparative analyses in states embarking upon the development of college-readiness standards • Basis of comparison in analysis of tests • Backmapping to create sequences of high school courses

32. K-12 progression and high school course descriptions • ADP benchmarks are for all students. • They are cumulative— “end-of-high school” (but not through calculus) • In mathematics, we are currently “backmapping” from end of high school to create a K-12 progression (building on pre-existing K-8) • Developing course descriptions as well

33. American Diploma Project Mathematics Benchmarks • So how are we “unpacking” the ADP benchmarks? • Identifying assumed prerequisite knowledge and skills • Defining a “universe” of content and skills that “bleeds into” middle school • Creating a progression of knowledge and skills • “Evening out” the grain size

34. American Diploma Project Backmapping Progression • Where are we now? • Draft strands of the universe of content • Working to parse expectations into course sequences - traditional and integrated

35. American Diploma Project • What do we expect of our • high school graduates? • Standards • Course-taking requirements • Assessments

36. Do state graduation requirements reflect “college- and work-ready” content? • To answer this question, Achieve: • Reviewed minimum high school course requirements in all 50 states. • Compared each state’s requirements to what students need to be successful in college and the workplace.

37. 44 states require students to take certain courses to graduate from high school

38. 23 states require Algebra I

39. 16 states require Geometry

40. Only 8 states require Algebra II

41. A strong high school curriculum* improves college completion and narrows gaps 13% 30% *Completing at least Algebra II plus other courses. Source: Adapted from Adelman, Clifford, U.S. Department of Education, Answers in the Toolbox, 1999.

42. Only four in 10 high school students complete a college- and work-ready math curriculum • Taking a math course beyond Algebra II* by graduation (2002) *Trigonometry or Precalculus. Source: Council of Chief State School Officers, State Indicators of Science and Mathematics Education 2002, 2003, p. 27.

43. Do assessments measure “college-ready” skills? • Half the states require students to pass one or more exams to earn a high school diploma. What does it take to pass these tests?

44. The tests Achieve analyzed Source: Achieve, Inc., Do Graduation Tests Measure Up? A Closer Look at State High School Exit Exams, 2004.

45. Good news: States are measuring algebra and geometry Source: Achieve, Inc., Do Graduation Tests Measure Up? A Closer Look at State High School Exit Exams, 2004.

46. Bad news: States tend to measure lower-level content Source: Achieve, Inc., Do Graduation Tests Measure Up? A Closer Look at State High School Exit Exams, 2004.

47. Students can pass state math tests knowing content typically taught in 7th and 8th grade internationally • Grade when most international students cover content required to pass state math tests FL MD MA NJ OH TX Source: Achieve, Inc., Do Graduation Tests Measure Up? A Closer Look at State High School Exit Exams, 2004.

48. American Diploma Project • What will it take to close the expectations gap?

49. ADP Network: 22 states committed to improving student achievement

50. Closing the expectations gap requires states to take action • Align high school standards and assessments with the knowledge and skills required for success in postsecondary education and work. • Administer a college- and work-ready assessment, aligned to state standards, to high school students so they get clear and timely information and are able to address critical skill deficiencies while still in high school. • Require all students to take a college- and work-ready curriculum to earn a high school diploma. • Hold high schools accountable for graduating students who are college ready, and hold postsecondary institutions accountable for their success once enrolled.