EMBARGOED
Not For Release Before
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Briefing for States
January 28, 2015
Background
 This is the ninth year that Achieve has surveyed all 50 states and reported on
state progress in adopting college- and career-ready standards, graduation
requirements, assessments, and accountability and data systems.
 The report includes state-by-state results on the policies and practices of fortynine states and the District of Columbia that participated in this year’s survey.
 This year’s report includes information on policy adoption and implementation
as well as recommendations for states as they transition to new courses,
assessments, and accountability and public reporting systems that reflect their
college- and career-ready standards.
Achieve | 2014 Closing the Expectations Gap
2
The College- and Career-Ready Agenda
#1 - Align high school standards with the demands of college
and careers.
#2 - Require students to take a college- and career-ready
course of study to earn a high school diploma.
#3 - Develop statewide high school assessment systems
anchored to college- and career-ready expectations.
#4 - Develop reporting and accountability systems that
promote college and career readiness.
Achieve | 2014 Closing the Expectations Gap
3
#1 - College- and Career-Ready Standards
In the survey, Achieve asked states whether they have
developed and adopted high school academic content
standards in English and mathematics aligned to college- and
career-ready expectations.
Achieve | 2014 Closing the Expectations Gap
4
CCR Standards Are Not Self-Executing
 Expecting all students to complete a course of study aligned to the full set of CCR
expectations is one of the most important ways states can help ensure that
graduates will be academically prepared for their next steps.
 There are many different ways to pull the standards together to create engaging,
aligned and rigorous courses for students.
 Fewer than half — 23 states and the District of Columbia — expect all students to
take math and ELA/literacy courses that deliver all content standards (whether for
all students or as a default curriculum).
Achieve | 2014 Closing the Expectations Gap
5
#2 - College- and Career-Ready
Graduation Requirements
In the survey, Achieve asked states whether they expect all
students to complete a college- and career-ready course of
study in order to earn a high school diploma.
Achieve also asked states how and whether they monitor and
report on the implementation and effectiveness of its
graduation requirement policies.
Achieve | 2014 Closing the Expectations Gap
6
Establishing CCR Graduation Requirements
 Achieve considers states’ mathematics and ELA/literacy high school graduation
requirements to be at the CCR level if students are expected to complete a course
of study aligned with state-adopted CCR standards.
 States have structured their CCR graduation requirements in one of two ways:
 In states with Mandatory Requirements, students earn a HS diploma only if they
complete the required courses.
 In states with Default Requirements, students are automatically enrolled in the CCR
curriculum in 9th grade but allowed to opt out if their parents sign a waiver. States
establish a default approach in one of two ways, either with a “minimum diploma” or a
“personal modification” opt-out.
Achieve | 2014 Closing the Expectations Gap
7
As of 2014, 23 States and DC Have
Adopted Policies that Require Students to
Default Into a CCR Course of Study
Achieve | 2014 Closing the Expectations Gap
8
Monitoring and Reporting on the
Effectiveness of Graduation Requirements
Policies through Coursetaking Analyses
Achieve | 2014 Closing the Expectations Gap
9
Analyzing Course-taking Patterns Can
Answer Key Questions
 How many students in each 9th grade cohort have completed a CCR course of study
when they graduate?
 Are there significant gaps in successful participation in and completion of CCR courses of
study based on race, ethnicity, gender, family income, English language learner status
and special education status? Are the gaps closing?
 Are the students who have completed CCR courses of study better prepared to enter and
succeed in credit-bearing courses in postsecondary institutions and the military? Are they
less likely to need remediation? Are there significant differences in the impact and
benefits of CCR courses of study across demographic groups?
 In states where students can opt out of, modify or opt into the core CCR course of
study, what course and course sequences do students who do not complete the CCR
course of study take instead? Are they enrolled in coherent courses of study that align with
postsecondary pathways and/or technical training programs leading to career opportunities?
 Are there pathways and courses of study that disproportionately leave students poorly
prepared for postsecondary success — and with less successful postsecondary
outcomes?
Achieve | 2014 Closing the Expectations Gap
10
States That Report How Many Graduates
Complete a CCR Course of Study
States with opt-in or default
CCR requirements
States with mandatory CCR requirements with
cohorts graduating against requirements
Achieve | 2014 Closing the Expectations Gap
11
#3 - High School Assessments Anchored
to College- and Career-Ready Expectations
In the survey, Achieve asked states whether they administer to
all students an assessment of college- and career-ready
knowledge and skills capable of producing a readiness score
used by postsecondary institutions and employers.
Achieve also asked states about their efforts to link high school
assessments’ CCR determinations to postsecondary placement
decisions.
Achieve | 2014 Closing the Expectations Gap
12
In 2014, 36 States Will Administer Tests
Aligned with CCR Expectations
 Twenty-eight states and the District of Columbia, are administering PARCC or
Smarter Balanced in grades 3-8 or grades 3-8 and high school. These
assessments have been explicitly designed to align with the CCSS.
 Thirty-six states are administering an assessment in high school capable of
generating a score that reflects students’ readiness for first-year credit bearing
courses in ELA and mathematics.
 Twenty-two states are administering a CCR assessment aligned with state standards
that can generate a score that can be used by postsecondary for placement into firstyear credit-bearing courses in math and/or ELA/literacy. In nearly all cases these states
are members of the PARCC or Smarter Balanced consortia.
 Seventeen states will administer a college admissions test such as the ACT or SAT to
all students in addition to the other statewide assessments. Three of these states will
also administer PARCC or Smarter Balanced.
Achieve | 2014 Closing the Expectations Gap
13
Postsecondary Use of CCR Assessments
 7 states have a
process/plan/timetable to
adopt a policy linking high
school assessments’ CCR
determinations to
postsecondary placement
decisions.
 20 states have a plan to
create such a policy.
 23 states do not yet have a
process/plan/timetable
Achieve | 2014 Closing the Expectations Gap
14
Aligning Standards, Courses/Content
Expectations, and Assessments
Only a handful of states will both require all students to take courses/content that deliver
the CCR standards/CCSS and assess students on that content. The rest of states fall short
in one of four ways:
1.
State requires all students to have the underlying CCR coursework but does not administer
assessments tied to these courses.
2.
State assesses all students on advanced content (e.g., using the Algebra II/Integrated Math III EOC
exam or Smarter Balanced 11th grade math comprehensive assessment) without requiring them to
have the underlying coursework.
3.
State administers EOC exam in Algebra II/Integrated Math III or English 11. However, the state does
not require all students to take this assessment (i.e., state doesn’t require the course of all students
or districts have the option to administer).
4.
State neither requires all students to have the underlying advanced coursework through nor
administers the assessment that ties to it (e.g., the highest level math end-of-course exam delivered
to all students is Geometry or Algebra I).
Achieve | 2014 Closing the Expectations Gap
15
What Assessments are States Administering
in 2014-15?
 Despite all states having adopted CCR standards for all students, state math and
ELA expectations (as expressed through assessment and course requirements) for
all students are very different.
 Achieve asked states to report all of the assessments they would administer in
math, ELA/literacy and science in grades 3–8 and high school (see
www.achieve.org/ClosingtheExpectionsGap2014 for state-specific information).
Achieve | 2014 Closing the Expectations Gap
16
#4 - Reporting & Accountability Systems that
Promote College and Career Readiness
In the survey, Achieve asked states whether they have
incorporated a set of college- and career-ready indicators into
their data, reporting and accountability systems.
Achieve | 2014 Closing the Expectations Gap
17
Key College- and Career-Ready
Accountability Indicators and Uses
INDICATORS
the percentage of students who...
USES
Earn a college- and
career-ready diploma
Annual school-level
public reporting
Score college-ready on
high school assessments
Set statewide
performance goals
Earn college credit
while in high school
Provide school-level
incentives to improve
Are required to take remedial
courses in college
Factor into accountability
formula
Achieve | 2014 Closing the Expectations Gap
18
Six States Publicly Report and Include in
Accountability System at least two CCR
Indicators
37 states and the DC
publicly report or include
in their school
accountability formulas
at least one CCR
indicator — three more
states than last year.
Achieve | 2014 Closing the Expectations Gap
19
Use of College- and
Career-Ready Indicators
over Time
 Nearly all indicators/uses saw growth
 Largest gains in the CCR assessment
indicator: Public reporting (+5 states)
and including the CCR assessment in
the state’s accountability formula (+7
states)
 Achieve found that over half of the
states publicly report or include at least
one career-focused indicator in their
accountability systems.
 Two states — HI and TX — publicly
report school-level data on each of the
four indicators. Six additional states —
DE, IN, KY, MA, NC, and OH — now
report school-level data for three of the
indicators
Achieve | 2014 Closing the Expectations Gap
20
www.achieve.org/ClosingtheExpectationsGap2014
Marie O’Hara (mohara@achieve.org)
(202) 419-1562
Jenny Taylor (jtaylor@achieve.org)
(202) 419-1547
Achieve | 2014 Closing the Expectations Gap
21