Closing the Expectations Gap 2011: Sixth Annual 50-State Progress Report on the Alignment of High School Policies with the Demands of College and Careers - This is the sixth annual report in this series on closing the expectations gap. The report details state progress implementing the American Diploma Project policy agenda that advocates states to: (1) Align high school standards and tests with the knowledge and skills required for success after high school; (2) Require all high school graduates to complete a college- and career-ready curriculum so that earning a diploma assures a student is prepared for opportunities after high school; (3) Build assessments into the statewide system that measure students’ readiness for college and careers; and (4)Develop an accountability system that promotes college and career readiness. (Achieve, February 2011)...

The Condition of College and Career Readiness 2010 - Using ACT test scores and the ACT College Readiness Benchmarks, the Condition of College & Career Readiness reports provide national and state snapshots of college readiness of the graduating seniors of the class of 2010 who took the ACT in high school. Interactive map allows users to key into a particular state and review the detailed results. (American College Testing, 2010)...

Aligning Secondary and Postsecondary Education: Lessons from the Past - Educators have long expressed the need to align all levels of education and build a seamless, coordinated P-16 system. They argue that failing to do so has kept too many students from pursuing an advanced education and the nation from benefiting from a more educated populace. Such was the case in the late-19th and early-20th centuries, when educators first began to struggle with the proper alignment of the American educational structure. The argument continues and the need to align standards and missions between secondary and higher education. This brief considers this history and the lessons it offers for today. (Marc VanOverbeke, University of Wisconsin, November 2009)...

Career Pathways: Aligning Public Resources to Support Individual and Regional Economic Advancement in the Knowledge Economy - This paper discusses career pathways, a framework or approach by which regions can better align publicly supported systems and programs to build a knowledge-economy workforce customized to the needs of local labor markets. Career pathways are a series of connected education and training programs and support services that enable individuals to secure employment within a specific industry or occupational sector, and to advance over time to successively higher levels of education and employment in that sector. Each step on a career pathway is designed explicitly to prepare the participant for the next level of employment and education. The first in a planned series of reports, this report lays out the economic justification for career pathways, describes the process involved and sets the stage for the remaining reports. (Davis Jenkins, Workforce Strategy Center, August 2006) ...

Ready for College and Ready for Work: Same or Different? - This 12-page brief suggests that young people entering college or workforce training programs after high school graduation need to be educated to a comparable level of readiness in reading and math. This conclusion is reached by: (1) Identifying the level of reading and mathematics skills students need to be ready for entry-level jobs that require less than a bachelor’s degree, pay a wage sufficient to support a family and offer the potential for career advancement; (2) Comparing student performance on ACT tests that measure workforce readiness with those that measure college readiness; and (3) Determining if the levels of performance needed for college and workforce readiness are the same or different. The authors clarify that while there may be differences in the contexts in which these skills and knowledge are imparted, the level of expectation must be the same. (ACT, Inc., 2006) ...