Destination Known

Valuing College AND Career Readiness in State Accountability Systems

The destination is known: success for all students in life after high school. Students will take multiple paths to get there, and most will need postsecondary education or training beyond high school to have rewarding careers. States’ education strategies and accountability systems must support this by more accurately measuring and more prominently valuing college and career readiness.

To help inform this work and take advantage of the Every Student Succeeds Act, Education Strategy Group (ESG) convened an Accountability Workgroup of state and national experts with a clear charge: provide guidance on the measures states should adopt to make college and career readiness the main driver of accountability systems.

The report outlines key actions states can take to implement these measures today, or in the future, including:

  • Highlight College- and Career-Ready Measures in High School Public Report Cards
  • Align K-12, Higher Education and Workforce Goals
  • Make College- and Career-Ready Measures Count  in School Accountability Determinations.

Read our guest blog at Flypaper, or see more coverage from Education Week and and The 74 Million.

The report is a part of CCSSO’s Career Readiness Initiative, which was launched in 2015 and provides direct support to states as they seek to elevate and improve career readiness programs in K-12 public schools.

This Initiative is based on the recommendations outlined in a task force report, Opportunities and Options: Making Career Preparation Work for Students. In 2016, JPMorgan Chase collaborated with CCSSO, ESG and Advance CTE to build on this work through its New Skills for Youth Initiative and dedicated $35 million in grant funding to help states transform career readiness in their schools.