Final Progress Reports - Southern Regional Education Board

high schools must advise students of deficiencies, provide 12th-grade students with appropriate postsecondary
preparatory instruction prior to high school graduation and require them to complete the instruction.
The curriculum must include Florida’s Postsecondary Readiness Competencies.
The Kentucky Legislature directed K-12 to create a new school accountability system, and in April 2011,
the state Board approved a roadmap for developing a next-generation, college- and career-ready accountability
system. The CPE must assist the KDE to ensure that content standards in reading and math for introductory
college courses are aligned with high school content standards. Legislation also set aggressive
goals for CPE to reduce the college remediation rates of recent high school graduates and to increase the
college completion rates of students in one or more remedial classes. The CPE and the KDE developed a
unified plan to promote college and career readiness and degree completion.
In Maryland, elements of a comprehensive accountability policy for K-12 and higher education are
included in the Governor’s P-20 College Success Task Force final report. The report suggests a process to
develop a growth model of accountability and strategies to create a robust accountability system for college
and career readiness, including collaboration between the State Department of Education and MHEC to
develop an accountability model that rewards growth in terms of developing and retaining college- and
career-ready students.
Texas’ new accountability system will emphasize college- and career-ready performance on the new State of
Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR). Schools will be responsible for increasing the percentages
of students who achieve readiness standards on certain EOCs and helping students in earlier grade
levels achieve scores on math and English EOC tests that predict success in subsequent levels of related
course work. Legislation in 2011 requires the TEA and THECB to report on college-readiness programs
that offer early assessments and interventions. Additionally, the postsecondary sector has new reporting
responsibilities related to assessments and placement.
Virginia’s links accountability to the Standards of Quality (SOQ) prescribed by the state Board of Education
for the state’s public schools. The state is identifying additional accountability measures to help
schools increase the percentage of students who graduate and demonstrate the skills needed to succeed in
postsecondary programs. Students who take capstone classes will be tested through the SOL and required
to meet college- and career-readiness cut scores in order to be considered college-ready. The VDOE and
VCCS have several teams reviewing K-12 and community college standards to ensure the standards are
aligned.
West Virginia has no policy holding the Department of Education and the West Virginia Higher Education
Policy Commission accountable for developing and implementing a college- and career-readiness
agenda or for its results. The closest legislative directive was in 2007, which holds the WVDOE, schools
and school districts responsible for student performance with the state’s 21st Century Learning initiative,
while 2008 legislation addressed state goals and accountability for higher education.
Summary and Observations
Six states — Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia — participated in SREB’s Strengthening
Statewide College/Career Readiness Initiative, or SSCRI. Each state entered this project at a different stage in
its college-readiness work; all made significant progress on most components — some states moving further than
others in some areas. The efforts of these states provide several important lessons for others interested in pursuing
a statewide college-readiness initiative.
1) There is strong evidence that SREB’s model agenda works. Preliminary results from the states and comments
from the external review panel suggest that SREB’s model agenda is effective for several reasons:
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