Final Progress Reports - Southern Regional Education Board

Chapter 5:
Texas Progress Report on College and Career Readiness
In 2006, Texas became the first state to mandate the development and use of college-readiness standards. The
standards were the centerpiece of the effort to create a P-16 continuum and marked the first formal partnership
between the Texas Education Agency, which oversees public education, and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating
Board, which oversees public higher education.
Texas was also the first state to engage in SREB’s Strengthening Statewide College/Career Readiness Initiative (SSCRI).
State Senator Florence Shapiro and Representative Rob Eissler recognized that the initiative was a significant
opportunity to support the state’s existing work to better prepare students for college and careers and to advance
the readiness agenda in Texas.
Texas formed a state leadership team in 2008 comprised of state policy-makers, legislative and education agency
staff members, and others to advise the college-readiness work in the state. In the following months, SREB conducted
site visits and interviews in the state. In January 2009, SREB presented a progress report to the leadership
team as a first step in providing policy and education leaders with an action agenda and implementation plan.
That report described the context for existing reform efforts, outlined key issues to be addressed, and concluded
with a set of specific findings and recommendations that were considered in developing the 2009 legislation and
in the subsequent implementation of the state’s college- and career-readiness initiatives. This progress report two
years later describes where Texas was when the state joined the SREB college-readiness project, summarizes interim
progress achieved by March 2011 in implementing the model agenda, and makes suggestions for future action.
Background
State policy has driven much of Texas’ college- and career-readiness work, and the Texas Legislature had a large role
in guiding the policy that shaped the initiatives. Initial legislation passed in 2006 was followed by other legislative
initiatives related to strengthening P-16 reform. From 2006 to 2009, policy-makers passed comprehensive legislation
requiring all Texas public schools to improve students’ readiness for college and careers.
Legislation in 2006 (House Bill 1) established a wide-ranging foundation for addressing college readiness
through higher standards, assessments, curriculum, professional development and accountability. This bill
required vertical teams of high school and college faculty, appointed by the commissioners of education
and higher education, to develop college-readiness content standards for English/language arts, mathematics,
science and social studies. Once approved by the commissioner of education and the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board, the Texas College and Career Readiness Standards (CCRS) — addressing
what students must know and be able to do to succeed in entry-level courses offered at institutions of
higher education — were to be incorporated into the state’s foundation curriculum by the state Board of
Education.
House Bill 2237 (2007) provided the basis for increased funding for dropout prevention and college- and
career-readiness programs and authorized a number of new initiatives to connect students who have traditionally
been underrepresented in higher education, at-risk students, and previous dropouts to college and
careers.
Senate Bill 1031 (2007) replaced existing ninth-, 10th- and 11th-grade high school assessments with endof-course
(EOC) exams in Algebra I and II, geometry, biology, chemistry, physics, English I through III,
world geography, world history, and U.S. history. Beginning with students first enrolled in grade nine or
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