ACE, Achieve and the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) today released Implementing the Common Core State Standards: An Action Agenda for Higher Education.
The brief calls on the higher education community to actively participate as new state standards are implemented for English language arts and mathematics for grades K-12.
Released in 2010, the Common Core State Standards are designed to ensure that high school graduates are ready to enter college or are prepared to being a career. Currently, 41 states and the District of Columbia have adopted the standards; most of these states will begin implementation this fall. ACE convened faculty experts to help review and shape the standards during their development.
The new issue brief provides a concise overview of the Common Core initiative and summarizes key areas in which higher education should engage as the standards are implemented, including:
- defining college readiness and aligning key policies for the school-to-college transition,
- developing K-12 assessments and aligning college placement policies with them,
- aligning K–12 and higher education curricula, and
- providing teacher preparation and in-service professional development.
A free PDF of the paper is available here.