The Vision Project & Pathway to PARCC Richard M. Freeland, Commissioner Massachusetts Department of Higher Education PARCC Massachusetts Launch Conference | October 28, 2011

2 A Public Agenda for Higher Education in Massachusetts  To rank among the top-performing states in five key areas of educational performance  College participation of high school graduates  College completion of the students we enroll  Student Learning on campus-level and national assessments of learning  Workforce Alignment of our degree programs with key areas of workforce need in the state’s economy  Elimination of disparities among different ethnic/racial, economic and gender groups  To annually report publicly our standing in the five key areas

 College-going rates of all recent Massachusetts high school graduates, with national comparisons.  College-going rates of recent Massachusetts public high school graduates, with disaggregation by student population groups.  College readiness of freshmen in public colleges and universities who were recent high school graduates (based on percent placing into remedial education) disaggregated by Math and English. College Participation: The Metrics

 Content Knowledge  Students complete a rigorous curriculum with excellent teachers. “Massachusetts—where everyone reads and everyone counts.”  College Knowledge  Students understand what it means to be prepared for college and the process for getting there  College Connections  Students have college campus experiences prior to graduation from high school  Data  Educators and other stakeholders access data needed to inform change Areas of Strategic Emphasis

Pathway to  Charged to develop next-generation assessments linked to common core state standards  $186M RTTT grant  Two multi-state consortia  PARCC  Smarter/Balanced  Massachusetts – lead PARCC state Florida – fiscal agent Achieve – project management partner What is PARCC?

Pathway to PARCC’s Potential for Massachusetts Clearer signal on what it means to be “college ready” Students on faster track to completion, less need for remediation Better assessment tool for 21 st century learning

Pathway to  Governing Board Steering Committee  Advisory Committee on College Readiness  K-12, Higher Education, and Content Faculty Leadership Teams  Technical Advisory and Design and Development Committees, Technical Working Groups PARCC National Oversight

Pathway to Massachusetts PARCC Organization