1. Toward a Comprehensive View of College Readiness David T. Conley

2. What does it mean to be college and career ready? Ability to pursue postsecondary educational opportunities successfully, without remediation, and to have a variety of options open Career readiness assumes the need for additional education immediately or eventually Complexity of career options suggests need for broad academic foundation rather than specific job training

3. What are the key elements of a model of readiness? Who “owns” them? Four elements of college readiness Key cognitive strategies Key content mastery Academic behaviors (self-management) Contextual awareness (college knowledge) The educational system must agree on what constitutes the first two elements The system must be organized to provide an education to all students that develops student capabilities on these two elements The system must provide more support for first-time college attenders to master the second two elements in high school and college

4. What are the implications for policy makers, administrators? Understand the limitations of course-based requirements Promote high school course quality and consistency Specify college readiness standards Make the system more transparent Exemplars, model practices Value thinking in addition to content knowledge Promote local high school-college partnerships that lead to state policy solutions

5. What have states learned about K-12 postsecondary alignment? Separate governance and budgeting systems make alignment difficult Demand is leading to solutions for some students while states debate options and some students are excluded Dual enrollment, AP, IB, early college high schools, local partnerships Course-based and proficiency-based strategies for college readiness have not been reconciled or integrated

6. What are legislative perspectives on college and career readiness? Legislatures are still conflicted on the degree of state vs. local control of K-12 schooling This makes alignment more difficult to achieve Few legislatures direct postsecondary systems to align admissions, placement, entry-level courses Current system: multiple standards for admissions, placement, remediation, awarding credit Texas HB 1: Legislatively-directed alignment process Legislatures often focus on alignment as a means to reduce remediation not to increase success

7. How well have New Englanders defined readiness? Most states define readiness in terms of course titles Few states nationally adopt high school standards and exams that gauge postsecondary and career readiness Few states systematically identify key knowledge, skills, and behaviors needed for postsecondary and career success