Applications were due July 11, 2008. Please check back at a later date for more information.

• Application and Instructions
• Invitation Letter

Since the 2005 National Education Summit on High Schools, states have made significant progress closing the gap between what is expected of students in high school and the expectations they face in college and 21st century jobs. Nineteen states have put new high school standards in place aligned with college and workplace demands, and nineteen states and the District of Columbia have raised graduation requirements to the college and career readiness level. No state, however, has yet transformed its accountability system to make graduating all students college and career-ready the central priority, and very few have addressed the capacity challenges inherent in achieving this goal. As states across the country work to build the talent needed to compete in the global marketplace and to fill jobs important to the vitality of their communities, fully aligned systems that support college and career readiness for all students will be critical.

To support states committed to the college and career readiness policy agenda, several national organizations have joined forces to offer a multi-state Institute. The College & Career-Ready Policy Institute (Institute) is an opportunity designed to help states put an assessment and accountability system in place that fully reflects and supports the goal of all students graduating college and career- ready. The Institute will also help states develop strategies for building the capacity of districts and schools to help students successfully reach higher standards. Achieve, Data Quality Campaign, EducationCounsel, Jobs for the Future and the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices will work together to provide guidance, advice and support to participating state teams.

The Institute is being sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and will target states that participate in or agree to join the American Diploma Project (ADP) Network, a coalition of states whose governors, K-12, higher education and business leaders have all committed to aligning K-12 standards, graduation requirements, assessments and accountability policies with the demands of college and careers. The Institute is designed to help those states that have already aligned K-12 academic standards and high school graduation requirements with the demands of college and careers and are ready to take next steps. The partner organizations will make a concerted effort to work with other key constituency organizations that are supporting a college and career-ready agenda in order to ensure maximum coordination of policy agendas and support to states.

Policy Outcomes for the Institute
To ensure that all students graduate college and career-ready, states must build valid and aligned accountability systems as part of a broader policy framework. By participating in a series of cross-state Leadership Sessions and receiving tailored in-state technical assistance, states will develop:

• Clear goals for improving high school graduation, college and career-readiness and postsecondary attainment rates.
• Develop statewide performance goals that are clear and transparent (e.g. increases in the percentage of students who graduate college and career-ready; graduate on-time; enter postsecondary education, succeed in credit-bearing courses and ultimately attain a postsecondary credential).

• A clear proposal for a comprehensive assessment system that is aligned with college and career-ready standards and that measures student progress over time.
• Adopt college and career-ready assessment(s) in high school as the “anchor test(s)” of the entire statewide assessment system.
• Align all summative tests, preK-10, with the anchor college and career-ready assessment(s) so that these tests indicate whether students are on track to graduate college and career-ready.
• Assess the full range of skills needed for college and career readiness—through better summative tests, more performance measures and better classroom-based assessment.

• A clear proposal for a coherent system of accountability that makes college and career readiness a central priority that incentivizes proper actions, promotes accurate judgments, and drives effective supports and interventions.
• Expand the system of indicators used to report on school progress and hold high schools accountable to include indicators such as cohort graduation rates, course taking, performance on college and career-ready assessments, and college-going and success.
• Set clear expectations for performance on the expanded set of indicators.
• Use assessments and additional data to drive state accountability determinations, which in turn trigger diagnostic evaluations and differentiated consequences to create school- and district-specific programs of supports and interventions to bolster student success.
• Build a statewide data system that allows student records to be shared between K-12 and postsecondary education and that provides essential information to schools, districts and policymakers necessary to support the college and career readiness goals.

• A design for a statewide system of supports and interventions to assist low performing districts and schools and ensure continuous improvement for all schools and districts around the state.
• Build a system of supports, and interventions that correspond with data-driven accountability processes and diagnostic evaluations and that include targeted interventions, comprehensive school reform, and turnaround/replacement – based on the degree, nature, and timeline of underperformance.
• Develop an early warning indicator system to be used to trigger appropriate supports and interventions.
• Establish a process of ensuring that the appropriate supports and interventions are provided in the full range of schools identified as underperforming, including the management of a statewide system of supports and interventions and efficient and effective delivery systems.

• Strategies for providing educational options and supports to boost the achievement of low-income students and other groups at high-risk of not achieving college-ready standards and college success.
• Create an expanded set of education pathways that include a range of supports to improve the academic performance, graduation rates, and postsecondary success of all students.
• Develop an array of effective pathways to college and career readiness and access, such as new or redesigned schools that integrate secondary and postsecondary learning and access to dual enrollment, Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate programs, and opportunities for credit recovery and acceleration for off-track and out-of-school youth that combine college and career-ready expectations, academic advising and social supports.
• Develop state-level structures and capacity to support the scale-up and sustainability of educational options.
• Establish state-level secondary/postsecondary structures and organizational capacities needed to support the scale-up and sustainability of quality schools and pathways.

Benefits and Support for Participating States
Participation in the College & Career-Ready Policy Institute will accelerate states’ work, provide access to national and state experts on college and career-ready policy, and foster cross-fertilization among participating states as they pursue this critical agenda. The national partners will provide essential support to states as they think through how best to design and implement these policies, as well the mechanisms and strategies for sustaining long-term support for the agenda. Participating state leaders will also develop strong networks with peers in other participating states, providing additional support for implementation efforts over time.

Tailored state-specific and in-state technical assistance will occur throughout the Institute to provide additional access to expertise, as well as time to develop and progress towards the policy outcomes. Throughout the Institute there will be an explicit effort among the partner organizations to provide customized support for each state in developing a policy plan and timeline, examining potential policy solutions, and monitoring state progress in achieving the policy outcomes.

National Partner Organization Commitments to Participating States

• Create a policy framework outlining the key principles and benchmarks of each policy strand.
• Provide strategic guidance and technical assistance on the preparation of a state-specific policy plan that addresses the Institute policy outcomes.
• Organize a series of Leadership Sessions for high level state teams that provide access to national and state experts, offer opportunities for cross-state fertilization, and allow focused state team planning time.
• Offer ongoing access to a state-specific technical assistance team, including a series of in-state visits to provide assistance with policy development.
• Provide access to a suite of additional resources, tools and research to support the Institute’s policy goals.
• Work with other key constituency organizations to ensure maximum coordination of policy agendas and support to states.

Participating States’ Commitments

• Develop a state-specific policy plan that effectively addresses the Institute’s policy outcomes in a manner consistent with the state’s own context and goals, and formally present the plan to the appropriate governing bodies that will be responsible for directing any state action toward implementation of the policies.
• Establish a cross-sectoral leadership team comprised of the governor’s representative, the K-12 chief state school officer, the state higher education executive officer, business leadership, and legislative or state board leadership as well as the key deputies in both the K-12 and higher education agencies responsible for policy in the areas targeted by this Institute. This team will establish the priorities, timetable and overall direction for the state’s work. They will participate in a series of three Leadership Sessions over two years that combine planning time, tools, expert advice from partner organizations, networking and cross-fertilization among states.
• Establish a cross-sectoral working team consisting of a subset of the state’s leadership team as well as additional staff from within the departments and agencies. This team will consist of senior staff who will lead the work on a day-to-day basis. The working team will meet in-state a minimum of eight times over the two year period to develop a concrete state specific policy plan, engage in detailed conversations about the policy options, and maintain the momentum and direction set by the state leadership team.
• Identify a team leader to serve as the primary point of contact throughout the Institute. The team lead should serve on both the leadership team and the working team.

State Selection Process
All states that meet the eligibility criteria are invited and encouraged to apply. Interested states will submit an application no later than July 11th. The application asks states to demonstrate their commitment to the goals of the Institute, describe the strategy for taking advantage of this opportunity, and illustrate their level of readiness to advance the work (see separate Application). Achieve, Data Quality Campaign, EducationCounsel, Jobs for the Future, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will review the applications and choose up to 8 states that are best-positioned to benefit from the expertise and services that the Institute will provide.

Minimum State Eligibility Criteria:

1. State has gone through a formal process to align its high school academic standards in mathematics and English language arts with the skills necessary for both entry into credit-bearing college courses and success in entry-level, well-paying jobs.
2. State has raised graduation requirements to the college and career-ready level, requiring students to complete a college and career-ready curriculum in order to earn a diploma, including challenging mathematics through at least Algebra II or its equivalent and four years of rigorous English.
3. State has a well developed longitudinal data system that supports this college and career-ready agenda; this entails having in place, or having an explicit timeline for implementing within the next 12 months at least 7 of the DQC’s ten essential elements.
4. State participates in the ADP Network or agrees to do so if selected.

Expected State Costs for Participation
State teams will bear no costs for hotel, meals, and meeting materials associated with the Institute’s Leadership Sessions. The state is responsible for paying for travel and transportation costs. The state is expected to dedicate appropriate staff time to the activities within the Institute as well as to the state’s policy development process.

For greatest success, each state is strongly encouraged to designate a point person to serve as the main contact for the Institute and the state-specific technical assistance team. This individual should be well positioned to leverage communication and work with the leadership team, as well as with board and agency staff, legislators and education stakeholders critical to advancing the work within the state.

National partners are committed to supporting states in this work, and understand the special considerations some states are experiencing due to budget conditions. If there are specific questions or concerns regarding paying for travel and other transportation costs, please contact Alissa Peltzman at 202-419-1540 or apeltzman@achieve.org.