Alignment

Youth CareerConnect Program: An Opportunity to Redefine the High School Experience and Increase College and Career Readiness

The Alliance for Excellent Education hosted a Webinar titled “Youth CareerConnect Program: An Opportunity to Redefine the High School Experience and Increase College and Career Readiness” on December 18, 2013. This Webinar provided information about the U.S. Department of Labor’s Youth CareerConnect (YCC) grant program and approaches to secondary school reform within the context of the program.

Beyond School: Earning Credit for Real-World Experiences

On December 16th, Education Week hosted a Webinar entitled “Beyond School: Earning Credit for Real-World Experiences.” This Webinar discusses an extended learning opportunity (ELO) initiative involving Providence, Rhode Island school district and its nonprofit partner Providence After School Alliance (PASA). In selected high schools throughout the district, students participate in community programs for digital badges and course credit.

Considerations for Collaborations to Support College and Career Readiness: A Facilitator’s Guide

This resource includes guiding questions and key considerations designed to help states explore the complex challenges inherent in facilitating cross-systems alignment through ongoing collaboration. Each question borrows from the systems research base derived from within and outside the field of education. The key considerations that accompany each question are designed to help users frame their own efforts within the conditions that the research base links to collaborative success.

Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions: The Innovation Lab Network State Framework for College, Career, and Citizenship Readiness, and Implications for State Policy

This policy brief identifies the essential qualities - or knowledge, skills, and dispositions (KSD) - that educators must cultivate in students to enable them to achieve college and career readiness (CCR).  The authors outline the neccesary developments and/or changes at the level of state policy that must be carried out to help students achieve CCR with respect to the identified KSD framework.

A Path to Alignment: Connecting K-12 and Higher Education Via the Common Core and the Degree Qualifications Profile

This report  describes the gap in the alignment between K-12 and higher education learning objectives and outcomes. The authors argue for the coordinated adoption and alignment of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the Degree Qualifications Profile (DQP) as a solution to this problem.

The Condition of College & Career Readiness, 2011

Using American College Testing (ACT) data, this study assessed whether students have the knowledge and skills necessary to enroll and succeed in a first-year course at a postsecondary institution. The report presents the percentage of students meeting the benchmarks in each area, alignment of student aspirations and workforce demands, graduates exposed to college entrance tests and students pursuing a core curriculum, overall academic achievement and behavior, and policies and practices to improve college readiness. 

The State of Career Technical Education: (Different) Standards for All

The National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium (NASDCTEc) recently undertook a large-scale research project to address the not-so-simple question of: how do states approach Career Technical Education (CTE) standards? With the increased attention given to CTE as a necessary strategy for engaging students, preparing our future workforce, and remaining competitive in a global economy, NASDCTEc believes it is important that stakeholders have a solid understanding of the system they are supporting.

Degree Completion Beyond Institutional Borders: Responding to the New Reality of Mobile and Nontraditional Learners

This report explains the process colleges, states, and other organizations use to recognize prior learning and transfer credit. The report also examines institutional policies that impede student progress toward earning college credits and transferring these credits through and among institutions. Additionally, examples of colleges and systems that allow for successful recognition of prior learning and transfer of credit are provided and best practices for using competencies and other methods for college degree attainment, other than just credit hours, are presented. 

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