The Educational Policy Improvement Center recently completed a study on the Common Core State Standards – Reaching the Goal: The Applicability and Importance of the Common Core State Standards to College and Career Readiness. A national sample of college instructors were asked to rate the applicability of each Common Core State Standard in comparison to their courses. If the standard was applicable, they were asked to rate its importance. The study analyzes ratings from instructors of courses at two- and four-year degree-granting institutions, including courses commonly required for two-year certificates that would be necessary to enter a career pathway. Twenty-five courses in seven major subject areas - English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Science, Business Management, Computer Technology, and Healthcare - were chosen to be representative examples of common offerings.

Pathway to a Pre-K-12 Future

Transforming Public Education: Pathway to a Pre-K-12 Future, Pre-K Now’s final report, challenges the nation’s policy makers to move from a K-12 to a Pre-K-12 education system. This vision is grounded in rigorous research and informed by interviews with education experts, as well as lessons learned through the Pew Center’s decade-long initiative to advance high quality pre-kindergarten for all three and four year olds. The report argues that states need to maintain and increase their investments in prekindergarten programs and to take the Pre-K focus on the whole child and move it up through the K-12 system. At the federal level, the report continues to advocate for incorporating Pre-K into a newly reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

Time is the Enemy

A new report by Complete College America, Time is the Enemy, explores why today's college students aren't graduating and outlines policies that could improve completion rates. The report claims to be the first to include data about every post-secondary student in the 33 participating states, including part time and transfer students, and offers five essential steps that states can take now to help increase student success in higher education.

*Count all students, set state- and campus-level goals, and uniformly measure progress and success.

*Reduce the time it takes to earn a certificate or degree.

*Transform remediation so that students earn — as quickly as possible — college credits that count.

*Restructure programs to fit busy lives.

Charting Pathways to Completion

This Community College Research Center paper uses data from Washington State to track the educational pathways of first-time community college students over seven years, with a focus on young, socioeconomically disadvantaged students. In particular, rates at which students enter a program of study or concentration, the amount of remediation taken by students in each concentration, and the rates at which students in different concentrations earn certificates or associate degrees, or transfer to four-year institutions, are examined. The paper identifies patterns of progression among students with low socioeconomic status and makes recommendations for practitioners and policymakers.

Seizing Opportunity at the Top

This report by Public Impact contends that if our nation consistently provides students with excellent teachers, we could close most of this country’s stubborn achievement gaps in just five years, and encourages policymakers to lead the way. Seizing Opportunity at the Top explains why every child needs excellent teachers year after year; how schools can put excellent teachers in charge of more children’s learning while offering new roles to other teachers in which they, too, can be excellent; and what changes policymakers must support to make this possible. The following three avenues of action are discussed – speedily improving the identification of excellent teachers; clearing policy barriers; and catalyzing the will for schools and districts to put excellent teachers in charge of every student’s learning.

Digital Tools to Customize Education

In today’s digital marketplace, students of all ages can create experiences tailored just for them. Many of these same students walk into their classrooms and sit at their desks to absorb one-size-fits-all lessons and, in many cases, classes in which there is little or no technology integrated into those lessons. In some pockets around the country, though, educators and schools are turning to technology and different teaching and learning approaches to give students a personalized learning experience that mirrors the customized experiences they take for granted in their lives outside of school. As the move toward personalization unfolds, those in the forefront say it can raise students’ interest in learning, help them follow their passions, and ultimately boost achievement.