The Southern Regional Education Board conducted a multi-year study of how states are implementing their state college- and career-readiness standards. The Benchmarking College- and Career-Readiness Standards project builds on SREB’s decades of experience tracking and reporting state progress in education. 

Participating States

11 SREB states plus three outside the SREB region:

• Alabama
• Delaware
• Georgia
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Maryland Mississippi
• North Carolina
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• West Virginia Colorado
• Pennsylvania
• New York

Components of the Project

1. Develop key indicators of successful implementation of the college- and career readiness standards. In 2012, SREB worked with an advisory panel of state and national experts to determine the best actions and policies to track to show how states are putting their standards into practice. What is the timeline, for example, and how is the state aligning other policies with the standards? What support is available to teachers and principals? 
2. Conduct in-depth research into the level of implementation in each of the states — including multiple interviews and detailed examination of policies, plans and practice. Researchers collected and analyzed extensive original, objective qualitative data. State departments of education reviewed their states’ profiles to ensure accuracy.
3. Publish reports on practice, status and progress of standards implementation.
4. Convene policy-makers, educators, state education agencies and legislators to discuss each set of reports. The goals: Actively engage them with the findings and the implications for practice, policy and legislative action, and align needs for technical assistance with opportunities for collaboration among states.