Topic: College and Career Readiness

Overview

College and Career Readiness

By 2025, two out of every three jobs will require some education beyond high school. Yet far too many students are graduating from high school without the knowledge and skills they need to earn a credential or degree. SREB offers policymakers detailed data on policies and how states are using them to improve achievement. And we serve districts and schools with career pathways, curricula and professional learning to help educators prepare students for what comes next in their lives.​

By 2025, two out of every three jobs will require some education beyond high school. Yet far too many students are graduating from high school without the knowledge and skills they need to earn a credential or degree.

Readiness is central to SREB’s core mission of helping states increase educational attainment and grow their economies.

SREB offers policymakers detailed data on policies and how states are using them to improve achievement. And we serve districts and schools with career pathways, curricula and professional learning to help educators prepare students for what comes next in their lives.

Publication Gene Bottoms Kirsten Ewart Sundell October 201712 pages(17V18)
This image is the cover of the Valuing Both Cs in College- and Career-Readiness Accountability Systems publication.

Valuing Both Cs in College- and Career-Readiness Accountability Systems
How states can use career pathways to close credential attainment and skills gaps.

This publication explores how state accountability systems currently address college readiness and academic and technical career readiness and offers recommendations and examples of policies and practices that incentivize and reward districts and schools for preparing more students to earn credentials and degrees in high-demand career fields.

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Blog post John Squires, Director, High School to College Readiness, SREB

How to Close the Readiness Gap Now for Our High School Seniors
Readiness Courses can keep students who are almost ready for college out of remedial classes

Get students the preparation they need during the high school years — not in college, when they have to pay for it.

Too many students graduate from high school thinking they’re ready for college, only to find themselves stuck in remedial classwork once they get there. This is a tragedy for the students. They believe — and why not? — that if they’re admitted to college they have what it takes to succeed there.

Publication Dave SpenceNovember 20138 pages

State Policies to Support a Statewide College- and Career-Readiness Agenda
Essential Elements of State Policy for College Completion

A statewide college- and career-readiness agenda signals clearly and universally what knowledge and learning skills or readiness standards are essential for students to succeed in a substantial majority of postsecondary education programs. The standards need to be reinforced by a series of additional steps that include assessment, supplemental course work, and school accountability. SREB’s College- and Career-Readiness Action Agenda includes five essential components across the educational pipeline: 1. Adopt statewide readiness standards. 2. Assess high school juniors for readiness. 3. Offer transitional readiness courses for juniors assessed as underprepared. 4. Apply the standards in college placement. 5. Hold schools accountable.

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Publication Megan RootJanuary 20138 pages

Transitional Courses for College and Career Readiness
Essential Elements of State Policy for College Completion

Offering high school courses to prepare underprepared students for success in college or career training after graduation is a key strategy to reduce remediation, increase postsecondary completion and provide greater access to making a living wage. This Essential Elements policy brief details efforts in states across the nation, outlines questions policymakers need to address, and recommends 12 essential elements for an effective statewide policy to implement transitional courses.

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