You can help determine what “college readiness” means

When House Bill 1 was passed, the foundation of education in the State of Texas was rocked.  In partial response to this legislation, the State encouraged all education agencies to adopt a new paradigm of thinking.  One focused on student success across all grades up to and through college. 

Called P-16, this initiative promotes alignment in curriculum from Pre-K to grade-16, or in other words from Pre-K through a Bachelor’s Degree.  This is a new move for Texas. In fact it is a new move for any state.  No state has ever attempted such a large scale revamp that includes this concept.

A recent research project sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, determined that over 90% of jobs in the 21^st century will require postsecondary education.  Designed to smooth the transition between high school and postsecondary education, the P-16 concept strives for a seamless transfer of information across all educational levels.

Being sensitive to this need, the major governing bodies for public school and higher education, Texas Education Agency and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board are sitting down at the same table for the first time in history.  They established vertical teams to determine what it is that incoming college freshmen need to know. 

The information that they collected, called “College Readiness Standards,” will become the end goal for all high school graduates and will be included in their end of course exams.

The Coordinating Board and TEA are sponsoring a period of public review and comment about these draft college readiness standards, and are inviting all Texas citizens to take part in the formal review process.  If you are interested in commenting on the standards, you are invited to log on to www.panola.edu and follow the link to “College Readiness Standards” at the bottom of the page.  Log in as a new user and help determine what it means to be “college ready.”  After the review period the college readiness standards will be submitted to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for formal adoption.  The review period is open from now until December 10. Additional information can be found at http://www.thecb.state.tx.us/collegereadiness/TCRS.cfm or at http://www.thecb.state.tx.us/collegereadiness/Draft_CRS.pdf