Recently, the appointees to Colorado's Education Leadership Council (P-20 council created by Governor Hickenlooper earlier this year) were announced. It is encouraging that the council includes the representation that ECS has found is correlated with a council's ability to move a P-20 agenda forward--legislators, the governor's office (here in the form of Lieutenant Governor Joe Garcia, who will chair the council), business, and two early learning representatives, in addition to the K-12 and postsecondary leaders and practitioners normally found on P-20 councils.
The council's first meeting is September 20th. This blogger is looking forward to seeing the areas of work the council establishes for itself, and hopes the council's work gains as much traction as did the work of the most recent council created by former Governor Ritter.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Texas: What Are Best Practices in College Readiness Assessments?
Texas enacted legislation several years ago to incorporate college-readiness indicators in high school end-of-course exams. But the Lone Star State is not stopping there. H.B. 3468, enacted this session, directs the state education agency and the higher education coordinating board to conduct a study of best practices for and existing programs offering early assessments of high school students in order to determine college readiness, identify any deficiencies in college readiness, and provide intervention to address any deficiencies before high school graduation.
In conducting the study, the Texas Education Agency is to look at existing assessments in the state, including end-of-course exams and postsecondary placement exams, dual credit, and various other programs, and the cost and effectiveness of different assessments and intervention models. The report must be submitted to the governor and other state leaders by December 2012. Interestingly, the report must also provide "recommendations for
promoting and implementing early assessments of college readiness
that are of a diagnostic nature"--more states are adopting diagnostic college readiness assessments, most commonly through the ACT-affiliated EXPLORE and PLAN, but statewide implementation of such assessments is still far from commonplace.
What is most interesting, however, is that while different states have taken various approaches to the question of early assessment of high school students' college readiness (older information on the diversity of approaches here), I have not seen a state call for a "best practices" study. Am looking forward to seeing the study's findings.
In conducting the study, the Texas Education Agency is to look at existing assessments in the state, including end-of-course exams and postsecondary placement exams, dual credit, and various other programs, and the cost and effectiveness of different assessments and intervention models. The report must be submitted to the governor and other state leaders by December 2012. Interestingly, the report must also provide "recommendations for
promoting and implementing early assessments of college readiness
that are of a diagnostic nature"--more states are adopting diagnostic college readiness assessments, most commonly through the ACT-affiliated EXPLORE and PLAN, but statewide implementation of such assessments is still far from commonplace.
What is most interesting, however, is that while different states have taken various approaches to the question of early assessment of high school students' college readiness (older information on the diversity of approaches here), I have not seen a state call for a "best practices" study. Am looking forward to seeing the study's findings.
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