Our Focus Areas

CONCERN

It is increasingly clear that a high school diploma does not demonstrate that a graduate, regardless of race, gender, language, ethnicity, or income, has been adequately prepared for higher education or for the world of work.

Parents and students want to know—no matter their state, district, school or classroom—that all students have equitable access to opportunity and success.

APPROACH

We continue to advocate for a set of high education standards that drive better student outcomes. Setting common, high academic standards creates the potential to address the achievement/opportunity gaps and dropout crisis facing the nation. We believe a balanced rollout of common, high-quality college and career ready standards should:

• Ensure that all students, regardless of ZIP code, income, race, or ethnicity, will be taught to, and held to, the same high standards that are aligned to college and work expectations.
• Provide professional development training for educators that is culturally relevant, and builds on best practices and the identified assets of the populations of children they serve.
• Allow for the development and ongoing support of innovative practices and curricula in the classroom.
• Be sufficiently clear and timely so that all parents and caregivers can more effectively monitor, understand and assess their children’s progress, and compare their children’s education with the education of children in other communities, states and nations.
• Trigger an audit of all tests and assessments given at the school, district and state level in order to eliminate over-testing and duplicative testing, thereby freeing up additional classroom teaching time.
• Use multiple measures in order to track student progress and achievement, and to measure the effectiveness of schools, districts, states and higher education institutions in delivering high-quality education.