College and Career Ready

Preface. Acknowledgments. About the Author. Introduction. Should and Can Today's High Schools Prepare All Students for College and Careers? * College Ready and Work Ready: One and the Same? * Th e New Challenge * What We Mean by "Ready for College and Careers". Part One: Redefining College and Career Readiness. 1 The Four Key Dimensions of College and Career Readiness. General Elements of a More Comprehensive Defi nition of College and Career Readiness * Current Means to Determine College and Career Readiness * An Examination of the Four Dimensions of College and Career Readiness * Differences Between High School and College Courses * Operational Examples of College Readiness. 2 Ways to Develop Key Cognitive Strategies and Key Content Knowledge. Focusing on the "Big Ideas" * Aligning Courses and Expectations Between High School and College * Formative Assessment for College Readiness. 3 Ways to Develop Self-Management Skills and "College Knowledge". Elements of Self-Management * "College Knowledge"-Contextual Skills and Awareness. 4 Key Principles of College and Career Readiness. Principle 1: Create and Maintain a College-Going Culture in the School * Principle 2: Create a Core Academic Program Aligned with and Leading to College Readiness by the End of Twelfth Grade * Principle 3: Teach Key Self-Management Skills and Academic Behaviors and Expect Students to Use Th em * Principle 4: Make College and Careers Real by Helping Students Manage the Complexity of Preparing for and Applying to Postsecondary Education * Principle 5: Create Assignments and Grading Policies Th at More Closely Approximate College Expectations Each Successive Year of High School * Principle 6: Make the Senior Year Meaningful and Appropriately Challenging * Principle 7: Build Partnerships with and Connections to Postsecondary Programs and Institutions. 5 Case Studies of Schools That Succeed. Alternative School: University Park Campus School, Worcester, Massachusetts * Magnet School: Fenway High School, Boston, Massachusetts * Comprehensive High School: Cherry Creek High School, Greenwood Village, Colorado * Charter School: Minnesota New Country School, Henderson, Minnesota * Early College High School: Manhattan Hunter Science High School, New York, New York * Comprehensive High School: Garland High School, Garland, Texas * Magnet School: Polytech High School, Woodside, Delaware * Private School: Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, Chicago, Illinois. 6 Putting It All Together. Develop a Profi le of the School's College Readiness Capacity * Identify Outcome Measures of Success * Assess the District Capacity to Support Improvements * Institute Specifi c Programs to Address the Four Dimensions of College and Career Readiness * Institute Professional Development to Support College Readiness * Recognize the Importance of Culture and Change Culture * Gauge the Progress of Changes in the High School * What Are the Eff ects on Student Performance in College? Part Two: Steps on the Road to Readiness. 7 Steps High Schools Are Taking to Make More Students College and Career Ready. Small Schools and High School Conversions * Career Academies * Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate Programs * Early College High Schools * Dual Credit * Learning from the New Models. 8 Steps States Are Taking to Make More Students College and Career Ready. State Actions to Date * Examples of State Actions * State College Readiness Standards: The Example of Texas * Clear Messages States Can Send to the Secondary System * Clear Messages States Can Send to Their Postsecondary Systems * Concluding Observations. Afterword. Appendix A: Two Examples of Tasks Th at Develop and Assess Key Cognitive Strategies. Appendix B: Example Items from the School Diagnostic. Appendix C: Resource List. Index. To Herb Kohl, my inspiration to become a writer; to Dave and Vera Mae Fredrickson, my mentors and role models; and to John and Jaye Zola, who challenge us all to be better educators.