Description
Book SynopsisGiving students the tools they need to succeed in college and work College and Career Ready offers educators a blueprint for improving high school so that more students are able to excel in freshman-level college courses or entry-level jobs-laying a solid foundation for lifelong growth and success. The book is filled with detailed, practical guidelines and case descriptions of what the best high schools are doing.
- Includes clear guidelines for high school faculty to adapt their programs of instruction in the direction of enhanced college/career readiness
- Provides practical strategies for improving students'' content knowledge and academic behaviors
- Offers examples of best practices and research-based recommendations for change
The book considers the impact of behavioral issues-such as time management and study habits-as well as academic skills on college readiness.
Table of ContentsPreface vii Acknowledgments xiii
About the Author xv
Introduction 1
Should and Can Today's High Schools Prepare All Students for College and Careers?
College Ready and Work Ready: One and the Same?
The 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 19
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 53
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" 72
Elements of Self-Management "College Knowledge"—Contextual Skills and Awareness
4 Key Principles of College and Career Readiness 104
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 Them
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 That 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 133
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 176
Develop a Profi le of the School's College Readiness Capacity
Identify Outcome Measures of Success
Assess the District Capacity to Support Improvements
Institute Specific 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 205
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 219
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 Th eir Postsecondary Systems
Concluding Observations
Afterword 265
Appendix A: Two Examples of Tasks Th at Develop and Assess Key Cognitive Strategies 269
Appendix B: Example Items from the School Diagnostic 303
Appendix C: Resource List 307
Index 311
