Issue/Policy Brief

This brief focuses on the role that career and technical education (CTE) teachers can play in ensuring college and career readiness (CCR) for all students. The authors introduce who CTE teachers are and how current policies support and integrate them into schools. The authors argue that these teachers are critical to meeting the needs of students who may wish to enter a career without obtaining a 4-year college degree or for those who wish to gain experience in a field before obtaining a higher degree.

This issue brief advocates for the transition from a K-12 system based on seat time (i.e. the Carnegie Unit) to competency-based education. It outlines the rationale behind this change and provides four key suggestions for state policy change.

This policy brief identifies the essential qualities - or knowledge, skills, and dispositions (KSD) - that educators must cultivate in students to enable them to achieve college and career readiness (CCR).  The authors outline the neccesary developments and/or changes at the level of state policy that must be carried out to help students achieve CCR with respect to the identified KSD framework.

This report discusses the benefits of competency education in the context of digital technology that increases personalization and customization, enabling the management of individual learning progression in a data-driven environment. The report outlines 10 capabilities of a competency-based system including flexibility in time and resources, measuring learning gains, and setting college- and career-ready expectations; and 10 design choices that inform the necessary changes in areas such as school structure, grading, and student support.

This brief challenges the need for a fourth year of high school, addressing the controversy around “senior year” and its tendency to draw out the high school experience. In proposing the topic of early graduation, the document outlines a number of policy approaches and their successful implementation in various states. Among these programs are scholarship incentives, dual enrollment, virtual classes, and proficiency-based credits.

This paper discusses the 16 Race to the Top grantees in 2012 -- a year in which the U.S. Department of Education highlighted the need for personalized learning environments. Specific attention is paid to the successful design and innovation plans of each grantee state, with a focus of four main activity areas within the context of personalized learning. This paper summarizes opportunities for innovation and potential challenges in constructing effective personalized learning environments, with the ultimate hope of providing key takeaway points for improvements in teaching and learning. 

Schools today are struggling to achieve innovation, efficiency, and effective reform with limited financial resources. To allay these challenges met by education leaders, the U.S. Department of Education has suggested some approaches to increase educational productivity. Among these recommendations, the Department makes a strong case for policies targeted at personalized learning and competency-based pathways.

This brief argues that a competency-based approach to education is necessary to maximize learning opportunities and student diversity in the 21st century. Drawing from expertise in the field and the preexisting research base, this paper attempts to pinpoint the characteristics of high-quality and effective competency-based pathways. Additionally, it articulates the conditions wherein innovation and implementation of competency-based approaches have surged, and the associated setbacks and challenges states and districts are facing as a result. 

This brief identifies key issues associated with the college readiness gap and causes of this gap, as well as outlines steps state policymakers and educators can take close the college readiness gap in their states. In order to ensure students are prepared for postsecondary success, a statewide college readiness agenda should be in place. Components of this college readiness agenda include: readiness standards, assessments, curriculum, teacher development, college placement, and state accountability.