Created in 1996 by the nation’s governors and corporate leaders, Achieve is an independent, bipartisan, non-profit education reform organization based in Washington, D.C. that helps states raise academic standards and graduation requirements, improve assessments and strengthen accountability. In 2006, Achieve was named by Education Week as one of the most influential education groups in the nation. Achieve is leading the effort to make college and career readiness a national priority so that the transition from high school graduation to postsecondary education and careers is seamless.

The American Diploma Project Network

To make college and career readiness a priority in the states, in 2005, Achieve launched the American Diploma Project (ADP) Network. Starting with only a handful of states, the Network has now grown to include 35 states educating 85 percent of all U.S. public school students. Through the ADP Network governors, state education officials, postsecondary leaders and business executives work together to improve postsecondary preparation by aligning high school standards, graduation requirements and assessment and accountability systems with the demands of college and careers. Achieve tracks states’ progress in its annual report, Closing the Expectations Gap. Achieve also supports ADP network states through:

Research and Development:  Achieve regularly conducts R&D to help advance the work of the ADP Network states as well as the education reform community at large. Achieve’s recent research studies of high school graduation requirements, state strategies for improving high school graduation rates, and evaluations of what high school exit exams and widely used college admissions and placement exams actually measure.

Our work doesn’t stop with the publication of reports; we have developed tools that help states change policies and practices. Chief among these are benchmark expectations – model K-12 academic standards in mathematics and English  – that reflect the knowledge and skills graduates need to succeed after high school. Achieve also created Measures that Matter, with the Education Trust, to provide states with guidance on advancing their efforts in developing and adopting next-generation, college- and career-ready assessment and accountability systems.

Achieve has spearheaded a 15-state partnership to develop the ADP Assessment Consortium, to develop the ADP Algebra II end-of-course exam, a rigorous test that measures whether high school students are ready for college-level mathematics, as well as an aligned Algebra I exam. This is one of the first, and the largest, efforts of states to collaborate on the development of common exams.

Technical Assistance to States: Achieve provides technical assistance to states on their standards, assessments, curriculum and accountability. Achieve’s Alignment Institutes have assisted 22 states in creating college- and career-ready end-of-high school standards in collaboration with their K-12, postsecondary and business communities. The College & Career-Ready Policy Institute is assisting eight leading states in ensuring that they have statewide assessment and accountability policies that support their college-and career-ready standards and graduation requirements.

Next-Generation Science Standards: In partnership with the National Academies of Science's National Research Council (NRC), National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Achieve has begun a multi-year project to develop next-generation science standards, based around "big ideas" that will help organize curriculum, teaching and learning across the nation.

Communications Tools & Support: To assist states in making the case for reform, Achieve has developed a range of advocacy resources that aim to address common concerns with college and career readiness. One of Achieve's most popular tools is the Math Works series, a set of materials that explain why all students need higher-level mathematics to succeed. Achieve also has developed a set of tools to help states develop, launch and refine their own college- and career-ready communications and outreach plans, critical for sustaining the agenda. In the past year, Achieve began convening a Communications Peer Group to discuss common challenges in communications planning and highlight promising practices across states.

Communications & Sustainability Research: Achieve is currently conducting research to identify and test messages on college and career readiness that more clearly and succinctly communicate to key audiences the goals and the benefits of the agenda. We hope that the research will uncover ways in which we can improve our approach to policy development, adoption and implementation, as well as provide key advocacy data for Achieve and the states. Earlier this year, Achieve released a set of materials focused on strategies for sustaining the college- and career-ready agenda - under the banner Taking Root - that include case studies, a lessons learned paper and an audit, for states to use as they evaluate whether they have the conditions in place necessary to sustain the reform agenda over time.

Stakeholder Engagement: Given the importance of business and postsecondary leaders to the college- and career-ready agenda, Achieve has developed a number of resources to arm those critical leaders with key information about the agenda – and how they can help ensure its success - and engages in ongoing outreach to maintain and build upon our existing relationships. Notably, Achieve has launched two websites - www.biztools4schools.org and www.postsecconnect.org - each of which serves as a "toolkit" for the business and higher education community respectively.

The Promise of "Common"

The college- and career-ready agenda has been greatly bolstered over the past year. The most significant development is the acceleration of the state-led movement to adopt common core state standards and common assessments. The Administration's support for these efforts, namely through the Department of Education's federal government stimulus spending and the competitive Race to the Top grants, has boosted this policy agenda both nationally and in the states. To that end, Achieve is now focused on:

Common Core State Standards: Achieve in partnership with the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) has developed K-12 standards in English and math that are internationally benchmarked, college and career ready, rigorous, clear and focused, and grounded in research. Forty-eight states have signed on to support the process. The final standards were released in June 2010, and Achieve is now supporting states as they consider adoption and implementation. Read the press release.

Common Assessment Partnership: Achieve currently is facilitating the Partnership for the Assessments of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), a consortium of 26 states applying for the Race to the Top Assessment Competition. PARCC is committed to developing an assessment system that measures and documents students' college and career readiness by the end of high school and students' progress toward this target from 3rd grade up, ensures maximum comparability across states, meets internationally-rigorous benchmarks, provides teachers with timely information, informs accountability at all levels, and assesses the full range of the common core standards, pushing beyond current state tests to assess higher‐order knowledge and skills, including the ability to analyze, synthesize, evaluate, reason, and problem solve.