Allison Jones to Join Achieve as Senior Fellow for Postsecondary Engagement

Monday, October 18, 2010Printer-friendly version

NEWS STATEMENT

CONTACT:

Sandy Boyd, (202) 419-1542, sboyd@achieve.org

WASHINGTON – October 19, 2010 – Achieve announced today that Allison Jones will be joining Achieve on November 15, 2010 as the Senior Fellow for Postsecondary Engagement. In that role, Mr. Jones will be responsible for advancing Achieve's college-and career-ready mission through work with the postsecondary community, including leading the higher education engagement strategy for the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) consortium.

Prior to joining Achieve, Mr. Jones was with the CSU for 25 years, 23 of which have been with the Office of the Chancellor. Mr. Jones was responsible for leading the CSU's Early Assessment Program (EAP), the largest effort in the nation to use a college readiness test in high school, enabling students to place into credit bearing courses based on their high school performance. In addition to providing a clear signal to students of their readiness for college level coursework, EAP also led to specialized curricula and supports to help students get ready for college during their senior year of high school. The program has recently been expanded to the California Community College System and has become a national model for higher education and K-12 collaboration. A similar system is envisioned in PARCC.

"We are thrilled to have Allison join Achieve," said Michael Cohen, Achieve's President. "His knowledge of higher education and deep experience working with K-12 to implement college readiness policies and programs will be a huge asset as we embark on an historic effort to build common college-ready assessments across 26 states. As we know from over a decade of experience at Achieve, the promise of college and career readiness for all high school graduates is only possible with true postsecondary involvement every step of the way. Allison has been a national leader in this area."

As the Assistant Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs, Student Academic Support, Mr. Jones also coordinated support to the CSU's 23 campuses in the areas of K-12 academic outreach, outreach to underserved and underrepresented communities, admission, enrollment management, financial aid, educational opportunity programs, career technical education, student services, student health, transfer services, disabled student services, alcohol and drug education and prevention programs, veterans services, services to foster youth, and remediation. Mr. Jones also served as acting director of the CSU Office of Federal Relations in Washington, D.C. while the search for a permanent director was conducted in the early 1990's and began his career in education administration in 1970 at the University of Redlands.

"I am honored to have been tapped to lead the higher education engagement strategy for the Partnership for Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and to mobilize postsecondary institutions and leaders in the American Diploma Project to become more engaged in policies that support college and career readiness," said Allison Jones "Nearly 200 higher education systems, colleges, and universities that educate 90% of the nation's students in 26 states have signed on as PARCC partners. The K-12 PARCC assessments will clearly signal what students need to know in English and mathematics when they graduate from high school to be ready for college. This once-in-a-generation opportunity to align college readiness with K-12 expectations will ensure that this nation's students graduate from college ready to compete in the global economy – and I am excited to be part of it."

To learn more about Achieve’s college- and career-ready agenda, visit www.achieve.org.

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Created in 1996 by the nation's governors and corporate leaders, Achieve is an independent, bipartisan, nonprofit education reform organization based in Washington D.C. that helps states raise academic standards and graduation requirements, improve assessments, and strengthen accountability. 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. To make college and career readiness a priority, in 2005 Achieve launched the American Diploma Project Network. Starting with 13 original states, the Network has now grown to include 35 states educating nearly 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, assessments, graduation requirements and accountability systems with the demands of college and careers. For more information about the work of Achieve, visit www.achieve.org.