Achieve's College and Career Readiness Quiz

Correct! Across both consortia, no student was denied graduation / a diploma based on his or her PARCC or Smarter Balanced scores.  For more details, see page 25 of our 2014 Closing the Expectations Gap report.

Not quite. Six in ten recent high school grads say they would have worked harder in school had they known what colleges and employers expect. Check out our full student survey results here.

That’s right. Recent grads told us in our 2014 survey that real-world learning opportunities, better communication about necessary courses, and opportunities to enroll in challenging courses were the top three things that would have encouraged them to work harder and be better prepared for life after high school.

Correct! The development of the Common Core State Standards was a state-driven process, led by governors and state commissioners of education from 48 states through their membership organizations (the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers). For the full background on how the Common Core came to be, check out this website.

Not quite. In 2005, just five states — California, Indiana, Nebraska, New York, and Wyoming — could verify that their high school English and mathematics standards aligned with the expectations of colleges and employers. Today, all 50 states and the District of Columbia have college- and career-ready standards in place. For more, see our 2014 Closing the Expectations Gap report.

Not quite. When the ADP network, which was established to help states work together to make college and career readiness a priority, was launched in 2005, just Arkansas and Texas had statewide CCR graduation requirements. You can read more about the current status of graduation requirements across the country in our 2014 Closing the Expectations Gap report.

Correct. Just 23 states and the District of Columbia have raised their course requirements in ELA/literacy and mathematics to the CCR level. See page 7 of Achieve’s 2014 Closing the Expectations Gap report for more details.

That’s right. While most were satisfied with students’ computer and technology skills, more than 75% of college faculty were displeased with their students’ critical thinking, written communication, and work and study habits. Check out faculty and employers’ full impression of recent high school grads here.