New Publication Helps Schools Evaluate the Common Core State Standards

ACT’s experts on standards have prepared a new publication to assist education leaders and policymakers in the states that have adopted or are in the process of adopting the Common Core State Standards.

For schools, districts, and states currently using or considering the adoption of ACT’s College and Career Readiness System, The Alignment of Common Core and ACT’s College and Career Readiness System provides assurance that ACT’s solutions are aligned to the Common Core State Standards.

This publication is the first in a series of analyses ACT’s experts are conducting. They will follow up with additional analyses that include the WorkKeys^® job skills assessment system and the COMPASS^® computer-adaptive course placement assessment used by colleges.

Comparison information in the publication shows that ACT’s College Readiness Standards™ and ACT Course Standards match well with the Common Core State Standards. The domain covered by ACT’s College and Career Readiness System is consistent with the standards at multiple points in time throughout middle school and high school and expresses the shared goal of preparation for college and career.

ACT’s Course Standards are a 100 percent match to the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects. ACT’s College Readiness Standards match closely in Reading and in Language, and less closely in Writing. Speaking/Listening is not covered within ACT’s College Readiness Standards. In Mathematics, ACT’s Course Standards and College Readiness Standards very closely match the Common Core State Standards.

With 35 states adopting and 16 states and U.S. territories committed to adopting (as of mid-August) the standards, the nation has—for the first time—consensus on two issues essential to significantly improving the college and career readiness of the nation’s students.

First, the Common Core State Standards Initiative presents a common definition of the knowledge and skills necessary for students to be “ready for college and career.” ACT has long defined college and career readiness as the acquisition of the knowledge and skills a student needs to enroll and succeed in credit-bearing first-year courses at a postsecondary institution—such as a two-year or four-year college, trade school, or technical school—without the need for remediation. This definition, which has since been adopted by the Common Core State Standards Initiative, provides a unifying goal for educators and policymakers to act upon.

Second, with this definition of college and career readiness in mind, the Common Core State Standards Initiative provides the most significant state-led effort to establish K–12 standards based on empirical evidence and research. The initiative drew on ACT’s longitudinal research identifying knowledge and skills that are essential for success in postsecondary education and workforce training. It also sought additional evidence, such as standards from high-performing countries and states, academic research on learning progressions, and other resources to support the inclusion of each standard within the Common Core framework.

The Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices coordinated the Common Core State Standards Initiative in partnership with several organizations, including ACT.

Visit www.act.org/commoncore to download The Alignment of Common Core and ACT’s College and Career Readiness System.