What People Are Saying about Rigor at Risk

"Once again, ACT has come forward with important new information about the state of education in our country. The Rigor at Risk report adds significantly to a growing base of empirical research findings that inform public policy-making at all levels of our society."

Charles E. Smith
Executive Director, National Assessment Governing Board

"The gap that ACT is reporting here—between what teachers think they are teaching and what students are actually learning—is a huge gap. We now have more students who are taking the core curriculum and getting better grades but who aren't doing well in college courses. For too many people, college is a false promise if students aren't prepared for a college education. The opportunity that we have is to make broad access to college successful for students."

Stanley E. Jones
Commissioner, Indiana Commission for Higher Education

"ACT is saying exactly the right things. This is not a small problem; it's a huge problem. All too often, the label on the course does not match what the student actually received and learned. As a result, we have course completion data exaggerating the readiness of the student. What they essentially have is orange drink in cartons labeled 'orange juice.'"

Chrys Dougherty
Director of Research, National Center for Educational Accountability

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