Team 3 – Community College/K-12 Collaboration for College Readiness

Charge

The Implementation Team on Community College/K-12 Collaboration for College Readiness will address Recommendation 2 from the report of the 21st Century Commission on the Future of Community Colleges, focusing on two associated implementation strategies:

  • Dramatically improve college readiness: by 2020, reduce by half the numbers of students entering college unprepared for rigorous college-level work, and double the number of students who complete developmental education programs and progress to successful completion of related freshman-level courses.
    • Align explicit expectations defining readiness for college-level work with enhanced expectations for high school graduation, while collaborating in implementation of the Common Core State Standards.
    • Implement large-scale and effective collaborations with K-12 districts at both leadership and faculty levels, aimed at developing a college-going culture, building students’ college success skills, and expanding dual/concurrent enrollment and other strategies for accelerating the progress of students on the college pathway.

Primary tasks are:

  • Develop and sponsor a communication strategy to build awareness of the Common Core State Standards (and related work) across the community college field.
  • Seek advice from organizations involved in development and adoption of the Common Core State Standards regarding potential opportunities for collaboration with community colleges in aligning standards for high school graduation and entry into college-level coursework.
  • Identify and describe strong examples of community college/K-12 collaboration for strengthened college readiness, including description of results attained. Create opportunities to share these examples with community colleges nationally.
  • Develop guidelines/recommendations for community college use in work to establish and sustain effective collaboration with K-12 districts at both leadership and faculty levels, aimed at developing a college-going culture, building students’ college success skills, and expanding dual/concurrent enrollment and other strategies for accelerating the progress of students on the college pathway.
  • Recommend straightforward common metrics for use in assessing local, state, and national progress in increasing college readiness.
  • Recommend information resources for dissemination through AACC’s online 21st Century Center.