CCR and the Academic Cliff

A challenge that I find myself constantly facing is where to archive the ever growing trove of rich resources I encounter daily.  To a certain extent, I use my twitter feed as a repository for links to stories I find worthwhile enough to share with others.  More recently, I've been rethinking how shorter blog posts can also serve as both a vehicle for sharing and a place to park these resources.

The story below, from the Akron Beacon Journal, is the most succinct to date that I have seen in describing the effects of the new PARCC assessments on peoples' notion of 'proficiency' in the State of Ohio.  The link that follows will take you to a report from the Ohio Board of Regents (OBR), in which they lay out performance standards, by subject, that will provide evidence of college and career readiness for high school seniors.  In addition, they include ACT and SAT cut scores that will be accepted at all Ohio public universities for placement in credit bearing, non-remedial coursework in the discipline in which the score was earned.

While I am not suggesting an easy cause and effect relationship between implementing the OBR standards and a reduction in the readiness gap issue, focusing on how you can support the OBR recommendations will be a good first set in reducing the pain of the Academic Cliff that is, without a doubt, coming.

http://www.ohio.com/news/local/nearly-half-million-ohio-kids-likely-to-fall-from-proficient-under-new-standards-and-not-ready-for-college-1.362833

https://www.ohiohighered.org/college-readiness

Finally, if you are interested in changes to classroom practices that could also help teachers and students avoid the academic cliff, this article is for you:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elizabeth-english/why-so-many-schools-remai_b_2412120.html