In a knowledge-based economy, a postsecondary credential is vital for gainful employment and upward socioeconomic mobility. Unfortunately, the path a student takes from high school graduation to college course work is too often characterized by a troubling detour, namely, "remediation." According to Complete College America (2012), over half of first-year students attending community college require at least one remedial course in English or mathematics. The challenge for students is one of academic catch up, which translates into extra time and money spent. Just 62 percent of students in remedial courses reach college readiness. In short, the costly path through remediation often means never reaching the intended destination: a postsecondary credential. The problem of remediation is often one of misalignment between high school and college curricula. How can realignment occur in order to map a new, continuous path from high school through college? In 2013, the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) launched the STEM College and Career Readiness (STEM CCR) project as an academic intervention in high school mathematics as a preemptive effort to help students avoid math remediation once they enter college, and prepares students for careers in STEM and career-technical education. STEM CCR provides funding for seven community colleges in urban and rural Illinois to collaborate with local high schools to prepare students for college-level math before they graduate high school. This brief highlights the College and Career Readiness Model developed by the Office of Community College Research and Leadership, and discusses opportunities for growth for STEM CCR interventions at the seven Illinois community colleges and their high school partners that receive STEM CCR funding.

The purpose of this brief is to understand the Illinois College and Career Readiness (CCR) Act in light of David Conley's college readiness model. Although not mentioned specifically by the Illinois statute, evaluation results gathered by the Office of Community College Research and Leadership (OCCRL) show alignment between a number of programs and services that Illinois' CCR pilot sites are implementing and Conley's framework. There are also areas where Illinois' pilot sites are not aligned, suggesting opportunities to explore what is meant by college and career readiness and consider whether adopting additional dimensions of Conley's model would help the state move toward the goal of preparing all students for college and careers. Furthermore, a description of the evaluation methods is provided at the end of this "BRIEF". (Contains 1 table.).

Rising remediation rates among college students are leading to increased time for completion of degree, additional costs for students and colleges, and financial aid being used on courses that do not count towards a degree. In response to these issues, in 2007 the state of Illinois passed the College and Career Readiness Act, Public Act 095-0694, to fund pilot projects consisting of a community college and partner high schools to support the alignment of K-12 curriculum with college level course work, as well as better prepare students to be successful in transitioning from high school to college. The College and Career Readiness (CCR) Act has five main purposes: (1) align ACT scores to community college courses to diagnose college readiness; (2) reduce remediation through college preparatory courses, college readiness skills, and successful transitions; (3) align high school and college curricula; (4) provide resources and academic support to students; and (5) develop an evaluation process to measure the effectiveness of readiness programs. Underlying the CCR Act is the assumption that high schools and colleges are responsible for ensuring that high school students are prepared to enter college ready to learn at the college level and that they are aware of the college standards that await them. This report summarizes results presented in year one of the Evaluation of the Illinois College and Career Readiness Act Pilot Projects. It examines curriculum alignment and the college readiness of students participating in pilot sites selected to participate in the CCR Act. The evaluation used a mixed-method approach to assess implementation of four pilot sites involving five community colleges and multiple high schools. Results were intended to inform the Illinois legislature, administrative agencies, and community colleges and high schools across the state, including the schools and colleges engaged in the CCR pilot project, about programs and practices designed to improve students' college and career readiness. The College and Career Readiness Act; and the College and Career Readiness Survey are appended. (Contains 2 tables.).

What are the characteristics and conditions that lead to successful educational partnerships? What can we learn from partnerships that fail, cannot be sustained over time, or cease to benefit their partners? This book serves as a guide to the successful implementation of partnerships. It provides the context and tools for readers who are responding to the increasing demands of policy makers, funders and institutional leaders to use partnerships to address local, state and federal issues, achieve external mandates, meet public or internal agendas, or pursue international collaborations. This guide provides an evidence-based framework for institutional and organizational leaders to develop the vision, shared values and norms to achieve the "partnership capital" that will sustain an enduring relationship. It offers a three-phase model of the development process of collaboration, together with a tool box for those charged with partnering and leading organizational change, and includes a template for both creating new partnerships and sustaining existing ones. The authors start by differentiating between "traditional," often ad-hoc, partnerships and "strategic partnerships" that align organizational strategy with partnership actions; and by identifying the importance of moving beyond incremental or surface "first order" change to develop deep "second order change" through which underlying structures and operations are questioned and new processes emerge due to the partnership. They offer analyses and understandings of seven key components for success: exploring motivations; developing partner relationships; communicating and framing purpose; creating collaborative structures and resources; leading various partnership stages; generating partnership capital; and implementing strategies for sustaining partnerships. Each chapter concludes with a case study to provide more understanding of the ideas presented, and for use in training or classes. This guide is addressed to policy makers and educational leaders, college administrators, and their non-profit and business partners, to enable them to lead and create strategic partnerships and facilitate organizational change.

Little is known about educational programs referred to as "career pathway programs" that attempt to integrate adult literacy, adult basic education (ABE), General Equivalency Diploma (GED) instruction, English language literacy (ELL), and pre-collegiate developmental education with postsecondary career and technical education (CTE) certificate and associate degree programs, and potentially with the baccalaureate degree. By conducting case study research, the authors sought to provide a detailed description of local curricular, instructional and support programs, policies and practices that seek to engage low-skilled adults in adult education and literacy programs that are linked to postsecondary CTE and ultimately to family-sustaining wage employment. Features common to the three pathways and lessons learned about implementation, transferability and sustainability are discussed. [This document represents the executive summary of a recently published technical report by the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education titled "A Cross-Case Analysis of Career Pathway Programs That Link Low-Skilled Adults to Family-Sustaining Wage Careers" (Debra D. Bragg, Christine D. Bremer, Marisa Castellano, Catherine Kirby, Ann Mavis, Donna Schaad, and Judith Sunderman) supported by the Office of Vocational and Adult Education, United States Department of Education.].