{"data":{"ID":426,"Class":"Conversation","Created":1413994984,"CreatorID":79,"RevisionID":null,"Status":"Accepted","Title":"The Readiness Project","Handle":"the_readiness_project","ShortDescription":"Quick: Define \u201ccollege readiness\u201d. Now: compare what\u2019s in your head with definitions that have been established by standardized testing publishers, policy makers, and colleges themselves? Are they in alignment? Likely not. Let\u2019s redefine college readiness and discuss innovative teaching and assessment practices (you\u2019re likely already utilizing) that are aligned with our new, consensus-built definition.","Description":"Last year, ACT published findings (via Policy Implications on Preparing for Higher Standards) illustrating that 89% of high school educators believe that they are graduating students college-ready, while only 26% of college professors believe this to be true. Therefore, it must either be true that high school educators have a misguided sense of self-worth, or we\u2019re faced with conflicting definitions of what it actually means to be \u201ccollege-ready\u201d. \r\n\r\nACT bases its definition of readiness on established content-area benchmarks (science, math, reading English). Arne Duncan describes CCR as the ability to work in diverse teams, display grit, and continually learn. As Director of the CWRA (the College & Work Readiness Assessment), even I\u2019m guilty of definition-conflating. (Our definition includes mastery of deeper learning skills, such as critical thinking, problem solving, and effective communication). \r\n\r\nIt\u2019s high time we take back the conversation and define for ourselves what definitions of college and career readiness we wish to be held to.  This session builds off work I have done with other groups to build ground-level consensus around (a) how to best define what it means to be college (and career) ready, (b) best methods for teaching toward that definition and (c) ways to effectively align assessment practices with both the definition and the aligned teaching practices.  \r\n\r\nAs I continue accumulating feedback from across the country, my goal is to determine how these definitions\u2014essentially created in the vacuum of individual conference sessions\u2014resemble one another (and often fail to resemble the definitions established by outside parties).","Link":["http:\/\/www.cae.org\/rr"],"Audience":["High School"],"Practice":"This session will be roughly 80% group-based work and consensus building. But for some baseline foundation setting, the content of the session will be driven by the discussions themselves. Conversations around defining \u201creadiness\u201d will scaffold appropriately into conversations about pedagogy and, subsequently, assessment. To be fair\u2026EduCon attendees are somewhat self-selecting, so I can anticipate where the conversation will go, so it won\u2019t be without structure. But the results of this session will play an integral part in ensuring that the voices of the EduCon participant will influence a more national conversation about righting existing misalignment in the ways that various groups view college (and career) readiness.","Presenter":["Chris Jackson"],"PresenterAffiliation":["CWRA"],"PresenterEmail":["cjackson@cae.org"],"ScheduleSlotID":53,"ScheduleLocationID":14,"SubmitterID":79,"AdditionalComments":null,"LiveChannel":null,"Hashtag":null,"VokleID":null,"RecordingURL":null,"ConferenceID":4}}