A+ SL White Paper

c ollege and c areer r eadineSS The term “college and career readiness” is one of the key principles of today’s reform efforts. Although high school completion rates have increased, the rate of college freshmen enrolled in remedial classes is climbing to rates as high as 40%. In addition, college graduation rates are still low, around 63% after six years (Cassidy & Loveless, 2011). At the same time, college textbooks and technical manuals are written at increasingly higher levels, while K–12 textbooks have become less complex (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010, Appendix A). At first glance, it would appear difficult to create a unified set of standards that would cover the range of literacy skills needed to be successful at such divergent tasks as reading an air conditioning repair manual or a philosophy text, or even to know what readiness means at Ivy League institutions as opposed to community colleges (Gewertz, 2010). The Common Core has identified text complexity grade bands with higher Lexile ® levels assigned to them. This provides a basis for instructional planning, and a more detailed understanding of what success at the university or in the workplace entails. Darche and Stam (2012) have identified a four-layered model with content knowledge at the center, surrounded by analytical, divergent thinking; presentational and collaborative skills, surrounded by productive skills and behaviors, and wrapped in engagement. The current college and career readiness standards, exemplified by the Common Core and other rigorous models such as the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, address the knowledge and skills components of this model (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010; TEA, 2013). “El libro es fuerza, es valor, es poder, es alimento; antorcha del pensamiento y manantial del amor”. —Rubén Darío