The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that 90 percent of 21st-century skilled workforce jobs will require some form of post-secondary education. If America is to remain competitive in tomorrow's global workforce, our students must first be able to successfully complete the first year of college without the need for remedial or developmental education. That is why it is up to us as concerned educators, parents and citizens to ensure every child within our respective states graduates from high school college-ready, equally prepared to meet the challenges of a college curriculum or the demands of an increasingly knowledge-based workforce.
Texas has recognized the need to dramatically increase the levels of expectation and achievement for its students by recently adopting across-the-board College Readiness Standards (CRS) in the critical areas of English/language arts, social sciences, mathematics and science. Once fully implemented, the CRS will pave the way to better alignment between the public and higher education curriculum, thereby allowing students a more seamless transition between high school and college or the workforce.
Texas is now among the first states in the country to begin to implement such standards. But getting here has not been by happenstance. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) began with a mandate from the 79th Texas Legislature to oversee the creation of the CRS in direct collaboration with the Texas Education Agency (TEA). Since that time, the THECB and TEA brought together a group of subject matter experts whose hard work and dedication ultimately led to the creation of these first-of-their-kind standards.
The THECB will continue to work with the TEA through the implementation process to ensure teachers as well as students will be ready to meet the challenges of the CRS. We also encourage our regional and national higher education partners to learn more about the CRS. Copies of the standards are available for download. Or, you may contact Evelyn Hiatt, Senior Director of College Readiness at (512) 427-6106 for more information.
Raymund A. Paredes, Ph.D.
Commissioner of Higher Education
Texas College Readiness Standards, Adopted by the THECB, January 24,2008
