State Accountability Systems Must Look Beyond College & Career Readiness

Reyna & Deuser: Earning a degree or credential and landing a good-paying job is now the real measure of K-12 success. State data needs to reflect that

For more than two decades, the term “college and career readiness” has defined success in K-12 education. As it became clear that a high school diploma was no longer enough to secure a well-paying career with advancement potential, education advocates recognized that simply getting students across the graduation stage couldn’t prove that school had served them well. Rather, measures of readiness for college — including advanced coursework and scores on entrance exams like the SAT and ACT — were better indicators.