Claiming Common Ground: State Policymaking for Improving College Readiness and Success. National Center Report #06-1

Major demographic shifts in the population of the United States, combined with persistent gaps in educational achievement by ethnic group, could decrease the portion of the workforce with college-level skills over the next 15 years, with a consequent decline in per capita personal income in the United States. Meanwhile, the competitive edge of the U.S. workforce is slipping; several other developed countries now surpass the United States in the percentage of their young working-age population enrolling in college and attaining a bachelor's degree. At a time when the knowledge-based, global economy requires more Americans with education and training beyond high school, the nation confronts the prospect of a sustained drop in the average educational levels of the U.S. workforce. This report identifies four state policy dimensions for improving college readiness and success: (1) the alignment of coursework and assessments; (2) state finance; (3) statewide data systems; and (4) accountability. Sample Unified Performance-Based Budget for Preschool to Grade 20 is appended. (Contains 1 figure and 49 endnotes.) Appended is: (1) A Sample Unified Performance-Based Budget for Preschool to Grade 20.