Reaching the Goal: The Applicability and Importance of the Common Core State Standards to College and Career Readiness
This examines the degree to which the knowledge and skills contained in the Common Core State Standards are applicable to and important for postsecondary readiness. The method required postsecondary instructors from a wide range of postsecondary courses and institutions to rate each CCSS standard on its applicability and importance to their course. The authors used a national sample of instructors from two- and four-year institutions in 25 course categories. A total of 1897 responses were received. Instructors rated the applicability of each Common Core standard to their course. If the standard was applicable, the researchers asked them to rate the standard’s importance to success in the course. The study found that students who are generally proficient in the Common Core standards will likely be ready for a wide range of postsecondary courses, and the more Common Core standards in which they are proficient, the wider the range of postsecondary-level classes they will be ready to undertake.