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ANNUAL REPORT
Board of Directors From Achieve President Michael Cohen
CHAIR
Mark B. Grier
Vice Chairman
In December 2016, we gathered with practitioners, policy leaders,
Prudential Financial, Inc.
and partners from across the country to celebrate Achieves 20th
2016 BOARD MEMBERS
anniversary and discuss the past, present, and future of the college-
Craig R. Barrett
Former CEO and Chairman of the Board and career-ready agenda. Through a series of candid conversations
Intel Corporation
with teachers, students, policy and research leaders, and others who
Chris Gabrieli
Partner Emeritus,
Bessemer Venture Partners
understand the critical importance of college- and career-ready
Chair, Massachusetts
Board of Higher Education graduates to our nations future, we were reminded that while this
CEO, Empower Schools
work has made great strides forward in the past two decades,
Dr. S. James Jim Gates, Jr.
University of Maryland Distinguished much work still remains. States have made progress in adopting
University Professor, Regents Professor,
and John S. Toll Professor of Physics the college- and career-ready policies needed to ensure that
Governor Bill Haslam students are held to high academic expectations, but far too many
State of Tennessee
graduates move on from high school unprepared to succeed in
Governor Margaret
Maggie Hassan higher education or begin a career. As we begin to implement
State of New Hampshire
our new strategic plan, we are reminded of the critical role that
The Honorable John R.
Jock McKernan, Jr. collaboration within and across states has played in advancing the
State of Maine
Former Maine Governor and work during the past twenty years. Together, we can work to ensure
Senior Advisor to the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce Foundation all U.S. high school graduates are equipped to pursue their dreams.
Janet Murgua
President and CEO
National Council of La Raza (NCLR)
1 Priority One
2 Priority Two
academic standards and graduation requirements, developed tools for states, districts, and teachers
improve assessments, and strengthen to use in determining the quality and alignment
accountability. Created in 1996 by a bipartisan of instructional materials. Achieve has also
Keeping the Focus on All Supporting Comprehensive
group of governors and business leaders, leveraged its expertise in assessments to help
Students in All States Approaches in States
Achieve is leading the effort to make college and states develop high-quality assessments and help
career readiness a priority across the country so ensure they are aligned with the states academic Achieve will continue to be the nations leading voice for Ensuring all high school graduates are ready for college,
college and career readiness for all students. We will take careers, and life requires more than standards alone.
that students graduating from high school are standards. Achieve has assisted states and
that leadership role a step further by working with states College- and career-ready policies must include high-quality
academically prepared for postsecondary success. districts in creating policies and practices that will
to commit to and report on that readiness. assessments, coherent graduation pathways, transparent
ensure more students graduate from high school outcome (and system) information, and equitable
When states want to collaborate on education We will continue our research, digging into the data to
college and career ready. Over the past 20 years, accountability systems in order to be fully effective.
policy or practice, they come to Achieve. Achieve make sure states are being transparent and ensuring we
Achieve has worked with state teams, educators, fully understand what makes the numbers move. We We will be reviewing, analyzing, and sharing the work
has worked with every state in some capacity
postsecondary leaders, grassroots and civil rights will work with states, districts, and partners to share this we do in these areas. Our deep content knowledge and
to make college and career readiness a national
organizations, advocacy partners, the business information broadly, always mindful to disaggregate it expertise in ELA/literacy, mathematics, and science
priority and close the expectations gap the by subgroups of students so that special attention can positions us as the reliable source to conduct this work and
community, and many others to improve student
gap between what a state expects of all high be paid to closing persistent achievement gaps. We will to provide state and district education leaders with the
readiness for life after high school by aligning key
school graduates and what it actually takes to work to paint a full, nationwide picture of how all students tools, resources, and strategic advice rooted in data and
policies with the demands of the real world.
are doing, supporting states and districts as they work to research that will help them make informed decisions.
improve student performance closer to home.
3 Priority Three
Building and Expanding
Partnerships
4 Priority Four
Strengthening
Our Foundation
We cannot achieve our mission and succeed without help. Accomplishing our mission depends on a strong
It is a point of pride that we have strong partnerships organizational foundation from which to launch our work.
across and within states gathering stakeholders from Achieve is committed to developing our outstanding
the education, policy, business, and civil rights worlds who staff and maximizing the use of smart internal controls
are committed to adopting and sustaining college- and to keep us at peak efficiency. We will ensure our financial
career-ready policies and practices. sustainability and strength by deepening relationships
with traditional funders as well as cultivating new funding
We are committed to providing counsel, expertise,
relationships and we will continue to rely on our
advocacy, and communications support to expand the
impressive Board to advance our work.
number of advocates calling for college- and career-ready
policies and practices. We have a solid coalition-building
strategy that we will expand and refine to empower local
voices of support. We will also broadly share lessons
learned from this work to boost advocacy efforts among
our national and state partners.
Proficient vs. Prepared: Updated Edition Count All Kids: Using the 9th Grade Cohort to HIGH SCHOOL ASSESSMENTS
January 2016 Improve Transparency and Accountability IN THE ERA OF ESSA
September 2016
Following the 2015 release of the first edition of Recognizing that the passage of the Every
Achieves Proficient vs. Prepared report, which This brief examined how states can provide a Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) presents unique
showed large disparities between most state test more accurate picture of the college and career challenges and opportunities for states with
results and the National Assessment of Educational readiness of their high school students. Achieve respect to how they select and use high school
Progress (NAEP), Achieve released an updated recommends that states report multiple indicators assessments, Achieve published two new papers
edition in January 2016 to see whether states had using the 9th grade cohort rate (as they do with in fall 2016 to explore these issues and equip
taken steps to close the honesty gap. Since many graduation), which will lead to a more accurate policymakers to make informed assessment
states had taken action to transition to new, more picture of how well states, districts, and schools are decisions.
rigorous tests and set new levels of proficiency, serving all students.
many of the disparities were significantly reduced High School Assessment in a New Era:
Competency-Based Policies and Pathways: What Policymakers Need to Know
or even eliminated. With a few exceptions, the 2016
Lessons from Colorado and Illinois September 2016
edition of Proficient vs. Prepared found that most
September 2016
states acknowledged and corrected their reporting
Achieve and the National Center for the
of student proficiency. Achieve identified early lessons learned in Improvement of Educational Assessment
Colorado and Illinois that will be of interest partnered to develop this brief to help state
Annual 50-State Report: The College and Career
to other states and districts exploring policymakers make sense of what testing
Readiness of U.S. High School Graduates
competency-based pathways (CBP) to college options exist and identify key action steps to
March 2016
and career readiness. This paper discusses consider as they make decisions about high
Since 2005, Achieve has conducted an annual considerations and recommendations identified school assessments.
policy survey of all states and the District of from the work in CO and IL, highlighting
Columbia about the steps they are taking to strategies and actions that will enable CBP and High School Assessments and Accountability
indicators from publicly available sources have
ensure that all students graduate from high school college- and career-ready expectations to occur During ESSA Transition
been compiled to paint a picture of college
prepared to succeed in college and the workplace simultaneously with a particular focus on CBP- October 2016
and career readiness in every state in this way.
through adoption and implementation of college- The reports and accompanying state profiles enabled graduation requirements, assessments,
T
his brief provides a national perspective on
and career-ready (CCR) standards, graduation illustrate that too few high school graduates are and accountability systems.
the ELA/literacy, mathematics, and science
requirements, assessments, and accountability prepared to succeed in postsecondary education, assessments states are using to measure high
systems. This year, for the first time, the focus the military, and careers. The reports also show school students achievement within each states
of Achieves annual 50-state report shifted to significant limitations in the availability of data and accountability system, with the goal of providing
examine student outcomes, looking at actual inconsistencies in how they are reported, making it an understanding of the vast variations within
student performance against CCR measures in all challenging for policymakers, educators, families, the current landscape and pushing states
50 states and the District of Columbia. and advocates to have a clear answer to the simple thinking about future assessment requirements
question: Are high school graduates prepared for and developing more coherent assessment and
Instead of a single report, Achieve published 51
postsecondary success? accountability systems.
individual state performance profiles as well as K12
and postsecondary cross-state summary reports.
This effort represents the first time that CCR
MT ND VT
NH
OR
MN MA
ID NY
WI CT RI
SD MI
WY
PA NJ
IA MD
NE OH DC DE
In 2014, Achieve launched the Student Assessment additional eight districts across Illinois, New
NV IL IN
UT WV VA
CO
AK MO
Inventory for School Districts, a process designed York, and Washington to complete the inventory
CA KS KY
NC
TN
AZ
NM
OK
AR
SC from the student perspective that district leaders process, with particular attention paid to the
can use to take stock of assessments they require role of school board members as key decision-
GA
AL
MS
FL
Educators Evaluating the Quality of Instructional Additionally, Achieve launched the EQuIP Peer for grades K-8, Achieve received a total of 169 and the writing team made revisions based on
Products (EQuIP) Review Panel for Science and released an submissions, 27 of which were in response to the the feedback. While this document was being
EQuIP is an initiative designed to identify high- updated version of the EQuIP Rubric for Science high school focus areas. Over 40 total Call to finalized, revisions began on the EQuIP Rubric for
quality materials aligned to the Common Core in an effort to identify and shine a spotlight on Action submissions were identified as exemplary Science (version 3.0) to support the development
State Standards (CCSS) or Next Generation emerging high-quality lessons and unit plans and published on Achieves website. of the Peer Review Panel for Science and ensure
Science Standards (NGSS). Its objectives are designed for the NGSS. The Achieve team that the tools were coherent and complementary.
EQuIP and Student Work
to increase the supply of high-quality lessons facilitated or supported EQuIP trainings that
The EQuIP team also explored how student work Panel Discussion: Developing and Discovering
and units aligned to the CCSS or NGSS that are provided NGSS professional development to more
can play a role in the development of high-quality Quality Curriculum in a Google World
available to teachers, to give publishers examples than 800 classroom teachers across ten states
material. In February of 2016, Achieve brought Highlighting the importance of high-quality,
of what quality lessons look like, and to build the throughout the year.
groups of teachers together from across the aligned instructional materials, Achieve hosted a
capacity of educators to evaluate and improve the
EQuIP Call to Action country to annotate their own samples of student panel discussion at the National Press Club that
quality of instructional materials for use in their
Unique to 2016 was the EQuIP Call to Action work for publication on Achieves website. Those served as a deeper dive into findings from RAND
classrooms and schools.
for lessons and units aligned with high school samples were published as part of the Student Corporations American Teacher Panel study on
Over the past year, EQuIP grew its collection standards. Achieve brought together experts Work Annotation initiative with the exemplars K12 standards implementation and instructional
of high-quality and CCSS-aligned mathematics and practitioners in both mathematics and ELA/ from which they were taken one set of materials as well as perspectives from education
and ELA/literacy instructional material by literacy to identify focus areas in each grade. To annotated student samples for each grade band leaders. Panelists included John White, State
50% to reach its goal of publishing 150 sets of support the development of units aligned to the in each content area. This work further inspired Superintendent of Louisiana, Julia H. Kaufman,
instructional materials in both subjects. There are standards identified in the Call to Action, Achieve Achieve to organize a strategy session to look at one of the RAND studys authors, and Ashley
165 sets of exemplary CCSS lessons and units hosted a Unit Writing Jam in May at which 11 how evaluating student work could help close the Bessicks, teacher at Phelps High School, District
posted on Achieves website. teacher teams developed and submitted units. expectations gap. of Columbia Public Schools.
Combined with the pre-existing Call to Action
NGSS Primary Evaluation
of Essential Criteria
for Alignment
165 EQuIP Exemplars available The NGSS Primary Evaluation
online for free download and use of Essential Criteria for
Alignment (PEEC-Alignment)
was created to help
developers and reviewers
of instructional materials
understand whether materials
contain or exhibit the essential
features of a program aligned
to the NGSS innovations.
Following its initial public
release in 2015, feedback
was collected from targeted
organizations and individuals
Four new NGSS EQuIP videos with the Teaching Channel A new and improved NGSS website
State Standards Reviews Improving and Planning for Science Additional Support for Science Education Accountability Roundtable
A number of states revised their ELA/literacy Assessments As the organization that helped states to develop In conjunction with Achieves 20th Anniversary
and mathematics standards during 2016. In many Adoption of the NGSS and similar three- the NGSS, Achieve continued to support states celebration, Achieve convened an accountability
cases, Achieve provided detailed technical reviews dimensional state standards pose challenges for and districts as they revise their science standards roundtable on December 8 to explore the critical
of the college and career readiness of penultimate states as they develop high-quality and aligned with the National Research Councils Framework dimensions of state accountability systems as
or final drafts of standards. In 2016, Achieve statewide assessments. In response to state for K12 Science Education and the NGSS in part of the planning process for a 50-state report
conducted reviews for draft or final standards needs, Achieve began working with states to mind. As previously described, Achieve provided on the quality of state accountability systems
in Arizona, Louisiana, New York, Oklahoma, and improve their science assessments by carefully implementation support with an increasing that Achieve will publish in 2017. A variety of
Tennessee. examining assessment design trade-offs and emphasis on selecting high-quality, standards- stakeholder groups were represented, including
alignment considerations. For example, Achieve aligned instructional materials and worked with educators, policy and technical experts, civil
State Assessment Reviews
facilitated assessment design discussions among states on the future of science assessments. These rights and advocacy organizations, parents,
Building on its history of developing and
over 20 states for both formative, classroom- additional resources were released during 2016: school board members, superintendents, business
evaluating state assessments and the recent
based assessment processes as well as statewide groups, and higher education. Participants:
work of partner organizations to evaluate the NGSS Overview for Principals, a resource
summative assessments. Based on the growing
quality and alignment of new college- and career- developed to help building administrators better identified dimensions of state accountability
state needs for support around assessment
ready state assessments, Achieve developed envision the full range of instructional supports systems that are critical in determining the
design, Achieve also drafted principles for NGSS-
the capacity to provide this important service needed for successful implementation quality of those systems;
aligned assessments for states to use in their
to states through a revised methodology and
assessment development processes. Achieve Four new NGSS EQuIP videos with the defined what quality looks like for each of those
streamlined review process, enabling Achieve to
plans to continue this work by supporting Teaching Channel dimensions; and
launch its state assessment review process in 2017.
both classroom-based assessments as well
as development and evaluation processes for NGSS Lesson Screener explored how to evaluate state systems on these
statewide science assessments. dimensions and how results from an evaluation
NGSS Example Bundles Guide and Example
of state accountability systems could be
Bundles for all grade levels
reported to promote continuous improvement.
A new and improved NGSS website
Roundtable members indicated that they want to
stay involved with this process and will continue
to provide input and feedback that will guide the
development of Achieves 50-state report on state
accountability systems.
Coalition Support Network Notable speakers joined the CSN to share their
Building upon Achieves existing partnership valuable insights around equity challenges
efforts with state-based education advocacy relating to ESSA, including Sekou Biddle, Achieve convened the full CSN three times in 2016.
coalitions, this year, Achieve launched the United Negro College Fund; Nathan Gibbs-
Coalition Support Network (CSN) 3.0: a network Bowling, 2016 Washington State Teacher of the
of coalitions in states across the country Year; Brenda Calderon and Jessica Rodriguez,
committed to advocating for comparable National Council of La Raza; Erika McConduit-
college- and career-ready standards, high-quality Diggs, New Orleans Urban League; and Delia State-based Op-Eds National Research on Perceptions in Education
assessments aligned to those standards, and Pompa, Migration Policy Institute. Achieve partnered with educators to increase the Achieve hosted 20 focus groups of parents in
increased transparency of student outcomes. number of science educators who are vocal and 10 states to seek their thoughts on different
Innovation Funds: Achieve created a new effective advocates in their local communities. aspects of the CCR agenda and education in their
Achieve provided backbone support to the innovation fund open exclusively to CSN 3.0 These efforts resulted in nearly a dozen educator state. In particular, Achieve sought to learn more
network by: members called Innovate to Achieve, through op-eds being published across states including about the extent to which states and schools
which Achieve provided targeted funding for Arkansas, Delaware, Iowa, Kentucky, New Jersey, are transparently sharing data about student
directly funding, in part, state-based coalition
creative, short-term projects tied to coalitions Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. achievement in their state, as well as what kinds
operations;
advocacy goals. Climb Higher Colorado used of data and information parents would be most
these funds to bolster their partnership with Communications and Advocacy Trainings
serving as network manager; interested in knowing about schools. These focus
the Denver Public Schools Office of Family and Achieve hosted six Advocacy Communications
groups informed a survey Achieve conducted of
providing strategic communications and Community Engagement to increase outreach to Master Classes throughout 2016 to prepare
1,200 public school parents nationwide about their
messaging support; refugee families via the Home Visit Program and attendees to communicate about improving
thoughts on various topics in public education.
Academic Standards Events, where parents and science education. These classes trained 140
advising coalitions on CCR best practices and Findings from the poll included consensus among
teachers discuss the importance of standards participants from 14 states. Additionally, the
policies; and parent groups on the importance of states
and student learning. Achieve team led workshops during one summer
maintaining high-quality assessments, and that
connecting coalitions with Achieve and partner training and two fall conferences with over 200
the vast majority of parents find the standardized
research resources, and tactical technical A
dvocacy Communications Master Classes: educators, administrators, district leaders, and
test results from their students useful.
assistance. Achieve also hosted interactive one-day advocates on identifying target audiences and
workshops to increase advocates confidence effective advocacy practices to build community
Achieve also supported the following activities in communicating messages in support of support for high-quality science education.
through the CSN: the CCR agenda. These occurred in Alabama,
Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, and
Network Convenings: Coalition leaders met
Washington in 2016. As an example of impact,
during Achieves 20th Anniversary celebration,
Ann Marie Corgill, 2015 Alabama Teacher of
engaged in a summer planning retreat, and
came together in April to share challenges and
the Year, attended the Alabama training and
Coalition Support Network
Sixteen new
successes surrounding the coalitions work to
subsequently wrote an op-ed in support of the advocacy and
Alabama College- and Career- Ready Standards
engage diverse stakeholders, especially as it
and served as a spokesperson for CCR policies
communications
related to the Every Student Succeeds Act.
in Alabama and across the country. projects were
provided $332,000
in total funding
through Innovate
Four coalition support network states partnered with to Achieve in 2016
Achieve to hold Advocacy Communications Master Classes. across 12 states.
Achieves diverse and experienced staff have many years of experience in teaching,
school and district leadership, policy, advocacy, communications, government, and more.
WEBSITES
Achieves diverse and experienced staff have many Presentation by Michael Gilligan at the Council Achieve.org NextGenScience.org
years of experience in teaching, school and district for a Strong Americas (CSA) 20th anniversary
leadership, policy, advocacy, communications,
government, and more. The Achieve team was
celebration on CSAs role in promoting a college-
and career-ready America in September
694,712 9,870,245
PAGE VIEWS PAGE VIEWS
asked to make presentations, speak on panels, and
Presentations by Michael Gilligan at CA
provide training across the country during 2016.
237,683 1,031,296
STEM convention and CA Science Teachers
Highlights from the year include:
Association annual meeting on effectively
Presentation by Mike Cohen on a panel about advocating for science instruction in October UNIQUE USERS UNIQUE USERS
opportunities for state leadership on ESSA at
Presentation by Mike Cohen on a panel about
the CCSSO Legislative Conference in April
assessment requested by the Office of the
Presentation by Mike Cohen on a panel about Governor of Indiana in October
whether the NAEP Mathematics Framework
Presentation by Sandy Boyd on goal setting and
should be revised to align with the Common
continuous improvement at the Data Quality
Core State Standards at the National Council on
Campaign ESSA Policymakers Summit in
Measurement in Education Meeting in April
October
Presentation on college and career readiness
Featured speaking presentations on EQuIP and Social Media Monthly Newsletters
before the Maryland State Board of Education
mathematics content by Ted Coe at the National Achieve continued its active presence on Twitter Achieve continued to release monthly newsletters
by Mike Cohen and Marie OHara in April
Council of Teachers of Mathematics Regional during FY 2016, sharing resources, news articles, both from the organization generally (Perspective)
Testimony by Elliott Asp before the Colorado Conference in October tools, and more with its audience and partners. and about the NGSS specifically (NGSS Now).
General Assembly Interim Committee on The @AchieveInc Twitter account topped Perspective was sent to over 7,200 subscribers
Presentation by Sandy Boyd on innovations in
choosing the fifth accountability indicator in 8,800 followers and gained several thousand each month while the NGSS Now subscriber list
assessment at the Foundation for Excellence
August retweets and mentions throughout the year. topped 23,000 individuals.
in Educations National Summit on Education
The @OfficialNGSS Twitter account also took
Presentation by Elliott Asp on the opening panel Reform in December
off during the course of the year, topping
of the Virginia Summit on Assessing for Deeper
Presentation by Jacob Mishook on assessment 10,000 followers.
Learning in September
at a White House event on Creating Better,
To diversify our social media efforts
Fairer, and Fewer Tests in December
and reach educators in a new way, we
created pinnable images for all 150+
EQuIP Exemplars and posted them all
on Pinterest boards organized by subject
and grade band. Since teachers often use
Pinterest for lesson planning ideas, the
EQuIP exemplars are now accessible via
that medium as well.
Chris and Hilary Gabrieli The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation