The Concept

Aligning curricula and expectations from grade to grade, as well as aligning high school graduation requirements with college entrance requirements ensures that students are (1) well prepared for each successive year of school; (2) aware of the expectations of each successive year; and (3) prepared for full participation in postsecondary education. Close collaboration among institutions enables schools and outreach programs to provide students with the information they need to successfully enroll in postsecondary education.

Strategies

Schools and outreach programs can:

• Talk about and support curricula and expectations that are aligned across grades from kindergarten to college.
• Provide students with information about, and help with, college application process prior to the senior year in high school.
• Coordinate outreach programs with school programs to help students reach fluency in mathematics and reading early enough to prepare all students for advanced level math, reading-based subject areas.

Tools

• Building a College Resource Inventory
• Building Collaborative Partnerships
• How Can Schools Develop Relationships with Outreach Programs?
• Organizational Self-Assessment: P-16 Alignment

Resources

• Building Partnerships
• College Outreach Programs
• Policy Resources
• P-16 Alignment

Short Examples

• The feeder-system between K-12 schools in a school district encourages principals and teachers to talk regularly about curriculum alignment.
• Dual enrollment is established between the high school and community colleges.
• College faculty and high school faculty work together on college assessments, curricular expectations, and ways to share information about student achievement.
• Schools are involved in a variety of programs such as the School-to-Career initiative to help students learn about career and work options and the need for postsecondary education.
• Schools and the community have rich partnerships providing expanded financial resources, expanded personnel resources, and onsite internships for students.

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