Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors

This funding would support an effort we initiated with the Lumina and Gates foundations and the Carnegie Corporation to promote successful implementation of the Common Core State Standards and the K-12 assessments being developed to align with them. Given that higher education will play a critical role in lending credibility to the new tests, this project would encourage the K-12 and postsecondary sectors to share ownership of college-readiness standards, promoting their use in college and university decisions about incoming students’ readiness for college-level work. The initiative’s goals are to reduce the proportion of students requiring developmental education upon college enrollment and to cut the average time and cost to obtain a postsecondary credential. Ten states would be funded to undertake activities to advance these goals. In 2012, the Program will likely recommend an additional $1 million for this initiative.