College and Career Readiness Standards for Adult Education

Overview & Synopsis

For over a decade, standards-based education has been an integral part of the Office of Vocational and Adult Education's (OVAE) program of national leadership activities to improve the quality of adult education and literacy programs nationwide. The standards-based education movement in adult education has resulted in communicating clearer expectations for students, using content standards to improve curriculum and instruction, and creating professional development to help staff develop the expertise to implement standards. Building on OVAE's long commitment to promoting state-level institutionalization of adult education content standards, the central purpose of this effort--Promoting College and Career Ready Standards in Adult Basic Education--is to forge a stronger link among adult education, postsecondary education, and the world of work. It presents a starting point for raising awareness and understanding of the critical skills and knowledge expected and required for success in colleges, technical training programs, and employment in the 21st century. While the academic standards developed by states in recent decades reflected broad agreement among experts about what was desirable for students to learn, they did not necessarily identify what was essential for students to know to be prepared for the rigors of postsecondary training, work, or citizenship. It was not until the development of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in 2010--to date adopted by 46 states for K-12 programs--that such a consensus emerged. The CCSS were selected as the basis for the review and recommendations in this report. The report describes how these College and Career Readiness (CCR) standards can enable adult education programs to establish a framework for developing or updating their standards. The following questions guided this review: (1) What content in the area of English language arts and literacy (ELA/literacy) is most relevant to preparing adult students for success in higher education and training programs? (2) What content in the area of mathematics is most relevant to preparing adult students for success in higher education and training programs? (3) Which standards in each content area are most important for adult students?