Achieve, Inc.

The issue

Founded by governors and Fortune 500 CEOs in 1996, Achieve Inc. has grown to become the leading advocacy organization for standards-based reform of the nation's primary and secondary education system with a target of increasing rigor and driving increased college- and career-ready graduation. Achieve's unique leadership structure, combining bipartisan state-level political leadership and leading corporate CEOs, empowers the organization to be provocative and aggressive in its call to action. Perhaps most importantly, Achieve's voice is viewed as bipartisan and fair on issues of college- and career-ready standards, and its coast-to-coast research is seen as rigorous and in-depth.

What we did

Education First's relationship with Achieve stretches back to the organization's formative years. Its former staff includes Education First's founding partner, Jennifer Vranek. In addition, nearly all of Education First's leadership team has served as state-level consultants, thought leaders and contributors to various Achieve projects.  Education First's work with Achieve includes:

  • Publications: Education First has strategized, researched, written/co-written and edited numerous publications for Achieve, including national reports on graduation requirements and high school assessment systems; four Race to the Top briefs; state-specific reports on upholding high standards and high graduation rates; and parts of the Measures that Matter report.
  • Convenings: At Achieve's annual American Diploma Project Network meetings, Education First has staffed state teams and facilitated breakout sessions of national and state education leaders. Education First also has planned and staffed meetings regarding communications, policy sustainabilty and graduation requirements.
  • State-level support: Education First facilitated the work of six of the eight states comprising the College & Career Ready Policy Institute, which enables selected states to focus on the development of strong, specific and actionable college-ready policy plans. Education First also worked with six states as Achieve's state-level consultants, serving as the states' liaisons to Achieve and coaching state leaders on how to enact a college- and career-ready agenda.
  • Thought leadership: Education First is working with Achieve on creating its next five-year strategic plan and generally serves as a resource for the organizations leadership and staff to trade ideas, strategize and problem-solve.

The outcome

Education First's work with Achieve has impacted many aspects of Achieve's agenda with states, including standards setting, assessment development, communications and advocacy, the politics and policy of high school graduation requirements and accountability system design. Thirty-five states have joined Achieve's American Diploma Project Network to align high school expectations with the demands of postsecondary education, work and life. In partnership with the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), Achieve developed the national Common Core standards: K-12 academic standards in English and math that are internationally benchmarked, college- and career-ready, rigorous, clear and focused, and grounded in research. In September 2010, Achieve was awarded a federal grant of more than $170 million over four years to develop an assessment system aligned to the national Common Core standards, called the Partnership for the Assessments of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC).

Why it matters

In the 1990s, a wave of states adopted statewide academic standards, aligned assessments, high school graduation requirements, and accountability systems for districts. While progress has been made, it is still clear that many students are not graduating from high schools prepared to meet the demands of postsecondary education or the workforce. There remains little agreement about what "college and career ready" means and on how states, districts and higher education systems can work together to prepare students. The nation needs organizations like Achieve, which provide the research, policy knowledge, political strategy and advocacy to help states get serious about the college- and career-ready agenda.