THE 2019 GUIDE TO ARIZONA’S COLLEGE AND CAREER READY STANDARDS
Posted on July 15, 2019 by skylinegilariver
If you are a parent of a student in Arizona, you may have heard of Arizona’s College and Career Ready Standards (ACCRS) and wondered, what are the standards and what do they mean for my child? In this blog post, we answer the most frequently asked questions about ACCRS.
What are Arizona’s College and Career Ready Standards?
Arizona’s College and Career Ready Standards, or ACCRS, are comprised of the following subjects:
- English Language Arts
- Literacy in History/Social Studies
- Science
- Technical Competency
These are also known as “the Standards.” The Standards are part of a broad effort to fulfill the state’s charge to create the next generation of educational guidelines for grades K–12. The goal of the Standards is to help ensure that all students are college and career ready in literacy by the time they graduate high school.
Along with defining college and career readiness, the Standards also lay out a vision for what it means to be a literate person in the twenty-first century. The skills and concepts students are expected to understand and demonstrate are also widely relevant outside of the classroom or workplace.
For example, students who meet the Standards:
- “Readily undertake the close, attentive reading that is at the heart of understanding and enjoying complex works of literature.
- They habitually perform the critical reading necessary to pick carefully through the staggering amount of information available today in print and digitally.
- They actively seek wide, deep, and thoughtful engagement with high‐quality literary and informational texts that build knowledge, enlarge experiences, and broaden world views.
- They reflexively demonstrate the reasoning and use of evidence that is essential to both private deliberation and responsible citizenship”
In short, students who meet the Standards develop the skills in reading, writing, speaking, and listening that are the foundation for any creative and purposeful expression in language.
Source: https://cms.azed.gov/home/GetDocumentFile?id=573254fbaadebe1358cfd48d
Why were the Arizona’s College and Career Ready Standards created?
The workplace is far different today than it was even ten years ago. Unlike past generations, educators today must prepare students for a world of possibilities that may not currently exist. Students starting out in college or a career need to be well prepared to face the unknown, as hard as that may seem. The transition from high school, college or into the workforce can be a challenge, especially for those who are not aware of the expectations and requirements.
Students are considered college and career ready when they have the knowledge, skills, academic preparation, and behaviors needed to enroll and succeed in introductory college credit courses in degree programs without the need for remedial courses.
Students who opt to enter workforce education (such as technical / trade schools or apprenticeships) or directly into a family-wage job after high school require these same skills and attributes in order to succeed.
The workforce of tomorrow must be flexible, motivated, and be able to draw from a deep and vast skill set. The ability to effectively communicate, collaborate, and adapt to situations will be critical to ensuring Arizona students are prepared to compete in today’s global workforce market.
How does Skyline Gila River help prepare students for college and career readiness?
The Skyline network of schools have adopted College and Career Readiness Standards (CCRS) that are aligned with both Arizona state and national standards and support our mission of providing high-quality education programs and services designed to stimulate life-long learning.
Skyline’s academic curriculum and school culture promote:
- A results-focused education with a clear end in mind that begins in Kindergarten and builds to mastery of the knowledge and skills that colleges and employers value
- Clear and consistent goals with an emphasis on real-world application of knowledge and skills
- Relevant content that increases ability to effectively use critical thinking and problem-solving skills to communicate, collaborate, and adapt to new situations in either college or in the workplace
- A sound, rigorous, evidence-based preparation for success in college and/or career
- Skyline utilizes a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) to promote our culture of College and Career Readiness. Our evidence-based practices are designed to support students’ academic and personal needs with varying levels of intervention to empower each student to achieve high standards.
Is preparing your child for college and career important to you? Please contact us to learn more about how we prepare your child for a successful future in life and career.