The U.S. Department of Education's 15-page document, "Race to the Top Program Executive Summary", dated November 2009, and available online at
http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop/executive-summary.pdf, may be of interest.
The document mentions that standards are not stand-alone when it states, "
... developing a rollout plan for the standards together with all of their supporting components;" (emphasis added). Interested parents may read the document for information on "all of their supporting components".
The same document also states: "
... in cooperation with the State’s institutions of higher education, aligning high school exit criteria and college entrance requirements with the new standards and assessments;" (emphasis added). This seems to indicate no distinction between the skills/abilities used to define high school graduation and the skills/abilities used to define college entrance requirements at State institutions of higher education.
While some may see these statements as positives and others may see them as potentially "dumbing-down" higher education, few may question the credibility of the source.
