By Bill DeBaun, Senior Director, Data and Strategic Initiatives
Reading time: Three minutes
The State Education Standard, the journal of the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE), is out with a new issue focused on transitions. These are transitions of all kinds, from
pre-K to postsecondary, but multiple articles will catch members’ attention. Notably:
“FAFSA as a Pathway to Postsecondary Education” by the National College Attainment Network's (NCAN) Alessandra Cipriani-Detres and Elizabeth Wood and uAspire’s Anika Van Eaton focuses on what we’ve learned about universal FAFSA’s (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) impacts, compares and contrasts the elements of states’ various universal
FAFSA policies, and offers advice to states considering adopting these policies in the future.
In “Prioritizing the Measures of K-12 Success That Matter Most,” Ryan Reyna from Education Strategy Group highlights
findings from Measurement for Mobility and notes, “While states have made progress in the public reporting of college and career readiness metrics, Measurement for Mobility found
that few are weighting those measures heavily within accountability systems or centering longer-term outcomes in their efforts to improve education.”
He suggests, “if the ultimate goal of education is to set students on a path to
economic opportunity and mobility, more states need to be emphasizing a second category of K-12 metrics: postsecondary outcomes. Postsecondary outcomes capture students’ progress and success in higher education and the workforce. Specific measures
in this category include postsecondary education enrollment (including in two-year colleges, four-year colleges, and short-term certificate or training programs), persistence, and credential attainment. They may also include measures related to
military enlistment, employment, and earnings.”
Although nearly every state has public reporting on postsecondary outcomes, just eight include these measures in any kind of accountability structure, and just two states tie funding to them.
Reyna concludes with recommendations for state boards about how to focus more on postsecondary outcomes to drive K-12 practice and programming changes.
Long-time NCAN blog readers know I am a big fan of Illinois’ Postsecondary and Career Expectations (PaCE) framework, and in the Standard,
Emily Rusca at EdSystems walks through the policy’s history, implementation, advantages, and key lessons in “How Illinois Gets Students Ready for College and Careers.” It is surprising that more states have not rolled out PaCE-like frameworks focusing on what students should know and experience related to college and career readiness, but Rusca’s article provides a roadmap for those interested in adapting or
adopting such a framework.
Finally, a subset of NCAN members begin supporting students in middle school, and “Supporting Students in the Middle Grades” offers some insights into the various statewide
approaches that have been successful in Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) states. Including Mississippi’s Middle School Transition Toolkit,
which “offers families and schools activities and information to support students as they transition into middle school, during their middle school years, and as they move into high school. It also guides transition teams at the local level. It
covers communication, culture, instruction, family engagement, and social-emotional learning and in each of these areas offers activities, strategies, best practices, considerations for select populations and counselors, and digital resources.”
It also highlights Louisiana’s Transitional Ninth Grade (T9) program. For more in the middle school arena, also be sure to check out “Promoting Students’ Well-Being during the Transition to High School,” which focuses more on socioemotional supports.
NASBE serves as the only membership organization for state boards of education, and it is extremely encouraging to see the organization focus an entire issue of its journal on these key transition spaces for students. All of the articles are open access,
so read (and share widely!) to spread these important ideas in the field!
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