As Texans we must re-imagine what the term "college and career readiness" means for the children in our region.  In order to meet the demands of the changing economic structure of our nation and our community, post-secondary education needs to look at with a different lens.  The 60X30TX strategic plan calls that by 2030, 60% of residents that attended public schools in Texas who fall into the age range or 25-34 hold a postsecondary credential.

This plan does not only call for us as an educational community to support the effort, but addresses both our state's progress and the progress of fellow Texans. When our kids see the ability to better their life through education the possibilities are endless for us as a community.  The plan is comprehensive approach that calls for both public and private sectors to get involved in order to promote post-secondary credentials.  These credentials needs to be based upon marketable skills that will lead to what our students have chosen and not what has been chosen for them.

Since the adoption of the College and Career Readiness Standards, the State Board of Education has incorporated the CCRS into the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, the K-12 curriculum for Texas public schools. Additionally, the CCRS are the basis for two of the 12 new end-of-course assessments enacted by the 80th Texas Legislature (2007) under Senate Bill 1031 and further refined by the 81st Texas Legislature (2009) under House Bill 3. English III and Algebra II assessments will include a college readiness component and performance expectations that must be used by Texas public higher education institutions as the measure of eligibility for entry-level college courses. Ninth graders entering high school in 2011-2012 will be the first to be assessed under the new end-of-course assessments as a requirement for graduation, with most of those students entering Texas public institutions of higher education in fall 2015.

• Every high school graduate should find viable ways of pursuing both a career and a meaningful post-secondary degree or credential.
• In 1973, people with a high school education or less made up 72% of the nation's workforce in an economy in which manufacturing was still dominant. By 2007, people with a high school education or less shrunk to 41% of the workforce.
• The total number of jobs in America had grown, but the number of jobs held by people with no post-secondary education had fallen. Over the past 30 years, all of the net job growth in America has been generated by positions that require at least some post-secondary education.
• Some studies show that the lifetime earnings of workers with associate's degrees were 73% more than those who had not completed high school.
• Interestingly, 27% of people with post-secondary license or certificates earn more than the average bachelor's degree recipient.
• Nearly 70% of all high school graduates go to college within two years of graduating but about 4 in 10 Americans have obtained either an associate's or bachelor's degree by their mid-twenties.

For more information please visit the following links:

Texas Higher Education Strategic Plan 

Dallas Fed

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