The Executive Committee has been in conversations with the California Department of Education and Smarter Balanced leaders to provide feedback and input to upcoming assessments. In addition, several breakouts have been held to educate faculty about where curriculum may or may not be affected as the new CCSS roll out. The ICAS mathematics competency statements have also been updated to reflect alignment with expectations of higher education faculty.
Whereas, The California Community Colleges Task Force on Student Success (established in response to Senate Bill 1143, Liu, 2010) recommends (as of September 30, 2011) that the California Community College System collaborate with the K-12 system to align high school exit standards with community college standards of college readiness;
Whereas, Title 5 §53200 (b) designates “Standards or policies regarding student preparation and success” as an academic and professional matter that falls under the purview of the local academic senate, and therefore community college faculty should be the primary leaders of any revision of academic standards;
Whereas, While alignment of standards between the K-12 and the California Community College System may enhance college preparedness and increase student success, such alignment must be led by community college faculty in order to ensure that pre-established Common Core Standards adopted by the K-12 system are not imposed on community colleges; and
Whereas, Any meaningful dialog regarding alignment of standards between the K-12 and the California Community College System will require significant human and financial resources to enable full participation of all appropriate parties;
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges study the K-12 Common Core Standards and consider the degree to which those standards might align with community college readiness standards; and
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges insist that any discussion of alignment of standards between the K-12 and the California Community College System be a faculty-led initiative with sufficient support provided by the community college and K-12 system offices.
MSC
Appendix A: California Community Colleges Task Force on Student Success