David T. Conley
Jossey-Bass
2010
This book explores what it would take for high schools to ensure the “college and career readiness” of every student. It seeks to get into the nitty gritty of how we’d remake high schools to actually produce these students, from defining the basic terms to overhauling curriculum. The book has two sections: First, Conley lays out his four-part conceptual model of college readiness and his seven principles of how to organize a school to follow this model. These principles include, for example, creating a career- and college-ready culture and implementing a strong core academic program. He offers case studies of schools that have managed to do this successfully. A much shorter part two addresses what schools and states have done so far to improve graduation standards.Herein Conley acknowledges the unsavory side effects of some of these reforms, such as detracking and pushing more students into AP and IB courses. His chapter on state actions is perhaps the most interesting, since Conley is in fact on the validation committee for the Common Core State Standards Initiative. And surprise, he is sure to point out that states would do well to compare their standards to the Common Core ones to find out if the state ones are any good. (Incidentally, Fordham will be conducting just such an analysis this summer—stay tuned!) From the perspective of a principal, district leader, or state policy maker trying to figure out how to operationalize the amorphous term “college- and career-ready,” this book fills an important void; readers will find more of the “how” of this “how-to” manual on the accompanying website. Buy the book, or peruse the website, here.
