New Education Standards Point To "Toward College Success"

For the last couple of days, my local newspaper has reported that the state of Colorado’s new academic standards will be implemented at the start of the school year. The standards are based on the Common Core State Standards Initiative. According to http://corestandards.org/, the initiative is “a state-led effort coordinated by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). The standards were developed in collaboration with teachers, school administrators, and experts, to provide a clear and consistent framework to prepare our children for college and the workforce.”

In addition, according to the Fort Collins Coloradoan, Melissa Coleman, director of teaching and learning for the Colorado Department of Education said that the “standards were designed with the intent of producing graduates with real-world experience and skills.” She went on to say that, “to best prepare students for life after high school, the standards were designed backwards from post-graduate proficiency goals.”

I consider this more proof that my book, Toward College Success: Is Your Teenager Ready, Willing, and Able?, is a timely, needed resource for parents of middle and high school students. Academics is only one part of Toward College Success. The interviews, stories, and resources shared in my book show that students need to be prepared in much more than academics to be successful college students. Those same skills, satisfactorily solving conflict; effectively managing time, money, and priorities; self-advocating; and much more, are skills that also are necessary to be successful in the workforce.

On that note, I am happy to announce that Toward College Success is officially released as of today, July 15. I am confident that parents will find this book a valuable resource. Spread the word!