January 25, 2010, WASHINGTON, D.C. –America’s Choice, in partnership with ACT, Inc., has been approved by the Colorado Department of Education to help turn around Colorado’s lowest performing schools.

National leaders in college readiness and school improvement, ACT and America’s Choice have teamed up to produce the Rigor & Readiness Comprehensive Design, an innovative program that capitalizes on the complementary strengths and experiences of both organizations. Rigor & Readiness is a fully-aligned, coherent instructional system designed to prepare all students for rigorous high school work to ensure college and career success.

The Colorado Department of Education is offering districts the opportunity to partner with approved School Turnaround providers to increase academic achievement at targeted schools. Funded by School Improvement Grant funds, implementation of selected intervention models such as Rigor & Readiness would begin in the 2009-2010 school year.

ACT and America’s Choice have a history of working with Colorado to improve student achievement. America’s Choice is currently working with more than 75 schools on several programs, including Rigor & Readiness and Closing the Achievement Gap. Districts in Colorado are also using Math Navigator, Ramp-Up Mathematics, and Ramp-Up Literacy to increase achievement among diverse populations, including English language learners and students with disabilities.

Since 2001, Colorado has partnered with ACT to expand college and career readiness for all. Currently every public school student in the state takes the ACT test in the spring of his or her junior year, as a tool for postsecondary planning and as a measure of academic readiness for all Colorado students.

“We are currently a turnaround partner for Colorado in its effort to close the achievement gap,” said Judy Codding, president and chief operating officer of America’s Choice. “We are excited Colorado is expanding our capacity to serve the state. This opportunity will enable us to provide more districts with the supports they need to prepare their students for postsecondary education and training without remediation.”

“Given ACT and America’s Choice’s legacies around increasing achievement in Colorado, we are a natural fit for its major turnaround effort,” said Cyndie Schmeiser, president and chief operating officer of ACT. “We commend Colorado’s longstanding commitment to college and career readiness expectations for all and look forward to building on our work in the state through a clear vision for change, focused on executing a standards-based, coherent instructional system that includes the provision of intensive professional development. With this vision as our foundation, we will support schools and districts to prepare every Colorado student for success.”

Rigor & Readiness provides services in four areas shown by research to be critical to school improvement: organizational management and leadership, academic performance, comprehensive planning, and learning environment. Services are delivered through a multi-layered system of support, involving intensive professional development, field guides and monographs, regular network meetings to foster collaboration, and onsite coaching and technical assistance.

Rigor & Readiness addresses academic performance by aligning standards and assessments that reach back from college entrance to elementary school, making it possible to set students’ compasses for college and career readiness early on. Rigor & Readiness includes a tiered set of interventions to support all students’ preparation for college and careers.

“We must consider the total student,” said Dr. Ken James, executive vice president and chief operating officer of America’s Choice. “Supports for students’ personal growth need to go hand in hand with supports for students’ academic growth. Rigor & Readiness will address students’ motivation, social engagement, and self-regulatory behavior, to enable all students to succeed.”


To learn more about Rigor & Readiness, visit http://www.rigorandreadiness.org