Let's Start at the Very Beginning...

Much of the current buzz about college readiness is linked to the Obama Administration's plans for the reauthorization of current federal education laws.  According to an April 2012 article in Community College Week, Obama's goal in creating Race to the Top was to change the focus of schooling from grade-level proficiency, as emphasized by No Child Left Behind, to ensuring that by 2020, all students are college & career ready when they graduate from high school.  These changes, the article states, would mark a drastic departure from federal policy under NCLB and would focus more on positive progress schools make rather than on punishing schools for poor performance.