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| Achieve | |
|---|---|
| Name | Achieve |
| Formation | 1996 |
| Type | Nonprofit organization |
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C. |
| Region served | United States |
| Focus | Standards, assessments, college and career readiness |
Achieve Achieve is a nonprofit organization focused on standards, assessments, and college and career readiness policy in the United States. It engages with state education agencies, governors, legislatures, and national organizations to promote academic standards and performance expectations. Founded in the mid-1990s, the organization has collaborated with numerous education and industry partners to shape policy, develop benchmarks, and publicize comparative data.
The name derives from the English verb connoting attainment and successful completion; the organization selected it to signal an orientation toward measurable outcomes and standards. Its branding aligns with initiatives that emphasize accountability, performance, and preparation for postsecondary pathways, reflecting language common in policy debates involving the National Governors Association, Council of Chief State School Officers, and state departments such as the California Department of Education and the Texas Education Agency.
Within policy and advocacy documents, the term refers to the organization and its suite of initiatives, reports, and tools—used in discourse alongside institutions such as the U.S. Department of Education, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the American Institutes for Research. Practitioners reference Achieve in connection with standards frameworks, comparability studies, and the promotion of college- and career-ready expectations, often citing collaborative projects with the Stanford University School of Education, the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and state-led consortia.
Established in 1996 with support from governors and business leaders, the organization emerged during a period of standards reform linked to high-profile initiatives like the Goals 2000: Educate America Act and debates led by figures associated with the National Education Association and the Business Roundtable. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s it worked alongside commissions and foundations such as the Annenberg Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Spencer Foundation to publish benchmarks and comparative reports. Its activities intersected with national movements including the development of the No Child Left Behind Act and later the Every Student Succeeds Act, engaging stakeholders such as state governors—members of the National Governors Association—and influential educators affiliated with the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research.
In educational psychology and pedagogy, Achieve’s work is situated amid theories of motivation and learning associated with scholars and institutions like Albert Bandura, Carol Dweck, John Hattie, and the Learning Research and Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh. Its standards-based approach aligns with competency-oriented frameworks championed by organizations including the National Assessment Governing Board and think tanks such as the Brookings Institution and the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. Educators reference Achieve when discussing alignment of curriculum, assessment, and instruction alongside resources from the Teacher College, Columbia University and the Khan Academy movement.
Achieve has produced comparative analyses, benchmarking tools, and reporting frameworks that interact with major assessments and measurement entities such as the Programme for International Student Assessment, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, and consortia like the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. Its metric-focused publications draw on psychometric practice from the Educational Testing Service and research from the RAND Corporation, addressing indicators used by state agencies including the New York State Education Department and the Florida Department of Education to evaluate college and career readiness.
Business and workforce development groups reference Achieve when aligning secondary credentials with employer expectations, coordinating with chambers of commerce, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, and industry partners such as LinkedIn learning initiatives and corporate training programs from firms like IBM and Microsoft. Postsecondary institutions—ranging from the University of California system to community colleges represented by the American Association of Community Colleges—use frameworks influenced by Achieve to inform placement, advising, and bridging programs. Career and technical education stakeholders including the Association for Career and Technical Education cite Achieve-related benchmarks when designing curricula that connect K–12 outcomes to apprenticeship models and labor-market needs.
Achieve’s emphasis on standards and measurable readiness has attracted critique from scholars and advocacy groups including affiliates of the National Education Association, the American Civil Liberties Union, and researchers at the Teachers College, Columbia University who argue that high-stakes alignment can narrow curricula and exacerbate inequities. Debates have involved policy analysts from the Economic Policy Institute and the Center on Education Policy over the effects of standardization and accountability on underserved populations. Controversies have also touched on the role of philanthropy—actors such as the Gates Foundation—in shaping public policy and the balance between state autonomy represented by the National Governors Association and federally influenced frameworks like No Child Left Behind Act.
Category:Nonprofit organizations based in Washington, D.C.