New Phases for CRAfT and PPG Initiatives

August 2014 | Houston, Texas
BY: Amy Williams

Initiatives developed to support Texas' commitment to closing the gaps by 2015 often have several stages. Once it has received funding through a college and career readiness partner, four major stages usually follow: planning, implementation, data collection and sustainability.

Two of the newer Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board funded initiatives, the College Readiness Assignments for Texas (CRAfT) and the Texas College and Career Readiness Profile Planning Guide (PPG), will be transitioning to new program focuses this fall.

As their name suggests, CRAfT initially released the College Readiness Assignments (CRAs) in Fall 2013. As part of its implementation strategy, the program has since spent the last year focusing on delivering conference presentations to schools and ISDs. In addition, the initiative has been instrumental in providing high school and college educators resources that support the college and career readiness standards (CCRS) and vertical alignment efforts in Texas.

Beginning this school year, CRAfT will provide educators with more resources that can be used year round. CRAfT-developed resources can all be found on its website. The program also has several networks that offer educators the latest in resources, blogs, articles, and more.

 “It is our hope that anyone who visits the site will have access to all the information they need to successfully implement CRAs,” said Emily Johnson, CRAfT program coordinator.

Though focus will be on developing resources, the CRAfT team will still be available to provide additional training as requested. Please contact Emily Johnson for additional training details.

Since its launch in late Fall 2012, PPG has focused implementation efforts through ESC training, following an efficient Train the Trainers model. Throughout its in-depth and aggressive training plan, PPG also provided its trainees with key resources that support the program, including CRA and House Bill 5 training. The results have been successful: 19 out of the 20 ESC have embraced the program and received training.

As part of the PPG’s next phase, schools and ISDs are expected to progress to the next stages of the CCR initiative: sustainability. A list of trainers is now available that will conduct trainings as needed. In addition, Regional College Readiness Special Advisor Gary Madsen and PPG coordinator Steve Frank will be focusing on data collection. This data will focus on CCR culture change in schools and ISDs who have implemented the program. One factor that must be accounted for is that schools are free to decide how involved they are in PPG usage. Thus, the method in which data is gathered will need to account for these possible usage differences.

More information regarding the CRAfT and PPG initiatives is just a click away. Also feel free to contact Emily Johnson or Steve Frank regarding additional training opportunities or questions.