Affinity Network

About this Project

The College Board Advocacy & Policy Center Affinity Network creates connections between K–12 districts and postsecondary education systems to focus on pressing educational challenges and innovative solutions to facilitate student success.

One issue. One cohort. One year.

The Network tackles one critical issue each year, offering a solutions-oriented incubator designed to foster cross-sector collaboration.
Network issues are those most effectively addressed when schools and colleges work together in new ways to enact systemic solutions.
Participants in the Network’s intensive, year-long partnerships are over 100 educators from a nationally representative group of 15 College Board Member institutions.
Network participants receive extensive support and hands-on technical assistance as well as access to the most current research, latest policy developments, and to a panel of national experts comprising the Affinity Network Advisory Committee.
Guiding questions for the Affinity Network’s inaugural partners are as follows:

How might Common Core State Standards adoption result in changes/shifts in the alignment of high school exit and postsecondary entrance expectations, and what supports are required to facilitate this alignment?

How might Common Core State Standards adoption impact the design of remedial education?

Our Progress

What We've Accomplished

Affinity Network national introduction and initial convening, April 2012. Series of three to four full-day working meetings with educators from regionally affiliated school districts, community colleges and 4-year public universities in each of the following states: Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Oklahoma and Washington, July 2012 – March 2013.

On-going project engagement through small group investigative activities and dedicated Online Community, July 2012 – March 2013.

District, college and university leads mid-year convening, November 2012

Affinity Network national capstone event, April 2013.

What We're Working On

Generating solutions from the field. Informing policy. Building systems-level capacity.

Working with state teams to develop a broad and deep understanding of the Common Core and of ways to align K–12 and postsecondary curriculum and instruction with the help of these new standards.

Generating findings anchored in evidence and recommendations, available in May/June2013, to be shared through policy briefings in Washington, D.C. and in participating states to raise awareness and support for this work.

Seeding new regional educational partnerships, advancing promising practices, and identifying important P-20 research questions.