College and career readiness has become the theme of many educators and policymakers engaged in high school reform. In this article, I will review the various definitions that have appeared in recent publications, and offer my own.

Common to many definitions of college and career readiness is an emphasis on avoiding the need for remediation at the post-secondary level. The College Completion Toolkit, a 2011 publication of the U.S. Department of Education (http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/college_completion_tool_kit.pdf), cites alarming statistics on the high percentage of students who are referred to at least one remedial or developmental education course, the increased time and cost to the student in obtaining a credential or degree, and the increased likelihood the student will drop out before earning a credential or degree. The obvious point: “Students should not have to pay to learn in college what they should have learned in high school.”