Leadership Profile of Jim Cowen of Collaborative for Student Success

Abstract

In 2014, the Collaborative for Student Success (CFSS) was established to defend high academic standards, high-quality assessments, and strong systems of accountability, to ensure that all kids are prepared for college or a career. The non-profit organization’s work would later include the preparation of policymakers, states, communities, teachers, and parents for the introduction of landmark education legislation known as the “Every Student Succeeds Act” (or ESSA). This bipartisan law put forward the idea that states and districts are in the best position to realize the goal and vision for our nation’s students. With that, however, comes the responsibility of taking the hard steps of ensuring it will happen, which is where CFSS steps in. CFSS shines a spotlight on the importance of this hard and complicated work, helps states and schools traverse the complicated law, determines how to account for student achievement and holds them accountable for meeting the proposed standards.