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Foreword

As I have met with state leaders and policymakers from around the country since the release of Measuring Up 2000: The State-by-State Report Card for Higher Education, there have been many requests for the kind of report you now hold in your hands: an overview of steps that states can take immediately to begin to address the performance issues raised by Measuring Up 2000.

Because each state is unique, Some Next Steps for States is not-and should not be seen as-a blueprint that provides ready-made answers for all 50 states. As authors Dennis Jones and Karen Paulson make abundantly clear, this report provides a general overview of the kinds of actions states can take to bridge the gap between performance areas identified by Measuring Up 2000 and the formulation of effective policy. The states themselves will need to create their own plans for improving performance, and the National Center remains committed to assisting those who seek to do so.

Some Next Steps for States is one of a number of resources that the National Center has made available to states as they seek to improve performance in higher education. Other resources include:

• www.highereducation.org-the National Center's web site-allows you to make your own comparisons of state performance in higher education. You can download all or parts of Measuring Up 2000, as well as all data used to create the indicators in the report card.
• Assessing Student Learning Outcomes summarizes the efforts that states have made to assess student learning in college.
• Recent State Policy Initiatives in Education provides an overview of recent state initiatives in education.
• The Technical Guide to Measuring Up 2000 defines all indicators used in the report card and identifies all data sources.
• Tests Performed on the Data in Measuring Up 2000 reviews the statistical testing completed on the data in the report card.

All of these resources are available at www.highereducation.org.

On behalf of the National Center, I want to express my appreciation to Dennis Jones and Karen Paulson for their insights in Some Next Steps for States-a report that I believe will be a very helpful tool for policymakers.

As always, the National Center welcomes the responses of readers.

Patrick M. Callan
President
National Center for Public Policy
and Higher Education

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© 2000 The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education