"Perspective" is a monthly e-newsletter presenting news and views from Achieve. This issue includes a commentary on the efforts of the states to adopt college- and career-ready policies. "Closing the Expectations Gap, 2009"--Achieve's fourth annual report--shows that states have continued to make steady progress on adopting policies aimed at making the high school diploma more meaningful--particularly in the area of standards--though there is still considerable work to be done. This issue also reports that: (1) new research supports the calls of President Obama on all Americans to commit to postsecondary education; (2) Achieve recently announced the addition of four new members to its Board of Directors: Governor Phil Bredesen; Governor Dave Heineman; Governor Deval Patrick and Vice Chairman of Prudential Financial Inc., Mark B. Grier; (3) users may download the report and the video of the "Benchmarking for Success: Ensuring U.S. Students Receive a World-class Education" on the links provided in this report; (4) Achieve has continued to add new materials to the Math Works advocacy kit, a collection of materials that make the case for why all students--regardless of their plans after graduation--should engage in rigorous math course-taking throughout their high school experiences; (5) the National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) has awarded the 2008 George Cronin Gold Award for Procurement Excellence to the multi-state Algebra II End-of-Course Exam contract administered by the Ohio Department of Administrative Services for Achieve's American Diploma Project (ADP) Assessment Consortium; (6) in summer 2008, Achieve released a new Web-based toolkit, Postsecondary Connection (www.postsecconnect.org) which is designed to provide critical tools, data and strategies that higher education leaders need to help link high school preparation and college success; and (7) kids should listen to Governor Phil Bredesen's message in his State of the State address. A list of new resources is also presented.