"Perspective" is a monthly e-newsletter presenting news and views from Achieve. This month's issue commences with a report stating how the number of states that ensure the college and career readiness of their students has increased since Achieve first started tracking progress on the college- and career-ready policy agenda five years ago. This issue also reports that: (1) on June 23 it was announced that twenty-six states have formed the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC or Partnership) to create a next-generation assessment system that will ensure students across the country are expected to meet common, high standards that will prepare them for their futures. On behalf of the Partnership, Florida submitted an application to the U.S. Department of Education (USED) as part of the $350 million "Race to the Top" comprehensive assessment grant competition; (2) on June 2, 2010, the final K-12 Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in English and mathematics were released by the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO); (3) 35 states plus the District of Columbia met the June 1 application deadline for the second round of Race to the Top competition, in which $3.4 billion in economic stimulus funds are available; (4) on September 13-14, Sir Michael Barber and Michael Fullan are co-chairing an international education summit in Toronto, Canada designed to stimulate ideas, invoke creativity and foster innovation. The Building Blocks for Education: Whole System Reform international summit will examine four key areas related to creating successful reform in education systems: standards and targets; assessments and use of data; capacity building and the development of the teaching profession; and, leadership development and sustainability; and (5) the K-12 Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics are the result of nearly a year's worth of work by numerous individuals and groups. Their collective efforts resulted in a well- received set of standards that have already been adopted by 16 states. CCSSO and NGA provided the overall leadership, but the unsung heroes of this unprecedented effort are the lead writers and their teams who worked closely with the participating states every step of the way, through multiple rounds of feedback and thousands of public comments and ultimately drafted the final standards that states are now adopting. Brief news clips and descriptions of new resources are also included.