The early years of the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in California were complicated by the Great Recession as well as by a significant devolution of finance and programmatic control to the local level through the Local Control Funding Formula. The state charted a steady course and took a systematic approach to CCSS implementation, making policy changes in such areas as assessment and accountability to create a framework that supported the standards. Postsecondary systems also made policy shifts to align with the CCSS. This research outlines policymakers' and educators' hopes for how the CCSS can support improvements in students' college and career readiness, and it provides early evidence about both similarities and disconnects between those expectations and implementation activities in high schools and districts. Policymakers and educators are optimistic about the potential of the CCSS to improve college and career readiness, yet there is initiative fatigue, confusion about how to integrate the many college and career readiness-focused reform efforts underway in California, and a lack of clear guidance about how to implement the CCSS. Interviewed high school educators expressed a desire for more clarity about such issues as: (1) the expectations of the state's postsecondary systems for their various degree and certificate programs; (2) how to connect those expectations to teaching and learning in high schools; and (3) instructional strategies that will support the intent of the CCSS with regard to college and career readiness. The report outlines key findings regarding state education leaders' expectations compared with educators' experiences with CCSS implementation. The report also offers a series of policy recommendations, intended to serve as a bridge between where the state is today and all of the interconnected activities that will likely be needed to substantially improve students' college and career readiness through the CCSS. The recommendations acknowledge that the state is in a new era of local control and that policymakers are still determining which policy levers are effective and appropriate in that environment. A detailed description of the research study is appended.