Reed is credited for his strong outreach to K-12 and incoming college students. During his tenure, he led the creation of the Early Assessment Program, a partnership with the California Department of Education and California's State Board of Education to provide an early warning system on students' readiness for college. This statewide assessment is designed to test students’proficiency in mathematics and English and to reduce the likelihood that students will have to take remedial classes once they enter college. The program embeds a voluntary college-placement exam in the state testing program required of all 11th-grade students, using the CSU’s admissions placement standards in math and English. The “early” component of the program—testing in the 11th grade, rather than the 12th—-provides students an opportunity to make gains in areas of weakness during their senior year. It was cited by the Commission on the Future of Higher Education as "one of the best national models of how higher-education and K–12 officials can collaborate to help students."