The College & Career Readiness Dilemma for High School Graduates What’s Our Responsibility? Jibril Gabriel Solomon, Doctoral Candidate, Education Studies Research Focus: Impact of Academic Readiness on College & Career Success

What Are the College & Career Readiness Dilemmas? Nationally & Locally Academic Readiness Skills: 1. Math Gaps 2. Reading Gaps 3. Writing Gaps 4. Postsecondary Academic Expectation Gaps Workforce Readiness Skills: 1. Problem Solving Gaps (Math) 2. Analytical Thinking Gaps (Math, Reading Comprehension) 3. Critical Thinking Gaps (Writing, Reading, Math) 4. Workforce Expectation Gaps

What Are the Facts about the College & Career Readiness Dilemmas Nationally? –98% of public 2-year schools offered at least 1 remedial reading, writing or math course in 2000 (US Dept. of Ed.,2007) –61% of students at 2-year colleges completed remedial courses in 2004 (Condition of Education, 2008, US Dept. of Ed.) –64% of females vs. 61% of males were referred to remedial courses (Clery, 2008) –40% of students at 4-year colleges take remedial courses (Venezia et. al., 2005)

What Are the Facts about the College & Career Readiness Dilemmas Locally? Community College 1st Year Students Average Placement: 80% in Remedial Math 60% in Remedial English 50% in Remedial Reading (BHCC Institutional Effectiveness Reports ) Public Colleges & Universities 1 st Year Students Remedial Placement: 30% in Remedial Math of the 2005 HS graduates (Massachusetts Board of Higher Education: 2007 School-to-Career Preliminary Report)

What Are the Facts about the College & Career Readiness Dilemmas Locally? SchoolsGrad ClassNeeds Dev. Math Needs Dev. Reading Needs Dev. English ALL MA200386%53%64% ALL MA200482%48%57% ALL MA200588%45%60% ALL MA200688%46%63% ALL MA200782%38%60%

What Are the Implications for Students’ Success in College or the Workforce? Amongst the strongest predictors for college drop out: The amount of developmental courses required (Prince George’s Community College Study) Financial aid reasons (Hawley & Harris, 2005) 46% of students taking remedial courses fail to complete them (Achieving the Dream’s Data Report Vol. 3. N0. 4, July/Aug 2008) Amongst students who failed to complete remedial courses (Florida Dept. of Ed Study, 2007) : 15% remain in college within 2 years Less than 1% earned a certificate None finished a 2-year degree within 2 years

What Are the Implications for Students’ Success in College or the Workforce? A 2008 Achieving The Dream study provided a racial breakdown of students who earned zero credits towards graduation in their 1st year (Achieving The Dream Data Report, Vol.3, No.5, Sept/Oct 2008) BlackWhiteNative American HispanicsAsian 18%12%14%15%

Why Should We Care? CPT (Accuplacer Assessment) is our state mandated college readiness assessment tool for all entering freshmen into state colleges & universities Nearly 40% of students placed in remedial level college courses fail or withdraw from the courses (Boston Higher Education Partnership Study 2007) Remedial courses require full-tuition and fees, but are not credit bearing toward graduation 2/3 of students who could enroll in training programs like NSTAR at the Community College fail to do so due to remedial coursework requirements Early Assessment with Accuplacer at the High School offers promising results that could mitigate the college and career dilemmas for high school graduates

Why Should We Care? MCAS vs. Accuplacer Overall, just 23% of MCAS content is measured by Accuplacer Accuplacer measures academic readiness skills for College Entry MCAS measures learning standards in the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks based on 10 th grade level assessment FORMAT: MCAS: 50% multiple choice; 50% short-answer, open response & writing Accuplacer: 100% multiple choice MATH: MCAS: Proficiency based on different degrees of mastery to same abilities in an applied math style Accuplacer: Proficiency based on different degrees of mastery to increasingly complex abilities in a computational math style

Why Should We Care? MCAS vs. Accuplacer ELA: Reading MCAS: Largely literature-based requiring interpretation of literary works and strands Accuplacer: Sentence relationships, make inferences, recognize main idea and organize principles ELA: Sentence Skills MCAS: Identify, describe, apply knowledge of the structure and mechanics of English Language Accuplacer: Correct sentence fragments, manipulate complex sentences, correct problem of syntax and repetitive diction, recognize correct and incorrect linkages of clauses

Why Should We Care? MCAS vs. Accuplacer ELA: Content Representation MCAS: Reading comprehension and interpretation has more than 10 times greater emphasis than the English language conventions and usage content Accuplacer: Reading comprehension and sentence skills test are weighted equally

Why Should We Care About EAP? Education Proficiency Plan & Accuplacer: Increase the likelihood that graduates of Massachusetts high schools have the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in college and workforce 50% of students scoring below proficient on the math MCAS enrolled in developmental math in their first semester of postsecondary education The Department is working to identify a number of assessment options that can be used by school districts: One of the option includes Accuplacer (DeCoster. K., 2007., Mass Department of Elementary & Secondary Education EPP)

What About Accuplacer Assessment & The College and Career Readiness Dilemma? Validity & Reliability of Instrument: A student score is independent of the scores of all other test takers Content specialists verified test items and intended subject domain Arithmetic Scores: positive relationship between assessment scores & grades in College Math & Algebra courses Elementary Algebra Scores: mild positive relationship between assessment scores and grades in College Algebra & Calculus courses Instructor’s assessment correlated with Accuplacer scores showed statistically significant relationships between Accuplacer scores & skills necessary to succeed in classes (College Board, 2003 and O’Brien, 1995)

What About Accuplacer Assessment & The College and Career Readiness Dilemma? Case Studies: Impact of Accuplacer Assessment on HS Students Jibril Solomon’s Study Background: School administrators have mixed feelings about the effectiveness of Accuplacer testing programs at the high school partly because a formal evaluation of these programs has not yet been conducted Focus: What was the impact on High School juniors who were given an Accuplacer Assessment Test in the Spring of 2007 by their District? Purpose of Testing: The sessions have been designed to inform students of their placement scores and offer advice for tutorial and courses selection in junior or senior year

What About Accuplacer Assessment & The College and Career Readiness Dilemma? Case Studies: Impact of Accuplacer Assessment on HS Students Jibril Solomon’s Study Findings 35% of students said the purpose of the test is to help them determine their current proficiency levels for college entry 40% described its purpose as a college readiness tool 25% did not know its purpose Overall 75% of the responses account for students’ awareness that the purpose of the Accuplacer test is to signal college readiness issues

What About Accuplacer Assessment & The College and Career Readiness Dilemma? Case Studies: Impact of Accuplacer Assessment on HS Students Jibril Solomon’s Study Findings Cont…. 1/3 of seniors indicated that the test & counseling had impacts on their senior year course planning: “It helped me change/better plan my senior year courses” “it made me take a harder math course” “it helped me decide the classes/courses where I needed to work harder” “It showed me if I was ready for college classes or not.” 2/3 saw no effects on senior year curriculum Implication for training & development of utilization of the assessment results by counselors & academic advisors

What About Accuplacer Assessment & The College and Career Readiness Dilemma? Case Studies: Impact of Accuplacer Assessment on HS Students Howell, Kurlaender, Grodsky (2009) Study Background: Postsecondary Preparation and Remediation Focus: Examining the Effects of the Early Assessment Program Purpose: To investigate how participation in the Early Assessment Program, which provides California high school juniors with information about their academic readiness for college-level work at California State University campuses, affects their college going behavior and need for remediation in college

What About Accuplacer Assessment & The College and Career Readiness Dilemma? Case Studies: Impact of Accuplacer Assessment on HS Students Howell, Kurlaender, Grodsky (2009) Study Findings Participation in the Early Assessment Program reduces the average student’s probability of needing remediation at California State University by 6.2 percentage points in English and 4.3 percentage points in mathematics Rather than discouraging poorly prepared students from applying to Sacramento State, EAP appears to lead students to increase their academic preparation while still in high school.

Conclusion The CPT (Accuplacer) is an educational assessment toolbox aimed at aiding educators with their professional endeavor to give their students the best chance for preparation and success beyond high school The CPT is meant to measure academic college readiness while the MCAS focuses on the learning standards, 10 th grade level, in the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks The EAP (Early Assessment Program), which uses Accuplacer to gauge high school students’ gaps in skills for college & career readiness, is a valuable educational resource that could help districts close the preparation gaps of their graduates

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