Is College and Career Readiness an Internationally Competitive Standard? April Hansen Director of Program Services ACT Midwest Region – Educational Services Affirming the Goal

Why do we care?

Our Challenge Between 2008 and 2018… 29 million students will graduate from public high schools … 34 million jobs will need to be filled due to retiring or transitioning workers… 10 million of the 29 million public high school graduates will be underrepresented students who traditionally have been underserved by K-12 education. To fill workforce demands, it is critical that each student graduate from high school ready for college and career. Source: Business Roundtable, Dec Our Challenge

4 Many students are not prepared to meet the hurdles they face throughout the academic pipeline, and they don’t persist and succeed. NCES 2010 Enter 9 th grade HS Graduate Enter College College Graduate (Bachelor’s) ~100%96.9%74.9%52.5%29.0% Leaky Educational Pipeline

% who graduate from public high schools: 76% % who immediately go on to college: 57% % of 9 th graders who graduate from high school on time, go directly to college, return for their 2nd year, and graduate within 150% of program time: 20% NCHEMS. (2011) The Illinois Pipeline

% who graduate from public high schools: 88 % who immediately go on to college: 64 % of 9 th graders who graduate from high school on time, go directly to college, return for their 2nd year, and graduate within 150% of program time: 27 NCHEMS. (2011) The Iowa Pipeline

Pop Quiz What’s the number of American high school students who drop out of school, every day, bored, frustrated, or so far behind that they’ve given up? 6,000

45% 27% Percentage of students taking at least one remedial course at community colleges and 4-year institutions Source: National Center for Education Statistics Remediation

$5.6B Annual estimated cost of college remediation in the United States Source: Alliance for Excellent Education Remediation

The level of preparation a student needs to be ready to enroll and succeed in—without remediation—a first-year, credit-bearing course at two- or four-year institutions or in trade or technical schools. Adopted by the Common Core State Standards Initiative ACT’s Definition of College Readiness ACT’s Definition of College and Career Readiness

Test College Course EXPLORE Grade 8 EXPLORE Grade 9 PLAN Grade 10 ACTCompass English English Composition Math College Algebra Reading Social Science Science Biology NA How do we define college and career readiness? Empirically derived scores needed on an ACT subject-area test to indicate a 50% chance of obtaining a B or higher or a 75% chance of obtaining a C or higher in the corresponding first-year credit-bearing college course.

146,822 Students took the ACT in the Illinois grad Class.

23,119 Students took he ACT in the IOWA grad Class, an estimated 63% of your grad class.

Students who are college/career ready when they leave high school have a significantly higher likelihood of: –Enrolling in a postsecondary program, –Enrolling in credit bearing courses without the need for remediation, –Succeeding in entry level postsecondary course work, –Persisting in their postsecondary education, –Completing a postsecondary degree or training program, and –Entering the job market with significantly higher lifetime earning potential. Regardless of ethnicity and SES Value of College Readiness

$26,000 Average annual salary difference between college and high school graduates Source: 2008 Census Bureau Earnings Potential

But Can We Compete?

Linking analysis: PISA to PLAN ® –Reading and mathematics –2,248 US 10 th grade students –77 high schools –Students took both PISA and PLAN under standardized conditions Is College and Career Readiness an Internationally Competitive Standard?

7 th Estimated U.S. rank on PISA if all students were college and career ready Source: ACT, Affirming the Goal Internationally Competitive

$507B Estimated annual increase in GDP if the U.S. could improve its PLAN performance by 11% over the next 20 years. OECD, The High Cost of Low Educational Performance: The Long-Run Impact of Improving PISA Outcomes, 2010 Economic Impact

What about Illinois and Iowa?

117, PLAN tested students

Affirming the Goal: Is College and Career Readiness an Internationally Competitive Standard? The Condition of College and Career Readiness State Reports : Midwest Higher Education Compact Resources