ACT Research and Policy Research Reports Readiness Matters ... · 8/26/2011 · likelihood of students persisting and succeeding in college. 3. The extent to which college readiness
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Readiness Matters: The Impact of College Readiness on
College Persistence and Degree Completion
Key FindingsThis report highlights the importance of college readiness for persisting in college to timely degree completion. Primary findings suggest that:
• Beingbetterpreparedacademicallyforcollegeimprovesastudent’schances of completing a college degree.
• Usingmultiplemeasuresofcollegereadinessbetterinformsthelikelihood of a student persisting and succeeding in college.
• Collegereadinessreducesgapsinpersistenceanddegreecompletionamong racial/ethnic and family income groups.
Havingmorestudentsimmediatelyenrollingincollegeafterhighschool,fewerstudentsrequiringremedialcoursework,andmorestudents completing a college degree in a timely manner has the potentialtohelpthenationmeetPresidentObama’s2020collegedegreecompletiongoalandbuildamorehighly-skilledand productiveworkforce.
But,givenwhatweknowaboutthecurrentconditionofthecollegeandcareerreadinesslevelsofhighschoolgraduatesnationally,aretheselowdegreecompletionratesreallythatsurprising?Resultsfromstandardized test scores that are aligned to college readiness standards (suchastheACT®Test)assistinidentifyingthegapsthatexistbetweentheknowledgeandskillsstudentshaveacquiredinhighschoolandthosethatareneededtobesuccessfulincollege.5 Many students do not persistincollegetodegreecompletionbecausetheyareill-preparedforcollegeandrequireremedialcoursework.6 Many students also lack the academicbehaviorsandgoalsthatareneededtosucceedincollege.7
States,districts,andschoolsarelookingforsolutionstohelpimprovethecollegeandcareerreadinessoftheirhighschoolgraduates.Forty-fivestatesandtheDistrictofColumbiahaveformallyadoptedtheCommonCoreStateStandards.Somestates,districts,andschoolshaveimplementedadditionalcollegereadinessassessments,suchasthosethatcomprisetheACTlongitudinalassessmentsystem,tomonitorstudents’progresstowardsbecomingcollegeandcareerreadyandtoincreasetheirawarenessof,preparationfor,andaccesstohighereducation.8 Many states are also adopting more rigorous graduation requirements,aswellasend-of-courseexamstohelpensurecoursequality.9Statesanddistrictsarealsoworkingonactionstoimproveteacherpreparationandevaluation.10
Inthisreport,weexaminetheimpactofcollegereadinessonstudents’likelihood of persisting in college and completing a degree.11 This issue isexaminedfromthefollowingfourangles:
2.Thebenefitsofusingmultiplemeasuresofreadinesstoinformthelikelihood of students persisting and succeeding in college.
3.Theextenttowhichcollegereadinessreducesgapsincollegesuccess rates among racial/ethnic and family income groups.
4.Thepositiverolethatearlymonitoringofcollegeandcareerreadinessplaysinincreasingthelikelihoodthatstudentswill persist in college and complete a degree.
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ForeachadditionalBenchmark
that is met, students’ chances of
completing a bachelor’s degree by
year6increaseby7to8percentage
points for students who initially
enroll in a four-year institution
(referredtoasfour-yearstudents).
A similar result holds for two-year
students’ chances of completing an
associate’s or bachelor’s degree by
year6.
1. Students who are better prepared academically for college have a greater chance of persisting in college and completing a degree.
StudentswhomeettheindividualACTBenchmarkshavehighercollegepersistenceanddegreecompletionratesthanthosewhodonotmeettheBenchmarks(byupto22percentagepoints),aftercontrollingforpostsecondary institution attended. The largest differences in success ratesaregenerallyseenbetweenstudentsmeetingandthosenotmeetingtheBenchmarkinmathematicsorEnglish.13
Moreover,asthenumberofACTBenchmarksmetincreases,students’likelihood of persisting in college and completing a degree also increases.Inparticular,studentswhoarereadyinallfoursubjectareashavesubstantiallyhighercollegepersistenceanddegreecompletionratesthanstudentswhoarenotreadyinanyofthesubjectareas.
Six-year degree completion rates by number of ACT Benchmarks met and institution type
Percentages of students with a HSGPA of 3.00 or higher by six-year degree completion status and the number of ACT Benchmarks met
Note: Degree completion status is defined as completing a bachelor’s degree for four-year students and completing an associate’s or bachelor’s degree for two-year students.
Six-year degree completion rates by number of ACT Benchmarks met and institution type for students with a HSGPA of 3.50 or higher
Priorresearchhasshownthatacademicbehaviors(includingmotivationandacademicdiscipline)provideinformationbeyondmeasuresofacademicachievementthatincreasesaccurateidentificationofstudentswhoareatriskofpoorgradesincollegeand for dropping out.17Otherstudentcharacteristics,includingfamilyenvironment(supportandencouragementtosucceedincollege)andlifesituations(theneedtoworkwhileincollege,carefordependents),alsohelpdifferentiatedegreecompletersfromnon-completers.18
3. Racial/ethnic and family income gaps in college success rates are reduced when college readiness is taken into account.
Bachelor’s degree Associate’s degree Associate’s or bachelor’s degree
Four-year students Two-year students
Per
cent
0 1 2 3 4 Number of ACT Benchmarks met:
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The likelihood of persisting in a four-
year college to bachelor’s degree
completion is much lower for African
American, Hispanic, and lower-
income students than for White and
higher-income students (by as much
as20percentagepoints).
AsthenumberofBenchmarksmet
increases,thesix-yearbachelor’s
degree completion rate also
increases for each racial/ethnic and
family income group.
Thegapinsix-yearbachelor’s
degree completion rates between
White and African American students
isreducedfrom19percentage
points (regardless of number of
Benchmarksmet;64%vs.45%,
respectively)to9percentagepoints
for students who meet all four of the
Benchmarks(75%vs.66%).
Six-year bachelor’s degree completion rates for racial/ethnic and family income groups for four-year students
Foreachracial/ethnicandfamilyincomegroup,persistenceanddegreecompletionaresubstantiallymorelikelytohappenforstudentswhomeetmoreoftheACTBenchmarksthanforthosewhomeetfewerofthem(byatleast26percentagepointsbetweenstudentswhomeetallfouroftheBenchmarksandthosewhomeetnoneofthem).And,comparedtotheoverallracial/ethnicandfamilyincomedifferencesincollegesuccessrates,gapsinratesamongracial/ethnicandfamilyincomegroupsaresmallerwhenstudents’collegereadinesslevelsaretaken into account.
Six-year bachelor’s degree completion rates by race/ethnicity and number of ACT Benchmarks met for four-year students
45
63
53
64
49
59
69
0
20
40
60
80
100
African American
Asian Hispanic White < $30,000 $30,000 to
$60,000
> $60,000
Per
cent
37 44
52 59
66
48 56
63 70
76
41 49
56 64
70
47 54
62 69
75
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 1 2 3 4
Per
cent
Number of ACT Benchmarks met
African American Asian Hispanic White
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Thedifferenceinsix-yearbachelor’s
degree completion rates between
higher- and lower-income students
is reduced from 20 percentage
points (regardless of number of
Benchmarksmet;69%vs.49%,
respectively)to14percentagepoints
for students who meet all four of the
Benchmarks(79%vs.65%).
ACT data support that early
monitoring is associated with
increased:
• collegeandcareerreadiness
• collegeenrollment
• collegeachievement
• collegepersistence
• degreecompletion
Six-year bachelor’s degree completion rates by family income group and number of ACT Benchmarks met for four-year students
Reductionsinfamilyincomegapsincollegesuccessratesaregenerallysmallerthanthoseinracial/ethnicgaps.Lower-incomestudentsaremorelikelythantheirpeerstobefirst-generationstudentsandtohavenon-academicobligations(needtoworkand/orhavefamilyresponsibilities).Thesefactorscaninfluencetheirstudyhabitsandchancesoflong-termcollegesuccess,highlightingtheobstaclesthatlower-incomestudentsface,evenamongthosewhoarebetterpreparedacademically for college.21
4. Early monitoring of readiness is associated with increased college success.
ACTresearchhasrepeatedlyshownthatstudentsbenefitfromparticipating in an early monitoring system.22Besidesevaluatingreadinessandprovidingopportunityforearlyintervention,earlymonitoringwithACTExploreandACTPlanalsoletsstudentsexploretheircareerinterestsearlyandhelpsthemplanmoreeffectivelytoachievetheircollegeandcareergoals.Consideringlong-termcollegesuccess,studentswhoaremonitoredearlyaremorelikelytopersistincollegeandcompleteadegreethanstudentswhoarenot(i.e.,thosewhotaketheACTonly),aftercontrollingforthenumberofACTBenchmarksmetandthepostsecondaryinstitutionattended.23
36 43
51 58
65
43 50
58 65
72
53 60
67 73
79
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 1 2 3 4
Per
cent
Number of ACT Benchmarks met
< $30,000 $30,000 to $60,000 > $60,000
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Four-year students who are
monitored early are also more
likely to complete a bachelor’s
degreebyyear6thanthosewho
arenotmonitoredearly(by4to
6percentagepoints).
Six-year bachelor’s degree completion rates by program participation and number of ACT Benchmarks met for four-year students
Note: Students who took all three assessments or just ACT Plan and the ACT Test are compared to those who took the ACT Test only. In the chart, these groups are referred to as “Early monitoring” and “ACT only,” respectively.
ResultsfromOklahoma,astatethatadministersACTExploreandACTPlanonastate-fundedvoluntarybasis,supportthislatterfinding:studentswhoaremonitoredearlyconsistentlyoutperformincollegethosewhotakeonlytheACTTest.24Moreover,earlyindicatorsofreadinessarepredictiveofstudents’likelihoodofgraduatingfromhighschool ready for college and of their chances of persisting in college to degree completion.25IthasalsobeenshownthatthechancesofcollegesuccessincreasewithimprovementinBenchmarkattainmentbetweengrades10and11/12.
Conclusions and RecommendationsFindingsfromthisstudyhighlightthepositiveeffectsthatcollegereadiness has on persistence in college to timely degree completion for studentsattendingeithertwo-orfour-yearpostsecondaryinstitutions.But,withoutrealreformsinK–12education,wewillcontinuetoseetoomanyhighschoolgraduatesenteringcollegeill-preparedforcredit-bearingcollegecourseworkandtoofewstudentsearningacollegedegree.Wewillalsocontinuetoseelargegapsincollegereadinessand success rates among racial/ethnic and family income groups. Implementation of college readiness standards is a step in the right direction.But,inorderfortheUStohaveaproperlyskilledworkforceabletomeettheworkplacedemandsofthe21stcentury,multiplestrategies and programs for increasing the college and career readiness of high school graduates are needed.
• Makeavailableusefulinformationandresourcesaboutthecollegeadmissions process and financial aid process to them and their parents,andassistthemwiththeseprocesses.
5.EstablishlongitudinalK–careerdatasystemstomonitorcloselystudentperformanceateverystageofthelearningpipeline,fromelementaryschoolthroughmiddleandhighschool,andallthewaythrough college and career to support alignment and cohesion of the education system.
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Endnotes1 ACT,The Condition of College and Career Readiness 2012–National (IowaCity,IA:Author,
2012).
2 Primarydataforthisstudyincludedanationallyrepresentativerandomsampleof24,850ACT-tested2003highschoolgraduateswhoenrolledincollegeimmediatelyafterhighschoolandweretrackedforsevenyearsusingNationalStudentClearinghousedata.Seventy-sixpercentofthestudentsinthesampleenrolledinafour-yearinstitutioninfall2003(18,860four-yearstudentsfrom1,119four-yearinstitutions;5,990two-yearstudentsfrom603two-yearinstitutions).Weightedhierarchicallogisticregressionmodelswereestimatedtopredictpersistenceanddegreecompletion,whileaccountingforinitialpostsecondaryinstitutionattended.Formoredetailsaboutthestudy,seeJustineRadunzelandJulieNoble,Tracking 2003 ACT-Tested High School Graduates: College Readiness, Enrollment, and Long-Term Success, ACTResearchReportNo.2012-2(IowaCity,IA:ACT,Inc.,2012).
3 USDepartmentofEducationandNationalCenterforEducationStatistics,The Condition of Education 2006,NCES2006-071(Washington,DC:USGovernmentPrintingOffice,2006);ThomasD.SnyderandSallyA.Dillow,Digest of Education Statistics 2011, NCES2012-001(Washington,DC:NationalCenterforEducationStatistics,InstituteofEducationServices,USDepartmentofEducation,2012).Morethan75%ofhighschoolseniorsexpecttocompletesome postsecondary education.
4 PaulSkomsvold,AlexandriaWaltonRadford,andLutzBerkner,Web Tables—Six-Year Attainment, Persistence, Transfer, Retention, and Withdrawal Rates of Students who Began Postsecondary Education in 2003-04,NCES2011-152(Washington,DC:NationalCenterforEducationStatistics,USDepartmentofEducation,2011).Only16%ofstudentsattwo-yearinstitutionscompleteanassociate’sdegreewithinsixyearsofinitiallyenrollingincollege(ibid.,94,Table3.1-C).
5 ACT,ACT National Curriculum Survey® 2009(IowaCity,IA:Author,2009).
6 NationalCenterforPublicPolicyandHigherEducationandSouthernRegionalEducationBoard,Beyond the Rhetoric: Improving College Readiness by Improving State Policy (Washington,DC:Authors,2010);CliffordAdelman,Principal Indicators of Student Academic Histories in Postsecondary Education(Washington,DC:USDepartmentofEducation,2004).
7 DavidT.Conley,Redefining College Readiness, Volume 5(Eugene,OR:EducationalPolicyImprovementCenter,2011);VeronicaA.Lotkowski,StevenB.Robbins,andRichardJ.Noeth,The Role of Academic and Non-Academic Factors in Improving College Retention(IowaCity,IA:ACT,Inc.,2004).
8 ACT,Readiness and Success: Statewide Implementation of EXPLORE and PLAN (IowaCity,IA:Author,2009).
9 RobinChaitandAndreaVenezia,Improving Academic Preparation for College: What We Know and How State and Federal Policy Can Help (Washington,DC:CenterforAmericanProgress,2009),http://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/issues/2009/01/pdf/academic_prep.pdf.
10 SaraMead,Recent State Action on Teacher Effectiveness: What’s in State Laws and Regulations (Washington,DC:BellwetherEducationPartners,2012),http://bellwethereducation.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/RSA-Teacher-Effectiveness.pdf;BlakelyElizabethWhilden,K–12 Education Reform: Implications and Opportunities for Public Colleges and Universities (Washington,DC:AmericanAssociationofStateCollegesandUniversities,April2011).Actionsincludeestablishingnewstandardsforteachersandpreparationprograms,bettermonitoringofteachingpractices,andincorporatingstudentachievementintheevaluationprocess.
11 Priorresearchhasalreadydemonstratedthatstudentswhoarebetterpreparedacademicallyforfirst-yearcollegecoursesaremorelikelythanthosewhoarenotreadytoenrollincollegeimmediatelyafterhighschool,topersisttotheirsecondyearincollege,andtoachievehigherfirst-yearcollegecoursegrades.Theyarealsolesslikelytorequireremedialcoursework.Forresultsfrompriorstudies,seeforexample:KaseyKlepferandJimHull,High School Rigor and Good Advice: Setting Up Students to Succeed(Washington,DC:CenterforPublicEducation,2012),http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/Main-Menu/Staffingstudents/High-school-rigor-and-good-advice-Setting-up-students-to-succeed/High-school-rigor-and-good-advice-Setting-up-students-to-succeed-Full-Report.pdf;ACT,Mind the Gaps: How College Readiness Narrows Achievement Gaps in College Success(IowaCity,IA:Author,2010);ACT,What We Know about College Success: Using ACT Data to Inform Educational Issues(IowaCity,IA:Author,2008).
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12 JeffAllenandJimSconing,Using ACT Assessment Scores to Set Benchmarks for College Readiness,ACTResearchReportNo.2005-3(IowaCity,IA:ACT,Inc.,2005);ACT,What are ACT’s College Readiness Benchmarks?(IowaCity,IA:Author,2013).
13 ResultsforindividualACTBenchmarkattainmentareprovidedinRadunzelandNoble,Tracking 2003 ACT-Tested High School Graduates, 2012.
14 JustineRadunzelandJulieNoble,Predicting Long-Term College Success through Degree Completion Using ACT Composite Score, ACT Benchmarks, and High School Grade Point Average, ACTResearchReportNo.2012-5(IowaCity,IA:ACT,Inc.,2012);JeffAllenandSteveRobbins,“EffectsofInterest-MajorCongruence,Motivation,andAcademicPerformanceonTimelyDegreeAttainment,”Journal of Counseling Psychology 57,no.1(2010):23-35.
16 ACT,Courses Count: Preparing Students for Postsecondary Success(IowaCity,IA:Author,2005).
17 AllenandRobbins,“EffectsofInterest-MajorCongruence,Motivation,andAcademicPerformanceonTimelyDegreeAttainment,”2010;JeffAllen,StevenB.Robbins,AlexCasillas,andIn-SueOh,“Third-YearCollegeRetentionandTransfer:EffectsofAcademicPerformance,Motivation,andSocialConnectedness,”Research in Higher Education49(2008):647-664;StevenB.Robbins,JeffAllen,AlexCasillas,ChristinaHammePeterson,andHuyLe,“UnravelingtheDifferentialEffectsofMotivationalandSkills,Social,andSelf-ManagementMeasuresfromTraditionalPredictorsofCollegeOutcomes,”Journal of Educational Psychology 98(2006):598-616.
18 Conley,Redefining College Readiness,2011;JennyNagaoka,MelissaRoderick,andVanessaCoca,Barriers to College Attainment: Lessons from Chicago (Washington,DC:CenterforAmericanProgress,2009),http://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/issues/2009/01/pdf/ChicagoSchools.pdf;JenniferEngleandVincentTinto,Moving Beyond Access: College Success for Low-Income, First-Generation Students (Washington,DC:ThePellInstitute,2008);CarmenTym,RobinMcMillion,SandraBarone,andJeffWebster,First-Generation College Students: A Literature Review (RoundRock,TX:TexasGuaranteedStudentLoanCorporation,2004),http://www.tgslc.org/pdf/first_generation.pdf.Otherpsychosocial,familyenvironment,andlifesituationalcharacteristicswerenotavailableforthestudentsincluded in the current study.
19 SusanAud,WilliamHussar,GraceKena,KevinBianco,LaurenFrohlich,JanaKemp,KimTahan,andKatieMallory,The Condition of Education 2011, NCES2011-033(Washington,DC:USDepartmentofEducation,NationalCenterforEducationStatistics,2011);ACT,Mind the Gaps,2010.
20 ThomasD.SnyderandSallyA.Dillow,Digest of Education Statistics 2010, NCES2011-015 (WashingtonDC:NationalCenterforEducationStatistics,InstituteofEducationSciences,USDepartmentofEducation,2011).
21 EngleandTinto,Moving Beyond Access,2008; SylviaHurtado,ThomasF.NelsonLaird,andThomasE.Perorazio,The Transition to College for Low-Income Students: The Impact of the Gates Millennium Scholars Program (AnnArbor,MI:UniversityofMichiganCenterfortheStudyofHigherandPostsecondaryEducation,2010),http://www.gatesfoundation.org/learning/Documents/Final-TransitiontoCollege-Hurtado.pdf.
22 ACT,Staying on Target: The Importance of Monitoring Student Progress toward College and Career Readiness(IowaCity,IA:Author,2012).ThebenefitsofimplementingtheACTlongitudinalassessmentsystemdependonthequalityofbehaviorsandactivitiesimplemented,thepurpose(s)forwhichthesystemandrelatedbehaviorsarebeingimplemented,andthecontextinwhichtheyareimplemented.Formoreonthis,seeACT,Making Effective Use of ACT’s Longitudinal Assessment System (IowaCity,IA:Author,2012).Inthecurrentstudy,thespecificsrelatedtohowschoolsandstudentsusedthesystemandthetypesofactivitiestheyengagedinforstudentandschoolimprovementwerenotidentified.
24 ACT,Early Monitoring and Long-Term College Success in Oklahoma(IowaCity,IA:Author,2013).
25 ACT,Catching Up to College and Career Readiness(IowaCity,IA:Author,2012);ACT,The Forgotten Middle: Ensuring that All Students Are on Target for College and Career Readiness before High School(IowaCity,IA:Author,2008).
27 InstituteforaCompetitiveWorkforce,Current Research and Practice, postedAugust26,2011,accessedDecember4,2012,http://icw.uschamber.com/content/current-research-and-practice;AnthonyP.Carnevale,NicoleSmith,andJeffStrohl,Help Wanted: Projections of Jobs and Education Requirements through 2018 (Washington,DC:GeorgetownUniversityCenteronEducationandtheWorkforce,2010).