Cut Scores and College Success: Data Matters A Presentation for the Higher Education Subcommittee of the Arkansas Legislative Council Judy Trice, Senior.

Cut Scores and College Success:Data Matters

A Presentation for theHigher Education Subcommittee

of theArkansas Legislative Council

Judy Trice, Senior ConsultantACT, Inc., Southwest Region

August 19, 2010

•Cut-Scores and Their Impact on College Success in Arkansas

• Factors That Can Improve Readiness for College Success

•Recommendations

College Readiness Benchmarks Determined by Content Area Empirically Derived ADHE Policy as

by ACT* Cut-off Score toAvoid Remediation

English 18 19

Mathematics 22 19

Reading 21 19

Science 24 N/A

*A benchmark score is the minimum score needed on an ACT subject-area test to indicate a 50% chance of obtaining a B or higher or about a 75% chance of obtaining a C or higher in the corresponding credit-bearing college courses.

I.I.

CutScores

and Their

Impact

College Readiness Benchmarksprovide a valid, reliable tool that should be used along with other factors to determine college readiness.

69

34

49

22

68

34

48

21

70

35

49

22

67

35

50

24

64

35

47

23

0

20

40

60

80

100

English Math Reading Science

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Five-year Trend for ArkansasPercentages of Tested Students

Meeting ACT’s College Readiness Benchmarks

6452

626453

626454

646354

636053

60

0

20

40

60

80

100

English Math Reading

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Five-year Trend for ArkansasPercentage of Tested Students

Meeting ADHE-established Cut-Scores of 19

21,005 21,40322,545 22,523

24,578

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

# Students Tested

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Five-Year TrendArkansas Students Tested with ACT

Implications of the Data:Remediation by the Numbers

Based on 2010 Data Number of remediation courses needed if ALL tested students enroll in Arkansas colleges for

Fall Semester 2010*:

English 9,890Mathematics 11,658Reading 9,743

Total 31,291

*IF ACT College Readiness Benchmarkswere used, the total # requiring remediation

would be 35,737.

0 10 20 30

2006

33--36

28--32

24--27

20--23

16--19

13--15

1--12

0 10 20 30

2006

33--36

28--32

24--27

20--23

16--19

13--15

1--12

0 10 20 30

2006

33--36

28--32

24--27

20--23

16--19

13--15

1--12

A Deeper Look at Achievement:Percentages of Students By Score Ranges

[ENGLISH]

Class of 2006 (21,005) Class of 2010 (24,578)

8

12

22

26

17

10

4

0 10 20 30 40

33--36

28--32

24--27

20--23

16--19

13--15

1--12

14,493 students College-ready

12

12

19

25

17

11

4

0 10 20 30 40

33--36

28--32

24--27

20--23

16--19

13--15

1--12

15,730 students College-ready

ScoreBandRanges

ScoreBandRanges

II.Factors

ThatImpact

Readiness

Curriculum and instruction rigorously focused on College and Career Readiness

Systematic measurement of academic strengths and gaps through assessments like EXPLORE (8th grade) and PLAN (10th grade)

Educator Understanding and Use of Data to Inform Instruction

Adoption of the Common Core Standards strengthens an already-robust set of Frameworks as a bridge to college and career readiness.

Language Anchor Standards 100% 100% 100% 100%

Language Standards 100% 100% 100% 100%

Language Progressive Skills 100% 100% 100% 100%

EXPLORE PLAN ACT ACTCommon Core State Standards (Grades 8-9) (Grade 10) (Grades Course

11-12) Standards

-excerpted from The Alignment of Common Core and ACT’s College and Readiness System

Visit www.act.org/commoncore to see the entire alignment document.

20

1517

13

2117

19

2421 22

1815

0

9

18

27

36

Science Reading Math English

EXPLORE PLAN ACT

College Readiness Benchmarks:Growth from

EXPLORE (8th grade) to PLAN (10th grade) to ACT (11th or 12th grade)

that achieves college readiness

15.713.8 14.4 13.6

17.4 16.2 1720.2 20.6 19.9 20.1

16.1

0

9

18

27

36

Science Reading Math English

EXPLORE PLAN ACT

College Readiness Benchmarks:Actual Growth in Arkansas* from

EXPLORE (8th grade) to PLAN (10th grade) to ACT (11th or 12th grade)

ClassOf

2010

* Grad Class (2010) matched to 10th grade (2007-08) and 8th grade (2005-06)

Thorough evaluation of the reporting provided as part of EXPLORE and PLAN testing empowers educators to address

student needs early and increase likelihood of college and career readiness.

•Extensive Student Report including Career Exploration Information and Item Analysis

•Intervention Rosters

•Item-Response Summary Report

•Aggregate and student-level data files by school, district and state

To facilitate effective use of the data, ACT regional staff works through ADE to conduct regional workshops for educators as well as data interpretation workshops.

Recommendations

Fully fund and mandate ACT’s College Readiness System (EXPLORE, PLAN, and ACT) to assure access for ALL Arkansas students and to decrease college remediation costs.

Continue to mandate effective interpretation and use of data to impact readiness.

Advocate that VUAA students with scores below remediation level take rigorous coursework and re-test with ACT.

Consider a course-placement studyto assure that cut-scores are appropriate and students arebeing well served.

Evaluate teacher-preparation programs in the colleges of education to assure training in data-driven decision-making.

Recommentations (continued)