Early Assessment & College & Career Readiness Jibril Gabriel Solomon, MS Jibril is a Higher Education Consultant for the National Science Foundation Grant, BATEC at UMass Boston. He works with high schools, community colleges and 4-yr colleges to address college & career readiness challenges for STEM students. He is also currently a Ph.D. in Education Studies candidate at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA where his dissertation research focuses on early assessment and academic preparation issues for urban high school graduates.

Meaning of College & Career Readiness? Education Researcher Perspective The degree to which previous educational & personal experiences prepared students to meet the demands of college or workforce (Conley, 2008) The level of preparation needed to enroll and succeed without remediation in credit-bearing 2 or 4-year courses (ACT, 2005) The high school curricula determine students’ level of academic preparedness (Horn & Kojaku, 2001) Ability to meet admission requirements for 4-year college entry and having some basic skills (Greene & Foster, 2003) The classroom teachers, if provided with guidance and resources, could impact readiness for postsecondary success (Spence, 2007)

What Do We Mean By College & Career Readiness? The degree to which academic preparation (curriculum & performance) and interpersonal (advising, counseling and support) experiences prepare a student to make informed decisions, transition successfully and meet the demands of college or the workforce

The Transition Dilemma 88 % of 8th Graders inspire to participate in postsecondary education (Venezia, Kurst, Antonio, 2005) 70% of High School Graduates plan to attend 2 or 4-year colleges (Venezia, Kurst, Antonio, 2005) HOWEVER 2/3 of recent graduates who enter college are academically unprepared for college level material (Greene & Foster, 2003) 42% of students in college level credit-bearing courses are not well prepared to succeed in them (Cohen, 2008)

The State of Readiness: The Leaking Pipeline For Every 100 ninth Graders: 67 Would Graduate from High School 38 Enter College 26 Continue Enrollment after Freshman Year 18 Graduate with an Associate or Bachelor’s Degree within 150% time of the required degree time: 3 years for an AA degree and 6 years for a Bachelors Source: Kazis. R., Pennington. H., Conklin. D. K. (2003). Ready for Tomorrow: Helping all students achieve secondary and postsecondary success.

The State of Readiness: National Remedial Education Overview 61% of students at 2-year colleges completed remedial courses in 2004 (Condition of Education, 2008, US Dept. of Ed.) 40% of students at 4-year colleges take remedial courses (Venezia et. al., 2005) 46% of students taking remedial courses fail to complete them (Achieving the Dream’s Data Report Vol. 3. N0. 4, July/Aug 2008)

The State of Readiness: Massachusetts Remedial Education Overview Source: Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, February 2008

The State of Readiness: Case Study - Brockton Source: Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, February 2008

The State of Readiness: Case Study - Charlestown Source: Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, February 2008

The State of Readiness: Case Study - Lawrence Source: Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, February 2008

The State of Readiness: The Degree Completion Outlook Source: Adapted from Achieve Inc (2008), National Information Center for Higher Education, www.higheredinfo.org. Data are from U.S. Census for 25 to 34 year olds.

The Readiness Gaps 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

The State College Placement Assessment: The Accuplacer Test Introduced in 1998 as a state mandate for all public colleges (Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 15A, Section 9c, and 9u and Massachusetts General Laws c. 15A, s.32) Use the Accuplacer to assess basic academic skills of entering students to assure readiness for college level work Refer those who place below college level to remedial courses Remedial/developmental courses require full-tuition and fees, but do not count for credits towards graduation

Accuplacer Predictive Validity & Reliability Individual score is independent from all other test takers Moderate-to-Strong correlation between test scores and subsequent course performance Variability in the relationship across tests and test combinations: Math correlates more strongly than English to course success For course success of B or better: Mean Correlation are Arithmetics: .46 Elementary Algebra: .50 College Level Math: .62 Reading: .36 Sentence Skill: .36 WritePlacer: .42 Source: College Board (2009), Predictive validity of Accuplacer Scores for Course Placement

The Readiness Dilemma: A Potential Solution with Early Assessment An early assessment is the administration of a testing instrument (e.g., Accuplacer, PSAT, MCAS, Career/Vocational Assessment) for the purpose of signaling and informing myriad stakeholders of students’ knowledge, aptitudes, and attitudes in time to improve outcomes and/or inform students’ college and career readiness competencies

Early Assessment Programs Across New England Annually an estimated 15,000 juniors and seniors fully participate in early assessments About 2/3 of participants are from Career & Vocational Education Programs Purpose of the testing includes: • Gauge College Dual Enrollment Eligibility • Inform and Improve Career Planning Process • Improve Preparation for College Level Math & English Placement

Valuable Early Assessment Programs Are derived from quality assessments that are: (1) valid and reliable; (2) designed to measure specific competencies (3) given at the right time. Are administered early enough in a student’s academic career to send a signal and effect decision-making in a positive direction. Students are adequately prepared, supported and informed prior to the assessment. Are given under optimal conditions. Are given for the purpose of alerting students, educators and parents about students current competencies and skill gaps

Valuable Early Assessment Results Provide signals that inform students, parents/guardians and educators about readiness and necessary preparation for college and career success Offer insight into what students currently know and don’t Gauge students’ interests, values and beliefs Invest “capital” in the form of information and data in students’ future growth

Value of Early Assessment for Counselors Baseline information for informing, encouraging, advising, supporting and tracking individual and group progress: College & Career Planning Assessment outcomes do NOT hold pass/fail values, but rather help counselors know and relate to students and communicate that knowledge: Whole Child Evidence of need for the planning and implementation of targeted interventions and supports: Course & Curriculum Planning

Value of Early Assessment for Teachers & Administrators Provide Real Time Data on students’ basic Math and ELA readiness skills for workforce and college academic expectations: School Data Knowledge Assessment results could inform course planning and curriculum delivery activities: Data Inform Practice Early Assessment Programs send signals to school administrators about the readiness gaps of specific cohorts: Closing the Preparation Gaps

Getting There: Early Assessment Post Testing Follow-up interventions must be routinely scheduled and systematically delivered in a timely fashion Assessment results alone are of little value to educators, students and parents/guardians in college and career planning and decision making Understanding the relationship between assessment results and future dreams, aspirations and skills is invaluable!

Impacts of Early Assessment on Students’ College & Career Thinking From a study that asked: What was the impact on high school students who were given an early Accuplacer assessment test in the Spring of 2008? (Solomon, 2008). 33% of the students knew that the purpose of the Accuplacer Placement test was to identify their readiness for college work 78% of the students indicated that the test & follow-up intervention impacted their thinking about college and career readiness. It helped me change/better plan my senior year courses. It made me take a harder math course. It helped me identify the classes/courses where I needed to work harder. It showed me if I was/was not ready for college classes.

Impacts of Early Assessment on Students’ Remedial Enrollment From a study that asked: How participation in early assessment affects college going behavior and need for remediation in college? (Howell, Kurlaender, Grodsky, 2009) Rather than discouraging unprepared students from applying (Sacramento State) Early Assessment Program appears to lead students to increase their academic preparation while still in high school 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

Conclusion The amount of developmental courses required has become one of the strongest predictors for college drop out (Achieving the Dream’s Data Report Vol. 3. N0. 4, July/Aug 2008) Early Assessment Program is NOT a measure of student, teacher, school or administrator performance Rather its ONLY aim is to offer data and information designed to add values or capital to existing improvement plans

For More Information Let US Connect! Jibril Gabriel Solomon Higher Education Consultant BATEC/TechBoston (BPS OIIT Division) jsolomon@techboston.org Or Gabriel7627@gmail.com