College Knowledge 8 th Grade Skills Needed for Middle School and Postsecondary Success #2

Review What is Ramp-Up to Readiness? What are the 5 pillars of readiness? Why should you start preparing for college now? What are some of the things we’ll do this year to help you prepare?

Today’s Focus Plan Foundation: Belief that all students need to be prepared for postsecondary education Goal: All students meet Ramp-Up Standards Academic Admissions Career Financial Personal/Social Pillars of Readiness

Objectives Today’s objectives are to: Learn about the academic college knowledge required for success in college Understand Soft Skills Understand the connection between the Readiness Rubric and College Knowledge

Pre-test 1.How many years of Math and English courses should you take in high school? 2.What is one measure of academic readiness (or entrance exam) that you may have to take before starting college? 3.What is one soft skill you need to be successful in college?

Watch Tube Girl Video Watch the Tube Girl videoTube Girl

Video Discussion What did Lindsay find out about her readiness for college? Does graduating from high school guarantee that you’re ready for college level classes? What can you do now and in high school to help you get ready?

What You Can Do: 1.Take the required core courses to help you gain the academic knowledge and skills you need 2.Prepare for entrance exams 3.Know your level of academic readiness and set goals to close readiness gaps 4.Develop Soft Skills

1. Take Core Courses To graduate from high school you may be required to take fewer years of core courses than you need for college. Be smart and take 4 years of each of the following: – English – Math – Science – Social Studies Colleges also want you to have at least 2 years of a world language.

2. Prep for Entrance Exams Before you enroll in college, you need to take entrance exams that test your academic knowledge and skills. For four-year colleges: – ACT – SAT For two-year colleges: – ACCUPLACER

ACT Common entrance exam for Midwest colleges English, Math, Reading, Science, and Writing 215 questions Scores range from 1-36 – You get a score for each test and a composite (average score) – ACT benchmarks: English = 18, Math = 22, Reading = 21, Science = 24 – MN Average composite = 22.9

EXPLORE In 8 th or 9 th grade you’ll take the EXPLORE test EXPLORE = college readiness test -Prepares you for the ACT -Tells you your personal level of academic readiness -128 questions in English, Math, Reading, and Science -Scores = th grade Benchmarks: English = 13, Math = 17, Reading = 15, Science = 20 -Also gives career possibilities!

SAT Video about the SAT Required by many 4 year colleges outside of the Midwest Tests reading, math, writing Scores range from MN average = 1778 You can take the PSAT in high school to practice.

ACCUPLACER Required by most 2-year colleges Tests academic skills in math, English, and reading 89 multiple choice questions and an essay Tells you if you are ready for college-level courses or if you need to take remedial coursework (classes to learn the skills that you need to be ready for college-level work) Practice tests are available

3. Know Your Level of Readiness How do you find out how academically ready you are? – Take the EXPLORE test and pay attention to your results! – Try your best on MCA tests and see how you do. If you are meeting standards, you are likely on track to be college ready. – Check how you’re doing in your core courses. You should be passing all of your core courses with at least a C. – Complete the Readiness Rubric!

Readiness Rubric: Academic Readiness The academic readiness sections of the Readiness Rubric encourage you to look at your grades, MCA test results, and EXPLORE test results After completing the rubric, you set goals for yourself to improve your academic readiness – We’ll talk more about goal setting next class.

4. Develop Soft Skills Just because you have the academic knowledge and skills (“hard skills”) doesn’t mean you’ll succeed. Being successful in middle school, high school, college, and in your future career requires “soft skills”

Soft Skills Soft Skills = Personal and social skills and habits that help individuals to be successful – What are the soft skills they discussed in the video?

Soft Skills for College Examples from the video: – Class attendance – Punctuality – Participation – Developing good study habits – Doing quality assignments – Turning in homework on time Discuss: – Which of these are important for success in middle school? – What are some other soft skills you need for success in middle school?

Readiness Rubric & PREP: Soft Skills The personal/social readiness sections of the Readiness Rubric and the PREP both measure: – Academic belief – Self-management skills – Effort and persistence After completing the rubric and/or PREP, you set goals to improve your “soft skills”

Activity: Soft vs. Hard Skills Form groups of 2-3 people Each group has been given an envelope with slips of paper inside. The slips each have a different habit, skill, or piece of knowledge needed to succeed in middle school, high school, and college. Divide the slips into “Soft Skills” and “Hard Skills”

Activity Discussion Compare your categorization with the group next to you. – Do you have the same categorization? Were there any slips that were difficult to categorize? Which ones? Why? Which slips have skills or knowledge you already know? Which ones were new to you? Which ones were related to science? English? Math?

Post-Test 1.How many years of Math and English courses should you take in high school? 2.What is one measure of academic readiness (or entrance exam) that you may have to take before starting college? 3.What is one soft skill you need to be successful in college?

Review We learned about hard skills and soft skills that are important for success in middle school, high school, and college. – What are some of the hard skills you’ll need to learn? – What are some of the soft skills? Next class we’ll talk about writing goals and you can consider writing goals to improve your academic and personal/social readiness.

References Microsoft Office Images. (2011). Retrieved from us/images/ us/images/