1. CASE STUDY: ENGINEERING ASPIRATIONS WHY K-8 IS AS IMPORTANT TO COLLEGE READINESS AS GRADES 9-12 AND HOW THE ACT PROVIDES A TEACHER FRIENDLY TARGET.

2. COLLEGE PREP Mission, School title More living wage jobs and careers require a two or four year degree Students must meet the minimum college ready benchmark to be successful (“persistence”) in a two year degree program Student and Family Aspirations More competition than ever for college spots and for careers and jobs Growth in jobs and careers is in the STEM Careers Critical Thinking Schools and Habits for Leadership, Citizenship, Life

3. College Admissions Expectations Type of College AdmissionExamplesGPATypical ACT/ SAT AP/Honors Expectations Highly Selective 10%Ivy League, Carlton, William and Mary 3.7528+/ 1220+ 31-24 Avg. 4+ courses 4 to 5 exams Selective25 %UW-Madison, UM-Twin Cities, MIAC, St. Olaf, Lawrence, Gustavus, St. Thomas 3.024+/ 1110+ 29 Avg. 3+ courses 3-5 on exams Traditional50%UM-Morris, UMD, UW-Stout, UW-Eau Claire, UW-River Falls 2.021+/ 990+ N/A LiberalMostNormandale Community College, DeVRy 1.018+/ 870+ N/A OpenAllCentury, RasmussenDiplo ma NONE Req’d N/A

4. WHY BENCHMARK TO THE ACT? Midwest Colleges accept this score most often 70% of Minnesota Students take this test EXPLORE (Grade 8) and PLAN (Grade 10) can predict ACT score early on Can monitor individual student growth aligned to their aspirations Tests subject matter in many areas: English Language, Reading Social Science, Mathematics, Science, Writing

5. WHY BENCHMARK TO THE ACT? State MCA does not provide a college ready benchmark Most of our students are aspiring to meet a benchmark that is higher than the minimum college ready benchmark Most of our students aspirations are higher than their preparedness ACT, PLAN, EXPLORE are NOT IQ scores; therefor, we can use the information to better prepare individual students

6. SCPA College Readiness Class of 2011

7. SCPA College Readiness Grads ‘11 v ‘10

8. 2MM: GLOBAL COMPETITION IS NEW REALITY

9. COLLEGE READINESS IS MOSTLY DETERMINED BY GRADE 8 “The level of academic achievement that students attain by eighth grade has a larger impact on their college and career readiness by the time they graduate from high school than anything that currently happens academically in the typcial U.S. high school (ACT, 2008b).” Source: www.act.org/research/policymakers/pdf/ReasonableSource: www.act.org/research/policymakers/pdf/ReasonableGrowth.pdf

10. INCREASE STUDENT READINESS BY 23% Students who are monitored early have somewhat higher college aspirations than students who do not participate, regardless of their background. The odds of planning to complete at least a two- year college degree are 23 percent higher among students who are monitored early than among those who are not monitored early. The increase in odds is 22 percent with regard to planning to complete at least a four-year deg ree. Source: http://media.act.org/documents/Research-Brief-Staying-on-Target.pdf

11. STUDENT “Good Work Habits” “Positive Attitude” “Good Work Habits” “Pleasant in Class” Social but no discipline issues Participates in Extra Curriculars Aspires to a Four Year Selective College 3.20 GPA At least 2 Advanced Courses (AP, Honors) per year

12. MINIMUM COLLEGE READY BENCHMARKS TESTMinimum College Ready Benchmarks Explore (Gr 8) ACT (Gr 11) English1318 Mathematics1722 Reading1521 Science2024

13. REACHING THE BENCHMARKS TEST Minimum College Ready Benchmarks Explore (Gr 8)ACT (Gr 11) Student English1318 19 Mathematics1722 31 Reading1521 Science2024 CompositeDepends24

14. A B C D E F G

15. LUCK OR PREPARATION? “Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity.” Emily Dickinson