1. 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.

2. 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)

3. 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

4. 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)

5. 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.

6. The State of Readiness: National Remedial Education Overview
61% of students at 2-year colleges completed remedial courses in (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)

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

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

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

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

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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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!

22. 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.

23. 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

24. 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

25. For More Information
Let US Connect! Jibril Gabriel Solomon Higher Education Consultant BATEC/TechBoston (BPS OIIT Division) Or