1. College Readiness, College Enrollment and Long-term College Success Presented by The Midwest Office of ACT Bonnie Weisz- Program Solutions Chris Mitchell- Program Solutions

2. ACT= Research

3. National Curriculum Survey 2009 National Survey available online. 2012 Survey will be available soon.

4. College Readiness Benchmark Scores

7. ACT CRS & Curriculum Review Worksheets—Coding Guide The following coding comes from the ACT College Readiness Standards Tables available at: http://www.act.org/standard/instruct/pdf/CollegeReadinessStandardsTables.pdf With this information in hand, schools using the Curriculum Review Worksheets have coding to use with their curriculum alignment/mapping software. The level of the standard is related to College Readiness Standard (CRS) intervals, i.e. 2XX - 13 to 15 3XX - 16 to 19 4XX - 20 to 23 5XX - 24 to 27 6XX - 28 to 32 7XX - 33 to 36

11. EPAS System/CCRIS

13. Connect the Standards to Instruction  Assists in organizing instructional practices  Offers a sequence for delivering content  Provides clear scope of what is ideally taught to all students

14. Mind the Gaps In 2009, ACT published Mind the Gaps: How College Readiness Narrows Achievement Gaps in College Success.

15. 2009 ACT-tested High School Graduates: College Ready WhiteUnderrepresented minority

16. 2009 ACT-tested High School Graduates Taking a Core Curriculum

17. Reductions in Racial/Ethnic Gaps in College Enrollment Associated with Meeting All Four ACT College Readiness Benchmarks Enrolled in college first year

18. Reductions in Family Income Gaps in College Enrollment Rates Associated with Meeting All Four ACT College Readiness Benchmarks Enrolled in college first year

19. New ACT Research Two studies conducted using data from COMPASS/ACT tested students entering fall 2003 and the National Student Clearinghouse Tracked students through year 7 to obtain graduation rates COMPASS study was unique in that it looked at degree intent of students at two year institutions. Unlike previous studies and national statistics, this new research tracked degree completion from any institution so that degrees earned by transfer students counted as well. Recent ACT studies further validate previous research on college readiness and success

20. Study Sample Findings Students from four-year institutions: –Tended to be more academically-able than students from two-year institutions. –More likely to meet the ACT College Readiness Benchmarks, to earn a higher ACT Composite score, to take a core curriculum, to take higher-level mathematics and science coursework in high school, and to earn a higher HSGPA. –More likely to have a higher family income range and slightly more likely to be female.

22. Year 7 degree completion status for four-year students (ACT study) Percentages do not sum to 100 percent due to rounding.

23. Degree completion rates over time for two-year students (ACT Study) Reported percentages in text do not always equal the sum of those shown in the figure due to rounding.

24. Six-year Bachelor’s Degree Completion Rates by Race/ethnicity and Number of ACT Benchmarks Met for Four-year Students

25. Degree attainment by academic readiness (COMPASS Reading) 19.2% 26.3% 30.3%

26. Six-year Degree Completion Rates by Race/Ethnicity

27. Retention Rates to the Same Institution at Year 4 by Family Income Range and Number of ACT Benchmarks Met for Four-year Students

28. Six-year Degree Completion Rates for EPA-tested Students who Met 1 to 3 Benchmarks in Grades 8 and 10 by Number of ACT Benchmarks Met

29. College Enrollment Rates by Combined EXPLORE/PLAN Benchmark Attainment and Student Demographic Group for EPA-tested Students

30. Degree Intentions: What level of education do you want to obtain? Degree IntentSample Classes only 3.9% Certificate 4.1% Two-year Degree 31.7% Four year Degree 29.1% Grad/Prof Degree 12.5% No response 18.8%

31. Degree intent, by age group – Two-Year Institutions

32. Degree attainment by age group 32.2% 23.3% 26.1%

33. Age and Intent

34. Summary of Findings NCES/IPEDS Graduation Data not true measurement of success for all students Academic readiness, degree intent, and enrollment status matter in determining degree completion rates; age does not. New studies affirm findings of those found in earlier ACT studies Students meeting the individual ACT College Readiness Benchmarks were substantially more likely to enroll in college, to persist in college through degree completion, and to earn a degree in a timely manner. As the number of ACT Benchmarks met increased, students’ likelihood of success also increased.

35. College success rates were also higher for student who –Earned a higher ACT Composite Score –Took a Core Curriculum in High School –Took Higher-level Math and Science Coursework in High School –Earned Higher GPAs Average ACT Composite scores and HSGPA were higher for four-year students who completed a bachelor’s degree by year 4 than those who took longer Students completing a bachelor’s degree by year 7, on average had higher ACT Composites and HSGPA than those earning an Associates Degree or no degree

36. Consistent with findings from other studies, there were gaps across demographic groups. College readiness helps to reduce these gaps. Completion rates for any degree were higher for females, higher-income students, and white students. Students who returned to the same institution were more likely to complete a degree.

37. Students taking EXPLORE/PLAN/ACT were more likely to enroll in college immediately following high school, to persist at the same institution, and to complete a degree than ACT tested only students. Those meeting E/P Benchmarks had higher college success rates than those who met one or none. As the number of E/P Benchmarks met increased, college success rates also increased.

38. To view newest ACT research visit: www.act.org/research www.act.org/research

39. What can colleges do to improve retention and graduation rates? Reinforce the need for entering students to be college and career ready to maximize their chances for college success. Offer remediation/resources to those not college ready to get skills to college level. Track your own students for more accurate graduation statistics. Look at enrollment status, intent, age, college readiness vs. remediation, transfer students. Use EOS PLAN buys to recruit those on track for college readiness earlier. 2010 Report, What Works in Student Retention” www.act.org/research/policymakers/reports/retain.html