1. 1 Measuring Academic Behaviors to Improve Student Performance GEAR UP Tennessee Kick-Off Nashville,TN, August 26, 2013

2. 2 Dr. Glenn Beer Director of Learning Solutions Delivery ACT Learning Insights Team

3. 33 O U R M I S S I O N Helping people achieve education and workplace success O U R V A L U E S Excellence Diversity Leadership Empowerment Learning Sustainability

4. 44 Agenda  ACT’s College and Career Readiness System  ACT’s Engage (Grades 6-9)  Research  Administering Engage  Reports  Using your ACT Engage results  Connecting results to interventions  Case Studies

5. 55 Learning Objectives  ACT’s Definition of College and Career Readiness  ACT’s College and Career Readiness System and how ACT Engage fits in that system  The role of academic behaviors on college and career readiness and success  How to access and administer the ACT Engage  ACT Engage Reports  How to use ACT Engage Results

6. 66 ACT’s Definition of College and Career Readiness: The level of preparation a student needs to be ready to enroll and succeed in—without remediation–a first-year, credit-bearing course at two or four-year institutions or in trade and technical schools. Adopted by the Common Core State Standards Initiative

7. 77 How do we measure College and Career Readiness? Empirically derived scores needed on an ACT subject-area test to indicate a 50% chance of obtaining a B or higher or a 75% chance of obtaining a C or higher in the corresponding first-year credit-bearing college course. TestCollege Course ACT Explore Grade 8 ACT Explore Grade 9 ACT Plan Grade 10 ACT EnglishEnglish Composition 13141518 MathCollege Algebra 17181922 ReadingSocial Science 15161722 ScienceBiology20 2123

8. 8 And statements that provide suggestions to progress to a higher level of achievement Statements that describe what students are likely to know and be able to do... http://act.org/standard

9. 99 ACT College and Career Readiness System MEASURING STUDENT PROGRESS TOWARD READINESS IMPROVING COURSE RIGOR SUPPORTING SOLUTIONS PLANNING SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT EXPLORE 8th and 9th grade curriculum-based educational and career planning program PLAN 10th grade curriculum-based educational and career planning program The ACT 11th and 12 grade curriculum-based assessment for learning outcomes ENGAGE Middle and high school assessments that measure behavioral factors of academic success QualityCore Research-driven solutions for strengthening curriculum CoreWork Diagnostics Online service to diagnose and improve content and practice areas Core Practice Audit Framework for evaluating current practices © 2012 by ACT, Inc. All rights reser ved.

10. 10 ACT Learning Insights Team What We Do LIT-designed Professional Learning Experiences Insights from ACT Research Insights from ACT Data Insights from Professional Practice Raise Academic Standards and Increase Achievement to Ensure All Students Are College and Career Ready (CCR)

11. 11  Practical and flexible  Administer online at any time  Reports available online 24/7  Identify areas of challenge for students  Create a crosswalk of ACT Engage scales to existing services ACT Engage Overview

12. 12 © 2012 by ACT, Inc. All rights reserved.  Grounded in research  Developed based on meta-analysis of predictors of academic performance and persistence (Robbins et al., 2004)  Validated across many studies (e.g., Allen et al., 2010; Casillas et al., in press; Robbins et al., 2006, 2008)  Helps educators to consider the whole student  Provides profile of relative strengths and needs ACT Engage Research Base

13. 13 ACT Engage Research Base  Students’ personal characteristics and psychosocial development influence their ability to stay in school and be successful  ACT research shows that psychosocial/behavioral development can be structured into 3 broad domains:  Motivation  Social Engagement  Self-Regulation  ACT’s Engage academic behavior assessments measure these domains © 2012 by ACT, Inc. All rights reserved.

14. 14 ACT Engage DomainEngage Grades 6-9Engage Grades 10-12  Motivation (Getting work done)  Academic Discipline  Commitment to School  Optimism  Academic Discipline  Commitment to College  Goal Striving  General Determination  Study Skills  Communication Skills  Social Engagement (Getting along)  Family Attitude toward Education  Family Involvement  Relationships w/ School Personnel  School Safety Climate  Social Activity  Social Connection  Self-Regulation (Keeping your cool)  Managing Feelings  Thinking Before Acting  Orderly Conduct  Academic Self- Confidence  Steadiness

15. 15 © 2012 by ACT, Inc. All rights reserved. 15 ACT Engage Grades 6-9  Measures students’ perceptions of themselves, their families’ commitment to education, school-related factors, and important behavioral data  Developed to predict academic success and high school graduation in middle school and early high school  Low stakes, self-report instrument, 4 th -grade reading level  Items form 10 scales  Online administration

16. 16 Administering ACT Engage Getting Started  Fall semester administration  Review User’s Guide before administering Engage:  ACT Engage Grades 6–9 User’s Guide  Available online at http://www.act.org/engage/6-9_materials.html http://www.act.org/engage/6-9_materials.html

17. 17 Administering ACT Engage Getting Started  Recommend administering the test in the computer lab during class  Need a teacher/staff member available to help students access the test site  Students can also take ACT Engage outside of class, 24/7  Compatible browsers: Internet Explorer (v. 8 & up), Chrome, Firefox, Safari  Notify IT to adjust spam filters prior to administration.

18. 18 Administering ACT Engage Set-Up Page

19. 19 Administering ACT Engage Administration Page

20. 20 Unique School URL Administering ACT Engage Student Access

21. 21 © 2012 by ACT, Inc. All rights reserved. 21 ACT Engage Reports Overview Academic Success and Graduation/Retention Indices in the Advisor Report allow early identification of students at risk Student profiles can be used to: –Identify relative strengths and needs –Match students’ needs to resources –Inform student advising and identify appropriate interventions Aggregate reports can help identify school-level needs and allocate district resources more effectively Roster reports can be used for sorting and merging Engage data with other information All reports available online 24/7

22. 22 ACT Engage Reports Retrieving Reports

23. 23 ACT Engage Reports Generating Reports

24. 24 ACT Engage Reports Generating Reports

25. 25 ACT Engage Reports Viewing Reports

26. 26 ACT Engage Student Report Profile of scores Interpretive feedback, sorted from strengths to needs

27. 27 ACT Engage Student Report Interpretive Feedback

28. 28 ACT Engage Student Report Interpretive Feedback © 2012 by ACT, Inc. All rights reserved. 28

29. 29 ACT Engage Advisor Report Profile of scores Success Indices (only on Advisor Report) Interpretive feedback, sorted from strengths to needs

30. 30 ACT Engage Advisor Report Profile

31. 31 Roster Report © 2012 by ACT, Inc. All rights reserved.

32. 32 School Aggregate Report © 2012 by ACT, Inc. All rights reserved. 32

33. 33 Using Engage Results Student Crosswalk of School Resources ScalesPercentileResources Academic DisciplineHigh/Medium/Low Commitment to SchoolHigh/Medium/Low Family Attitude Toward Education High/Medium/Low Family InvolvementHigh/Medium/Low Managing FeelingsHigh/Medium/Low OptimismHigh/Medium/Low Orderly ConductHigh/Medium/Low Relationships with School Personnel High/Medium/Low School Safety ClimateHigh/Medium/Low Thinking Before ActingHigh/Medium/Low

34. 34 Using Engage Results Crosswalk Activity Is this service offered at your school ? ( Y/N)c GEAR UP Student Services Engage 6-9 Scales Academic Discipline Commitment to School Family Attitude Toward Education Family Involvement Managing Feelings Optimism Orderly Conduct Relationships with School Personnel School Safety Climate Thinking Before Acting Tutoring/Homework Assistance Comprehensive Mentoring Financial Aid Counseling/Advising Counseling/advising/academic planning/career counseling College visit/college student shadowing Job site visit/job shadowing Summer Programs Educational Field Trips Student Workshops Parent/family workshops of college prep/financial aid Parent/family counseling/advising Parent/family college visit Family events

35. 35 Case Studies Norah  Student who may be at risk: Norah

36. 36 Case Studies Activity: Norah What interventions would you select for Norah?

37. 37 Case Studies Intervention Plan: Norah

38. 38 Case Studies Juan On-track student: Juan

39. 39 Case Studies Activity: Juan What interventions would you select for Juan?

40. 40 Case Studies Intervention Plan: Juan

41. 41 Case Studies McPherson USD  McPherson USD (KS) administers Engage to all students:  Grade 6 (baseline)  Grade 9 (on-track for high school success)  Engage results used to target interventions to three groups of students:  Low Academic Success Index  Low scores in key Engage Scales (e.g. Academic Discipline)  Pattern of low academic achievement & low Engage scores  Engage results used in:  PLC meetings  Student advisory meetings  Parent meetings

42. 42 Questions?