Improving College Readiness and Success for All Students

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Improving College Readiness and Success for All
Students

• David T. Conley, Ph.D.
• Professor, University of Oregon
• Director, Center for Educational Policy Research
• CEO, Educational Policy Improvement Center
• Presentation to Governing Board Conference
• Houston, Texas
• October 30, 2007

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Elements of the Presentation

• How well prepared for college success are
  students currently?
• A new definition of college readiness
• General characteristics of a college-ready
  student
• What you can do to help more students enter
  college prepared to succeed

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How well prepared for college success are
students currently?

• More students are attending college within two
  years of high school graduation
• More first generation college attenders
• More academically marginal applicants
• Even students taking a core academic program
  are not necessarily well prepared
• High school teachers and college faculty have
  differing perceptions of student preparedness

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How Many High School Graduates Go to College?

• Within two years of high school graduation, 70
  of students have enrolled in postsecondary
  education
• 27 in public 4-year institutions
• 13 in private 4-year institutions
• 27 in 2-year institutions
• 34 percent of spring 2002 HS sophomores expected
  to receive graduate degrees

Bozick, R., Lauff, E. (2007). Education
longitudinal study of 2002 (ELS2002) A first
look at the initial postsecondary experiences of
the sophomore class of 2002 (No. NCES 2008-308).
Washington, DC National Center for Education
Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S.
Department of Education.
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How College Ready are Students Who Take a Core
Curriculum?

• ACT defines the Recommended Core Curriculum as
  follows
• At least 4 years of English
• At least 3 years of mathematics
• At least 3 years of social studies
• At least 3 years of natural sciences
• This is a reasonably high standard, consistent
  with what is required for admission to many US
  universities

Rigor at Risk Reaffirming Quality in the High
School Core Curriculum
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How College Ready are Students Who Take a Core
Curriculum?

• Of students taking the Recommended Core
  Curriculum, three out of four are not prepared to
  succeed in entry-level college courses, based on
  the ACT national college readiness indicators
• About 1 in 5 needs substantial help in all four
  subject areas to be college ready

Rigor at Risk Reaffirming Quality in the High
School Core Curriculum, ACT
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How College Ready are Students Who Take a Core
Curriculum?

• Of students who take Algebra I, Algebra II, and
  Geometry in high school, 25 end up taking
  remedial math in college
• Of students who take a math course beyond these
  three, 17 still need remediation

Rigor at Risk Reaffirming Quality in the High
School Core Curriculum, ACT
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How Many Students Who Are Admitted Still Need
Remediation?

• While remedial rates are subject to debate, it
  appears that over 1/4 of incoming students at
  four-year colleges must take one or more remedial
  course
• At some community colleges, the figure reaches
  60
• Overall, federal statistics suggest that 40 of
  college students take at least one remedial course

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Differing Perceptions on How Well Incoming
College Students Can Write
Six times as many high school teachers think
students are very well prepared for college
writing than do college faculty
Chronicle of Higher Education, v. 52, no. 27, B9,
March 6, 2006
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2. A New Definition of College Ready

• The level of preparation a student needs in order
  to enroll and succeedwithout remediationin
  credit-bearing general education courses that
  meet requirements for a baccalaureate degree.
• Succeed is defined as completing entry-level
  courses at a level of understanding and
  proficiency sufficient for the student to
• succeed in a sequent course in the subject area
• apply course knowledge to another subject area

Conley, D. (2007). Toward a More Comprehensive
Conception of College Readiness.
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The Four Key Dimensions of College Readiness
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Four Key Dimensions of College Readiness

• Key Cognitive Strategies
• Analytic reasoning, problem solving,
  inquisitiveness, precision, interpretation,
  evaluating claims
• Key Content Knowledge
• Writing skills, algebraic concepts, key
  foundational content and big ideas from core
  subjects
• Academic Behaviors (self-management)
• Persistence, time management, study group use,
  awareness of performance
• Contextual Skills and Awareness (college
  knowledge)
• Admissions requirements, cost of college, purpose
  and opportunities of college, types of colleges,
  college culture, relations with professors

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3. General Characteristics of College-Ready
Students

• Consistent intellectual growth and development
  over four years of high school as a result of
  studying increasingly challenging academic
  content
• Deep understanding of key foundational ideas and
  concepts from the core academic subjects
• A strong grounding in the knowledge base that
  underlies the key concepts of the core academic
  disciplines as evidenced by the ability to solve
  novel problems and think like experts in the
  subject area

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General Characteristics of College-Ready Students

• Facility with a range of key intellectual and
  cognitive skills and capabilities that can be
  broadly generalized as the ability to think
• Reading and writing skills and strategies
  sufficient to process the full range of textual
  materials commonly encountered in entry-level
  college courses and to respond successfully to
  the written assignments commonly required in such
  courses
• Mastery of key concepts and ways of thinking
  found in one or more scientific discipline
  sufficient to succeed in an introductory-level
  science course that could lead to a major in an
  area requiring scientific knowledge

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General Characteristics of College-Ready Students

• Comfort with a range of numeric concepts and
  principles sufficient to take at least one
  introductory-level math course that could lead to
  a major that requires additional mathematics
• Ability to accept critical feedback including
  critiques of written work submitted or an
  argument presented in class
• Ability to assess objectively ones level of
  competence in a subject and to devise plans to
  improve work quality

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General Characteristics of College-Ready Students

• Ability to study independently and with a study
  group on a complex assignment requiring extensive
  out-of-class preparation that extends over a
  reasonably long period of time
• Ability to interact successfully with a wide
  range of faculty, staff, and students, including
  among them many who come from different
  backgrounds and hold points of view different
  from the students
• Understanding of the values and norms of colleges
  and within them disciplinary subjects as the
  organizing structures for intellectual
  communities that pursue common understandings and
  fundamental explanations of natural phenomena and
  key aspects of the human condition

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Example Performances

• Write a 3-5 page research paper that is
  structured around a cogent, coherent line of
  reasoning
• Read with understanding a range of non-fiction
  publications and technical materials
• Employ fundamentals of algebra to solve
  multi-step problems
• Conduct basic scientific experiments or analyses
• Interpret two conflicting explanations of the
  same event or phenomenon
• Conduct research on a topic
• Communicate in a second language

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Example Performances

• Punctually attend a study group outside of class
• Create and maintain a personal schedule that
  includes a to-do list with prioritized tasks and
  appointments
• Complete successfully a problem or assignment
  that requires about two weeks of independent work
  and extensive research
• Utilize key technological tools including
  appropriate computer software
• Locate websites that contain information on
  colleges, the admissions process, and financial
  aid
• Present an accurate self-assessment of readiness
  for college

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4. Responding to the Challenge

• How can postsecondary education send clearer
  messages to high schools about what it takes to
  be college ready?
• How can state education policy support better
  alignment between high school and college?
• What can be done at the campus level to promote a
  new conception of college ready?

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Things That Colleges and Universities Can Do

• Utilize college readiness standards to
  communicate expectations to high school students
  and teachers
• Use the four-part model to develop more
  comprehensive college readiness programs
  institutionally

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College Readiness Standards

• Texas College Readiness Standards
• Contain statements of key content knowledge along
  with cross-discipline skills and key cognitive
  strategies
• Will be validated against existing college
  courses
• Will be the basis for constructing better aligned
  courses and materials for 12th grade instruction
• The standards are in draft form until late
  January 2008
• Familiarize yourself with them if possible

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Four-Part Model

• The four-part model of college readiness can be
  used to help first generation college attenders,
  for example
• to form and use study groups, time management,
  self-awareness of performance
• to learn about the culture of higher education,
  how to establish relations with faculty, how to
  use campus resources
• to become more aware of the key cognitive
  strategies they should be developing
• This leads to a more coherent program of support
  for these students and, by extension, all students

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What Can You Do?

• How can your institution promote better alignment
  between high school and college?
• What institutional policies or practices are not
  sending the right messages to high schools about
  college readiness?
• How can your institution build better connections
  with local high schools?