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The Condition of College & Career Readiness in Tennessee and in the Nation

The Condition of College & Career Readiness in Tennessee and in the Nation. Sherri Miller, ACT 2011 STEM Conference East Tennessee State University May 24, 2011. Issues. Current State of College & Career Readiness in Tennessee and Nationally

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The Condition of College & Career Readiness in Tennessee and in the Nation

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  1. The Condition of College & Career Readiness in Tennessee and in the Nation Sherri Miller, ACT 2011 STEM Conference East Tennessee State University May 24, 2011

  2. Issues • Current State of College & Career Readiness in Tennessee and Nationally • Factors that Make a Difference in College & Career Readiness • Bridging the College Readiness Gap

  3. Data Sources: 2010 ACT Results

  4. How Do We Define College Readiness? • Based on actual success students experience in credit-bearing college entry-level courses • ACT Benchmarks: median ACT score needed for 50% chance of college course grade B or better or 75% chance of C or better • Directly tied to ACT College Readiness Standards

  5. 50 percent chance of achieving a grade of B or higher, or at least a 75 percent chance of a grade of C or higher

  6. Current Condition of College & Career Readiness

  7. Current Condition of College & Career Readiness (Science) Not enough high school students are on target to be college ready in science when they leave high school. Only 29 percentof our nation’s ACT-tested students are on target to be ready for a College Biology course. Only 20 percent of ACT-tested students in Tennessee are on target to be ready for a College Biology course.

  8. Tennessee Readiness Pipeline 20% of ACT-tested students met the College Readiness Benchmark in Science. 17% of 10th graders are on target to be college ready in Science. 16% of 8th graders are on target to be college ready in Science. Students “in the pipeline” do not look any better.

  9. Factors that Matter in College Readiness

  10. N = 65,874

  11. Percent Meeting ACT Science Benchmark 60 55 56 50 48 45 40 40 35 34 30 25 20 21 15 16 10 12 9 5 0 Less than 3 Years General Science, Biology, Chemistry, General Science, Biology, and and Physics Biology, Chemistry, Chemistry and Physics Science Course Sequence Tennessee National Courses Matter Tennessee students who take science courses beyond Biology earn significantly higher ACT scores.

  12. Course Rigor Matters ??? Why doesn’t a high school Biology course prepare students for College Biology?

  13. Course Rigor Matters ACT data show: • Students are losing momentum in high school for college readiness. • Because so many high school courses lack rigor, students need to take more than a minimum number of core courses to be college ready. • Major gap in postsecondary expectations and what high schools are teaching.

  14. Example: The geologic time scale is divided into long time frames called eras and shorter time frames called periods. Table 1 shows the 3 most recent eras, the 11 most recent periods, their time frames, and a major biological development that occurred during each period. Flowering plants first appeared before the first humans appeared and after the first birds appeared. Based on this information and Table 1, flowering plants most likely first appeared during which of the following periods? A. Quaternary B. Cretaceous C. Triassic D. Carboniferous

  15. Bridging the College Readiness Gap What postsecondary instructors expect entering college students to know is far more targeted and specific than what high school teachers view as important.

  16. In ACT’s 2009 National Curriculum Survey, postsecondary instructors: • rated fewer skills “high importance” than did middle school or high school teachers. • viewed more content and skills as being of low importance. Consistent pattern across all content areas, but most prevalent in science

  17. Bridging the College Readiness Gap There are specific differences between high school instruction and postsecondary expectations in every major curriculum area. In Science, postsecondary instructors rate science content much lower in importance than do their high school counterparts.

  18. 20 Top Rated Skills

  19. Recommendations • Increase core course requirements • Align state standards with college and work readiness expectations • Focus state standards on the essentials for college and work readiness • Specifically define course standards so that teachers understand what students need to know to be college/work ready

  20. Recommendations (continued) • Monitor student progress in becoming college ready starting in middle school • Encourage all students to take rigorous core courses in 11th and 12th grades • Improve the rigor of high school courses so they reflect college/work readiness • Use formative and end-of-course assessments to improve teaching and learning, but make sure they are aligned with college/work readiness

  21. Challenge ACT to help you put Tennessee data to use! Visit www.act.org for your Reports Sherri.Miller@act.org

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