High School Students Benefit From Early Warning Signals About Lack Of College Preparation

Much research has shown that students who aspire to broad access colleges lack signals about their high probability of ending up in remedial education in college. See our flagship publication- put Betraying The College Dream in Google. California State University created a grade 11 early assesment to let students know whether they would place into non remedial courses. It is called the Early Assessment Program -EAP , and is added questions to the statewide grade 11 assessments. In 2007, over 350,000 students elected to take EAP after they finished the state test. A recent evaluation by UC Davis and Cal State Professors shows that taking the test and getting early signals helps students in high school avoid college remediation.  For a copy of the paper email mkurlaender@ucdavis.edu

CONCLUSION

Most, if not all, public secondary and postsecondary systems of education are badly misaligned (Kirst & Venezia, 2004). Standards for academic success vary both within and across sectors. This variation poses a significant challenge to students and policy makers, the consequence of which is a great deal of confusion and even ignorance among students about the academic demands of college. It is no wonder they are confused; among Sacramento State’s students requiring remediation in either math or English in 2007, the average GPA they earned in high school in the subject for which they needed remediation was just above a 3.1.Their high schools told them that they were successful B students, but their colleges told them that they were not ready to do college-level work. This troubling state of affairs is exacerbated by an ethos of college for all, with little regard to academic preparation. The EAP program is an intervention designed to improve the quality of information students have regarding the California State University’s standard for minimally acceptable levels of academic preparation in math and English. By providing this information to high school juniors, the architects of the EAP give students the opportunity to make more informed decisions about their secondary school curriculum and postsecondary pathways. The signaling value of ‘conditionally exempt’ may be especially powerful, as it provides a specific step forward, in addition to diagnostic information. Future research should explore whether student course taking in the senior year accounts for the relatively greater impact of the conditionally exempt signal on college application.

15 http://www.asd.calstate.edu/remediation/07/Rem_Sys_fall2007.htm

Postponing secondary school preparation to the postsecondary level is both controversial and costly. While critics raise important questions about the appropriateness

of colleges taking on the task of remediation, there is a dearth of empirical evidence on interventions that effectively reduce remedial course-taking, particularly at the less-selective four-year institutions where remediation rates are quite substantial. This research indicates that participation in the Early Assessment Program is predicted to lower a student’s probability of needing remediation by 6.2 percentage points in English and 4.3 percentage points in math when attending a typical campus in the CSU system. Moreover, our analysis of the mechanism by which EAP reduces remediation need rules out a simple sorting story. This suggest that the information about college readiness that EAP participants receive does not deter the students obtaining a “not college ready” signal from applying. Of course additional work on whether and how EAP is promoting students to take advantage of their 12th grade year to become college ready is needed to more fully evaluate the program’s intention.

Recent reports by the Government Accounting Office and the Spellings Commission call for more systematic research on the determinants of college attrition and time to degree. This research responds directly to their calls. Our study provides an evaluation of an early intervention program that may also improve college persistence and completion rates by reducing the need for remediation in college. With the EAP, California State University has articulated more directly to high school students what it takes to be college ready. Soon, the California Community College system will be following suit as a result of Senate Bill 946, passed by the California legislature this past September, expanding the EAP to students entering the state’s 110 community colleges.16

16 For additional information see the Legislative Analyst’s Office Report, Back to Basics: Improving College Readiness of Community College Students, http://www.cos.edu/eli/files/ccc_readiness_0608.pdf

In 2007, nearly half of the 49,274 first-time freshmen entering the CSU system required remediation in English. Although not free to tax payers, the EAP program is much less costly to the state or the student than remediation, particularly when weighed against the benefits of making more informed education decisions following high school. Decreases in remediation need of the magnitude we find in this study may yield a substantial reduction of remediation for the CSU system—the equivalent of about 3,000 students in English and 2,000 in math. Research on college persistence has consistently demonstrated that students with better academic preparation in high school are more likely to complete college. In addition to improving the transition into college for large numbers of high school graduates, we believe this intervention has the capacity to ultimately increase students’ probability of successfully completing a baccalaureate degree.

To get the study contact Professor Michal Kurlaender at UC Davis-mkurlaender@gmail.com< >< ><-->

Be Careful What You Wish For In Linking K-12 to Postsecondary Education

I presented my standard speech on the need to align k-12 curriculum more closely with the  academic standards needed by colleges. This speech emphasizes the need to provide  financial incentives to colleges to enhance completion of degrees and certificates. These fiscal incentives will help stimulate colleges to work with k-12 to increase preparation for college. The Gates foundation and Obama administration are considering these fiscal incentives for college student persistence and completion -such as paying more for students who stay in college beyond their first year , and bonuses for degree completion.

But one of the questions I got after my speech continues to concern me. What if colleges lower their academic standards closer to the high school level in order to collect the bonuses? In effect, colleges become more like high schools. College administrators will figure out how to beat the fiscal incentive system by not changing much except their standards for completion. This seems to be a real danger , and someting the new college completion designs need to solve.

 Ohio is typical of curent state formulas and pays schools for enromment after the 14 th day of the start of a new academic semester. Ohio legislature will be voting on whether to pay for the number of individual courses that students successfully complete. Course completion expectations would be adjusted for the institutions number of at risk students.

Historical Divide Persists between k-12 and Postsecondary Education

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In recent years the deeply-embedded chasm which uniquely separates K-12 from postsecondary education in the United States has received unprecedented attention.

Policies for curriculum assessment, alignment, finance, data, accountability, and coordination are separated by a K-12 and postsecondary education disjuncture.

Major foundations such as Lumina, Gates and Carnegie, influential governmental organizations such as the National Governors Association, and diverse, important entities such as the Southern Regional Education Board, Achieve, and Education Trust have focused upon the national stake in bridging the dysfunctional divide which exists between the educational levels. This salient issue encouragingly is receiving a great deal more attention but this attention has been largely rhetorical and superficial in nature. The interlevel divide persists despite these recent efforts and the deterrents to better integrating K-16 continue to be very formidable and historically deeply rooted..

Many state universities started as teachers colleges that were much better connected to  k-12. Community Colleges were junior colleges that were part of k-12 education systems , and provided 13th an 14th grade. Now they are basically separated from k-12 with little conversation about policy and curriculum alignment.

International Comparisons OF USA College Completion Have Big Problems

  Much media attention has followed President Obama’s concern about the drop from 1st to 10th in  OECD international country comparisons of  completion of college certficates and degrees-see prior blog. Obama set a goal of US becoming first again by 2020. But two highly respected analysts- Art Hauptman and Clifford Adelman have writen articles exposing serious flaws in the method OECD uses to rank countries for college completion. These flaws may understate USA college attainment. For example, Hauptman stresses that OECD enrollment ratios include older students and overseas students in the numerator and not the denominator; this tends to overstate participation in college. Adelman points out that countries with population declines benefit from a higher percent of completion compared to the USA where population is increasing. Go to publication International Education at http:www.bc.edu/cihe

Obama’s Postsecondary Goals Will Be Hard To Meet

Meeting President Obama¹s Challenge:

One Year of College for All

Below is a direct quote from President Obama:

And so tonight, I ask every American to commit to at least one year or more

of higher education or career training. This can be community college or a

four-year school; vocational training or an apprenticeship. But whatever

the training may be, every American will need to get more than a high school

diploma. And dropping out of high school is no longer an option. It¹s not

just quitting on yourself, it¹s quitting on your country ­ and this country

needs and values the talents of every American. That is why we will provide

the support necessary for you to complete college and meet a new goal: by

2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college

graduates in the world.

President Barack Obama Education Call To Action

Address to Congress, February 24, 2009

To meet President Obama¹s challenge that all Americans attain at least one

year of college, states and school districts must have the tools, resources,

and strategies that drive implementation of high quality high schools that

prepare all young people to a college-ready standard.

With the recovery and reinvestment funding now flowing, many states will

have great ambitions to further implement their high school reform agendas,

raise high school graduation rates and send a greater number of

well-prepared students on to postsecondary education. However, few states

have the capacity at the state or district levels to design, plan, and put

in place the programming and policy conditions that will ensure effective

and sustainable implementation of new options and pathways while

simultaneously managing to stabilize current investments and maintain

current efforts.

With the new discretionary dollars available over the next several years,

Secretary of Education needs to consider initiatives that

help states and districts put in place the conditions required to carry out

effective reforms, beginning now but sustainable when the stimulus dollars

disappear. Non-profit intermediaries and public/private partnerships can

play a key role in supporting capacity building among SEAs and LEAs. These

organizations are nimble, focused on results-driven school development, and

accustomed to meeting short time lines and implementation challenges.

Initiatives that further develop and build upon the strengths of these

organizations can dramatically increase the quality and scale of high

quality college-ready options for all young people, particularly those who

are low-income and underrepresented in higher education.

Cut Scores For College Remediation Are All Over The Map

 A new study of placement test cut scores to determine whether a student needs community college remediation indicates there is no consensus across 14 states. Jobs for the Future-www.jff.org- has published “It’s Not About The Cut Score.” Jff found ranges on Accuplacer  from 81 in Conn. to 68 in math in Mass. for reading comprehension, and 58 in  Conn. elementary algebra to 82 in Mass. These 2 states have statewide cut scores.  Cut score samples of community colleges in states without statewide cut scores for reading were- 85 in Washington to 64.5 in Pa. Why such big differences?  There seems to be no central tendency across states about placement performance standards for remediation.

Performance Funding For College Outcomes Has Failed In The Past

  A paper session at AERA explored the design and impact of state financial incentives for colleges to increase student persistence and completion. The current systems mostly pay for full time enrollment , not any student outcomes. Performance or outcome based funding declined from 29 state 20 years ago to 14 now. A very small amount of funding is provided for performance -often 2 % of total state aid to colleges. Republican legislators championed this idea ,but colleges were unenthusiastic. Business support for performance funding is weak, and it cannot be sustained when political champions leave state office. College teachers are rarely aware of performance incentives. Universities felt there was a lot of data requirements and uncertainty for very little money.

 In sum, performamce funding is gaining support from the Gates foundation and Obama, but new designs are needed if it is to succeed. For papers go to http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu

New Community College Completion Studies At AERA

 I am at the convention of the American Educational Research Association where several studies by the Teachers College Community College Research Center reveal that:

Colleges lose students very early in their remedial sequence, usually after the first 2 developmental courses, but

More students leave because they do not enroll in developmental courses, compared to those failing remedial courses- students need to take developmental courses early and not postpone them.

 Nevada is an example of another set of problems. The cut score for remediation is high – below 500 on the SAT means remediation.

25% ot the students who took pre -calculus in their senior year ended up in remediation

Almost all 4 year colleges have shifted remedial courses to the community colleges , so students must attend college in two locations.

 In sum, remedial courses and policies need to be rexamined if the college completion rate is to increase.

College Completion More Likely If Students Start At Four Year College

Two eminent economists have studied the advantage for  high school students of enrolling at a 4 year rather than 2 year college.  Within six years, students who begin at a four-year college are twice as likely as those who begin at a two-year college to earn a degree.  And those students who have not yet completed a degree are much more likely to still be enrolled in college if they started at a four-year college than if they started at a two-year college. Ceceilia Rouse who is now  on President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers writes :

Our human capital investment perspective underscores two key areas for policy consideration.  First, the idea of students making “investment” decisions when choosing whether or not to enroll or persist in college brings a customer orientation to the issue.  The human capital framework highlights how the needs of two-year students differ from those of their four-year peers, indicating that students at the two types of postsecondary institutions will not benefit from the same strategies regarding curriculum, teaching and learning, and student support services.  Second while there is arguably a need for increased funding for financial aid and institutional environment interventions, there is a lack of evidence of their effectiveness.  A publicly funded, aggressive research agenda for evaluating the effectiveness of interventions specifically targeted at two-year colleges and their students is therefore a must.

For the full report ,as an expansion of these direct quotes, above see www.Americanprogress.org

Best Practices For High School/ College Dual Enrollment Programs

More students are taking college credit courses while they are high school students. Sometimes students go to a college campus. Other times the college instructors come to the high school.For example, Middle College High Schools
(MCHSs) and Early College Schools (ECSs) offer
comprehensive dual enrollment programs. They use
similar intensive supports, partnerships with
postsecondary education, and dual enrollment offerings to prepare underserved students
for postsecondary education. Exemplary comprehensive dual enrollment programs
include the following kinds of practices to reach and support underserved populations:
! All high school students and their parents, including those from underrepresented
populations, receive information and opportunities to plan for dual enrollment;
! Participating students are provided with an aligned, scaffolded sequence of rigorous
high school coursework leading to capstone college courses (earning high school and
college credit), with consistent and jointly established eligibility for college courses;
! The college courses, which are taught on high school or college campuses, are
focused on core instructional areas;
! All coursework is accompanied by a range of support services to increase and sustain
student success;
! Mechanisms are in place for monitoring and assessing the quality of courses offered
and the effectiveness of the program; and
! Partnerships between high schools and colleges clearly define the roles of the
respective institutions through memoranda of understanding and ongoing
collaboration.