condition of college and career readiness 2010

8/9/2019 Condition of College and Career Readiness 2010

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THE

CONDITION OF

College& Career

Readiness

2010


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2010 by ACT, Inc. All rights reserved. 1455


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About The Condition of College & Career Readiness

Since 1959, ACT has collected and reported data on students academicreadiness for college. Because becoming ready for college and career is aprocess that occurs throughout elementary and secondary education, measuringacademic performance over time in the context of college and career readinessprovides meaningful and compelling information about the readiness of students.A focus on the number and percentage of students meeting or exceeding theACT College Readiness Benchmarks does just that.

Empirically derivedbased on the performance of students in collegea College

Readiness Benchmark is the minimum score needed on an ACT subject-area testto indicate a 50% chance of obtaining a B or higher or about a 75% chance ofobtaining a C or higher in the corresponding first-year credit-bearing collegecourse. These college courses include English Composition, College Algebra, anintroductory social science course (e.g., History, Psychology, Sociology, PoliticalScience, and Economics), and Biology.

Using ACT test scores and the ACT College Readiness Benchmarks, this reportprovides a snapshot of college readiness of the graduating seniors of the class of

2010 who took the ACT in high school.1

1The data presented herein are based on the ACT Profile ReportNational: Graduating Class 2010, accessible through the ACT

webpage at www.act.org/news/data.html. With the exception of the graphs on pages 3 and 16, data related to students who didnot provide information, or who responded Other to questions about gender, race/ethnicity, high school curriculum, etc., are notpresented explicitly.


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About The Condition of College & Career Readiness

The Condition of College & Career Readiness is organized into five sections:

Access & Preparationthe number of graduates exposedto college entrance testing and the percent of students pursuing

a core curriculum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Academic Performancestudent test performance and theimpact of rigorous coursework on achievement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

College Readinessthe percentage of students meeting theACT College Readiness Benchmarks in each content area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Educational/Career Aspirations & Economic Developmentthe extent to which student aspirations match workforce demands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Policies & Practices to Increase Readinesspolicies and practices states and schools can implementto improve the college readiness of students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

ACT encourages educators to focus on trends (e.g., 3, 5, 10 years), not year-to-year changes, which can represent normaleven expectedfluctuations. Trend

lines offer more insight into what is happening in a school, district, state, or thenation than data from any single year can.


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Contents

Access & PreparationPercent of U.S. Graduates Who Took the ACT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Percent of U.S. Graduates Who Took the ACT by State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Number of Graduates Who Took the ACT by Race/Ethnicity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Percent of Graduates Who Took a Core Curriculum by Race/Ethnicity. . . . . . . . 4

Academic PerformanceACT Scores Over Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5ACT Scores Over Time by Level of High School Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

ACT Scores Over Time by Race/Ethnicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

College ReadinessCollege Readiness Benchmarks by Subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Number of College Readiness Benchmarks Attained . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9College Readiness Benchmarks by State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10College Readiness BenchmarksAttainment and Near-Attainment . . . . . . . . . 11College Readiness BenchmarksOn Target and Attained. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12College Readiness Benchmarks Over Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

College Readiness Benchmarks by Level of High School Preparation. . . . . . . 14College Readiness Benchmarks by Race/Ethnicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

continued


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Educational/Career Aspirations & Economic DevelopmentEducational Aspirations by Race/Ethnicity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Career Interests & Projected Job Openings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17College Readiness Benchmarks by Career Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Policies & Practices to Increase ReadinessHow to Increase Readiness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Essential Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Common Expectations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Clear Performance Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Rigorous High School Courses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Early Monitoring and Intervention. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Data-Driven Decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Contentscontinued


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4042

4345

47

0%

20%

40%

60%

20102009200820072006

Percent of U.S. High School GraduatesWho Took the ACT, 20062010

1

Access & PreparationPercent of U.S. Graduates Who Took the ACT

About 47% of all 2010 high schoolgraduates in the United States tookthe ACT during high school, or about1.57 million graduates.

From 2006 to 2010, the number of highschool graduates who took the ACTincreased by approximately 30%. This

represents a 7 percentage point increase ofall U.S. high school graduates who took theACT.

Graph reads: In 2006, 40% of all U.S. high schoolgraduates had taken the ACT test at least once duringtheir sophomore, junior, or senior year.

Percent


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2

Access & PreparationPercent of U.S. Graduates Who Took the ACT by State

At least 60% of all 2010 high schoolgraduates took the ACT in 25 states.In 10 states, at least 80% of theirhigh school graduates took the ACT.

In 3 states, between 40% and 59% of their2010 high school graduates took the ACTduring high school, while another 13 states

saw between 20% and 39% of their highschool graduates take the ACT. Less than20% of 2010 graduates took the ACT in9 states.

< 20% 20%39% 60%79%40%59% 80%100%

Percent of ACT-testedHigh School Graduates by State, 2010

Graph reads: In 2010, less than 20% of the high schoolgraduates in 9 states (e.g., Washington) took the ACT testat least once during their sophomore, junior, or senior year.


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1440

1442

0

400

800

1,200

1,600

20102009200820072006

WhiteAfricanAmerican

Asian American/Pacific Islander

American Indian/Alaska Native

HispanicOther/NoResponse

1,206Total

168

86

139

760

1,301Total

1,422Total1,480Total

220

93

152

779

167

115

178

896

135

134

196

941

1451

1659

16

1,569Total

135

158

215

979

65

Number(in1,0

00s)

Number of ACT-tested High School Graduates byRace/Ethnicity, 20062010

3

Access & PreparationNumber of Graduates Who Took the ACT by Race/Ethnicity

About 363,000 more high schoolgraduates completed the ACT in 2010than in 2006, an increase of 30%.

In 2010, 62% of all ACT-tested graduateswere White, 14% were African American, 10%were Hispanic, 4% were Asian American/Pacific Islander, 1% were American Indian/Alaska Native, and 9% were Other/NoResponse. From 2006 to 2010, the number ofACT-tested high school graduates increasedfrom 1.206 million to 1.569 million students.Substantial numerical increases occurred forWhite students (increase of about 219,000),African American students (76,000), Hispanicstudents (72,000), and Asian American/Pacific Islander students (25,000).Proportionally, the largest increases were byHispanic (84%) and Asian American/PacificIslander students (about 63%).

Graph reads: In 2006, about 1,206,000 U.S. high schoolgraduates had taken the ACT test at least once duringtheir sophomore, junior, or senior year, of which about760,000 were White and 139,000 were African American.

Note: Counts by race/ethnicity might not sum to total dueto rounding.


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0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

AllWhiteHispanicAsianAmerican/

PacificIslander

AmericanIndian/AlaskaNative

AfricanAmerican

65

60

68

7471

81

Percent

Percent of ACT-tested High School Graduates WhoCompleted a Core Curriculum by Race/Ethnicity, 2010

4

Graph reads: In 2010, 65% of all African American highschool graduates who had taken the ACT test hadcompleted, or had planned to complete, at least a corecurriculum.

Access & PreparationPercent of Graduates Who Took a Core Curriculum by Race/Ethnicity

Seventy-one percent of all 2010 ACT-tested high school graduates took atleast a minimum core high schoolcurriculum to prepare them forcollege (defined as 4 years ofEnglish and 3 years each ofmathematics, social studies, and

science).

Asian American/Pacific Islander students(81%) were most likely to complete a corecurriculum, while 74% of White students didso. A smaller percentage of African American(65%), American Indian/Alaska Native (60%),and Hispanic (68%) students completed acore curriculum than all students on average.


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5

Graph reads: Between 2006 and 2010, the average ACTReading score for all high school graduates decreasedslightly from 21.4 to 21.3.

Academic PerformanceACT Scores Over Time

Test scores remained essentially thesame between 2006 and 2010 eventhough 30% more high schoolstudents have taken the ACT overthis period and the group of studentshas become more heterogeneous,including more graduates from each

racial/ethnic group.

Composite score averages ranged between21.0 and 21.2 points during this time. Thefour subject score averages (English,Mathematics, Reading, and Science) showedsimilar changes in absolute value rangingbetween 0.1 and 0.2 point depending on thesubject area.

20.0

20.5

21.0

21.5

22.0

20102009200820072006

xxx

xxx

Reading Composite Science Mathematics English

21.4

21.1

20.6

21.2

21.0

20.7

21.4

21.1

20.8

21.0

20.6

21.0

21.5

20.9

20.8

21.4

21.1

21.0

20.9

20.6

21.3

21.0

20.9

21.0

20.5

AverageSco

re

Average ACT Scores,20062010


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18

19

20

21

22

23

20102009200820072006

Reading Composite Mathematics Science English

Took Core or More

Took Less Than Core

AverageScore

Average ACT Scores byCore Curriculum Completion Status, 20062010

Academic PerformanceACT Scores Over Time by Level of High School Preparation

For each year from 2006 to 2010,ACT Composite and subject scoreswere higher for graduates whocompleted a core curriculum or morein high school than for graduateswho did not.

On average, high school graduates whocompleted at least a core curriculum earnedComposite test scores 2.2 to 3.1 pointshigher than the scores of students who didnot take a core curriculum. Similar ranges ofhigher scores for core or more than corecurriculum completers are noted for eachsubject test: English (2.5 to 3.5 points),Mathematics (2.3 to 3.0), Reading (2.2 to3.0), and Science (2.0 to 2.7).

6

Graph reads: Between 2006 and 2010, the average ACTReading score for high school graduates who hadcompleted or had planned to complete a core curriculumremained about the same, but was higher than that ofgraduates who had not completed or had not planned tocomplete a core curriculum.


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Graph reads: Between 2006 and 2010, the average ACTComposite score for Asian American/Pacific Islander highschool graduates increased from 22.3 to 23.4.

Academic PerformanceACT Scores Over Time by Race/Ethnicity

Average ACT Composite scores forAmerican Indian/Alaska Native, AsianAmerican/Pacific Islander, and Whitegraduates increased between 2006and 2010. Hispanic graduatesaverage ACT Composite scoresremained essentially the same, while

those of African American graduatesdeclined by 0.2 scale point.

Asian American/Pacific Islander graduateshad the highest average ACT Compositescores and the largest score increase (+1.1scale points). Average ACT Compositescores for American Indian/Alaska Native andWhite graduates increased by 0.2 and 0.3point, respectively. These score changeshave occurred as more graduates from each

racial/ethnic group have taken the ACT.16

18

20

22

24

20102009200820072006

22.3

22.0

17.1

22.1

18.9

17.0

22.9

22.1

19.0

23.2

22.2

18.7

18.9

18.7

16.9

18.7

22.6

18.8

18.6

16.9

Asian American/Pacific Islander

WhiteAmerican Indian/Alaska Native

HispanicAfricanAmerican

23.4

22.3

18.6

19.0

16.9

AverageScore

Average ACT Composite Test Scores byRace/Ethnicity, 20062010


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0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

All FourScienceMathematicsReadingEnglish

66

52

43

29

24

Percent

Percent of ACT-tested High School Graduates MeetingCollege Readiness Benchmarks by Subject, 2010

College ReadinessCollege Readiness Benchmarks by Subject

Sixty-six percent of all ACT-testedhigh school graduates met theEnglish College ReadinessBenchmark in 2010. Just under 1 in 4(24%) met all four College ReadinessBenchmarks.

In 2010, 52% of graduates met the Reading

Benchmark, while 43% met the MathematicsBenchmark. Over 1 in 4 (29%) met theCollege Readiness Benchmark in Science.

8

Graph reads: In 2010, 66% of ACT-tested high schoolgraduates met the ACT College Readiness Benchmark inEnglish.


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9

Graph reads: In 2010, 24% of ACT-tested high schoolgraduates met all four College Readiness Benchmarks,15% met 3 Benchmarks, 17% met 2 Benchmarks, 15%met 1 Benchmark, and 28% met none of the Benchmarks.

Note: Percentages may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

College ReadinessNumber of College Readiness Benchmarks Attained

Met No

Benchmarks

28%

Met All 4

Benchmarks

24%

Met 1

Benchmark

15%

Met 2

Benchmarks

17%

Met 3

Benchmarks

15%

Percent of ACT-tested Graduates by Number of ACTCollege Readiness Benchmarks Attained, 2010

About 71% of all ACT-tested 2010high school graduates met at leastone of the four College ReadinessBenchmarks in English, Mathematics,Reading, or Science.

Approximately 28% of all graduates met noCollege Readiness Benchmarks, while 47%

met between 1 and 3 Benchmarks. Twenty-four percent of all 2010 ACT-tested highschool graduates met all four CollegeReadiness Benchmarks, meaning that lessthan 1 in 4 were academically ready forcollege coursework in all four subject areas.


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Graph reads: In 2010, less than 30% of the ACT-testedhigh school graduates in 6 states (e.g., Florida) met threeor four College Readiness Benchmarks. Results are notshown for 22 states (e.g., Washington) within which fewerthan 40% of graduates took the ACT.

College ReadinessCollege Readiness Benchmarks by State

Of the 28 states where at least 40%of all 2010 high school graduatestook the ACT, in only 1 did more than50% of their ACT-tested graduatesmeet at least three CollegeReadiness Benchmarks. In no statedid more than 54% of ACT-tested

graduates meet three or fourBenchmarks.

In 11 states, 40%49% of their graduates metat least three of the four Benchmarks. Inanother 10 states, 30%39% of graduatesmet at least three of the four CollegeReadiness Benchmarks in 2010, while lessthan 30% of graduates did so in 6 states.

< 30% 40%49%30%39% 50%54%

Low % ACT tested; fewer than 40% of graduatestook the ACT to allow fair comparison

Percent of ACT-tested High School Graduates MeetingThree or Four College Readiness Benchmarks by State, 2010


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0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

ScienceMathematicsReadingEnglish

56

29

24

10

66

36

13

52

43

15

47

9

Within 2 Points of BenchmarkMet Benchmark Below Benchmark by 3+ Points

Percent

Percent of ACT-tested High School Graduates byBenchmark Attainment and Subject, 2010

11

College ReadinessCollege Readiness BenchmarksAttainment and Near-Attainment

An additional 9% to 15% ofgraduates were within 2 scale pointsof meeting an ACT CollegeReadiness Benchmark in 2010,depending on subject area. Thisrepresents an additional 146,000 to234,000 students who are close to

being college ready, depending onsubject area.

In 2010, 43% of graduates met theMathematics Benchmark, while another 9%were within 2 scale points of doing so. Thepercentages of students within 2 scale pointsof the Benchmark in the other subject areasare greater, including 10% of graduates inEnglish, 13% in Reading, and 15% in Science.

Graph reads: In 2010, 66% of ACT-tested high schoolgraduates met the College Readiness Benchmark inEnglish, while 10% scored 1 or 2 points below theBenchmark, and 24% scored 3 points or more below theBenchmark.

Note: Columns may not sum to 100% due to rounding.


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College ReadinessCollege Readiness BenchmarksOn Target and Attained

Less than 1 in 4 200910 PLAN-tested10th graders or ACT-tested 2010graduates met all four CollegeReadiness Benchmarks, and only 13%of 200910 EXPLORE-tested studentsdid so. Across the grade levels, only theEnglish Benchmark was met by more

than 50% of the students.Students were most likely to meet the EnglishBenchmark followed by the Reading,Mathematics, and Science Benchmarks.

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

All FourScienceMathematicsReadingEnglish

71

62

43

48

52

PLAN-tested10th Graders

ACT-testedGraduates

EXPLORE-tested8th Graders

66

37 36

43

16

23

29

17

24

13

Percent

Percent of 200910 EXPLORE-tested 8th Graders, 200910 PLAN-tested10th Graders, and ACT-tested 2010 Graduates Meeting ACT College

Readiness Benchmarks, 2010

Graph reads: In 2010, 62% of 200910 EXPLORE-testedstudents met the College Readiness Benchmark in English,while 71% of 200910 PLAN-tested students and 66% of ACT-tested 2010 graduates did so.

Note: Data here are cross sectional and not longitudinal,reflecting three different groups of students.


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0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

20102009200820072006

xxx

xxxxxx

69

53

21

53

43

23

68

53

28

67

53

42

28

43

22

28

69

42

27

23

English Mathematics All FourReading Science

66

52

43

29

24

Percent

Percent of ACT-tested High School Graduates MeetingACT College Readiness Benchmarks, 20062010

13

College ReadinessCollege Readiness Benchmarks Over Time

The percent of students meeting allfour Benchmarks increased slightlybetween 2006 and 2010. About 1 in5 ACT-tested high school graduatesmet all four ACT College ReadinessBenchmarks in 2006, compared toabout 1 in 4 doing so in 2010.

Between 2006 and 2010, Benchmarkattainment percentages remained relativelystable in Reading and Mathematics: about53% of ACT-tested graduates met theReading Benchmark while about 43% met theMathematics Benchmark. A slightly higherpercentage of graduates met the ScienceBenchmark in 2010 than in 2006. In English,there was a slight decrease in the percentageof graduates meeting the Benchmark overthis period.

Graph reads: Between 2006 and 2010, the percentage ofACT-tested high school graduates who met the CollegeReadiness Benchmark in English decreased from 69%to 66%.


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College ReadinessCollege Readiness Benchmarks by Level of High School Preparation

Within a subject, graduates who tooka core curriculum in high school weremore likely to meet the correspondingCollege Readiness Benchmark in 2010than those who took less than a corecurriculum. For all four subject areas,the highest percentages of graduateswho met the Benchmarks took morethan a core curriculum.

The largest curriculum-based difference inBenchmark attainment rates was in Mathematics.Graduates who completed more than 3 yearsof mathematics were more likely to meet theMathematics Benchmark than those who didnot, by at least 42 percentage points.

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

ScienceMathematicsReadingEnglish

66

75

55

49

3939

55

13

7

27

12

40

Core Less Than CoreMore Than Core

Percent

Percent of ACT-tested High School Graduates Meeting ACT CollegeReadiness Benchmarks by Number of Years of Courses Taken

Within Subject, 2010

Graph reads: In 2010, 75% of ACT-tested high schoolgraduates who took more than a core high schoolcurriculum in English met the College ReadinessBenchmark in English, whereas 66% of graduates whotook a core curriculum in English and 39% of those whotook less than a core curriculum in English did so.

Note: Data reflects content-specific curriculum. Forexample, English More Than Core results pertain tostudents who took more than four years of English,regardless of courses taken in other content areas.


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0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

WhiteHispanicAsianAmerican/

Pacific Islander

AmericanIndian/Alaska

Native

AfricanAmerican

21

34

6

4

50

13

39

26

17

12

76

14

52

36

62

77

English Reading Science All FourMathematics

11

27

34

46

39

44

68

30

61

Percent

Percent of ACT-tested High School Graduates MeetingACT College Readiness Benchmarks by Race/Ethnicity, 2010

15

College ReadinessCollege Readiness Benchmarks by Race/Ethnicity

Almost 4 in 10 (39%) of all AsianAmerican/Pacific Islander graduatesmet all four College ReadinessBenchmarks, more than graduatesfrom all other racial/ethnic groups in2010. African American graduateswere least likely to meet the

Benchmarks4% met all four.Graduates from most racial/ethnic groups weremost likely to meet the English Benchmark,followed in order by the Reading, Mathematics,and Science Benchmarks. In three of the foursubject areas, individual Benchmarks were metby at least 50% of Asian American/PacificIslander and White students, while one wasmet by at least 50% of American Indian/AlaskaNative students. None of the Benchmarks weremet by at least 50% of Hispanic or AfricanAmerican students.

Graph reads: In 2010, 34% of ACT-tested AfricanAmerican high school graduates met the CollegeReadiness Benchmark in English, while 21% did so inReading.


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Educational/Career Aspirations & Economic Development

Educational Aspirations by Race/Ethnicity

At least 89% of all 2010 ACT-testedhigh school graduates aspired toattain at least a 2-year postsecondarydegree, regardless of race/ethnicity.

About 86% of Asian American/PacificIslander graduates aspired to earn at leasta bachelors degree, with 61% aspiring tocontinue their formal education beyond a4-year degree. American Indian/AlaskaNative graduates were the least likely toaspire to a graduate or professional degree(38%); a greater percentage of AfricanAmerican (44%), Hispanic (45%), and White(43%) graduates aspired to a graduate orprofessional degree.

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

AllWhiteHispanicAsianAmerican/

Pacific Islander

AmericanIndian/Alaska

Native

AfricanAmerican

Graduate/Prof. Degree Bachelors Degree Associates/Voc-tech Degree

Other/No Response

4232

25

38

3438

4345

61

3844 44

8

6

8

2

10

7

14 151214

119

Percent

Percent of ACT-tested High School Graduates byRace/Ethnicity and Educational Aspirations, 2010

Graph reads: In 2010, 44% of ACT-tested AfricanAmerican high school graduates aspired to a graduate orprofessional degree, 34% to a bachelors degree, 8% to anassociates or voc-tech degree, and 14% to anotherdegree type (or provided no response).


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0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

Marketing/Sales

CommunityServices

ManagementComputer/InformationSpecialties

Education

9

16

11

2

9

7

8

2

9

4

Job Openings Career Interests

Percent

Percent of ACT-tested 2010 High School Graduates withCareer Interests and Projected 2018 Annual Job Openings by Career Field

17


Career Interests & Projected Job Openings

The five fastest-growing career fieldsbased on 20082018 annualprojected job openings account for53% of the demand for jobs requiringat least a 2-year degree. Thepercentage of 2010 high schoolgraduates interested in careers in

these fields was less than theprojected demand.

For Computer/Information Specialties,Community Services, and Marketing/Sales,the projected demand was from 2.3 to 5.5times the potential supply. For Education andManagement fields, the projected demandwas 1.8 and 1.3 times the potential supply,respectively.

Graph reads: In 2010, Education was projected to be one

of the five fastest-growing career fields, accounting for16% of all job openings in 2018. About 9% of all ACT-tested 2010 high school graduates indicated a careerinterest in Education.

Note: 20082018 projected job openings data are from theU.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.


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College Readiness Benchmarks by Career Field

For each of the 2018 projected fivefastest-growing career fields, morethan half of the 2010 high schoolgraduates interested in careers inthese fields did not meet the CollegeReadiness Benchmark inMathematics or Science. In none of

the five career fields were all fourBenchmarks met by at least 50% ofthe 2010 graduates.

Across all five career fields, graduates weremost likely to meet the English Benchmark,followed by meeting the Reading andMathematics Benchmarks, respectively.Graduates were least likely to meet theScience Benchmark in all five career fields.

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Marketing/Sales

CommunityServices

ManagementComputer/InformationSpecialties

Education

51

67

23

65

37

53

48

60

39

24

38

English Reading ScienceMathematics

22

44

60

49

24

35

63

45

37

Percent

Percent of ACT-tested High School Graduates MeetingACT College Readiness Benchmarks by Career Field, 2010

Graph reads: In 2010, 67% of all ACT-tested high schoolgraduates who indicated a career interest in Educationmet the College Readiness Benchmark in English.


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Policies & Practices to Increase Readiness

How to Increase Readiness

Only 24% of all 2010 graduates met all four ACT College Readiness Benchmarks,meaning that 76% were not adequately prepared academically for first-year collegecourses in English Composition, College Algebra, social sciences, and Biology. Statesand schools can implement six policies and practices that can systemically increase thepercentage of their students who are ready for college-level work.

Essential Standards. States should adopt fewerbut essentiallearning standards astheir new high school graduation standards, and those they adopt must lead to collegeand career readiness. To ensure that all students are ready for college or career, it isimperative that policymakers be guided by a real-world definition of readinessthat is,a definition that reflects those standards that have been validated as the most essentialfor success in college classrooms or on the job. States should make sure that their statestandards include the essential skills from ACTs College Readiness Standards that arerequired for students to meet the College Readiness Benchmarks for the ACT.

Common Expectations. States should adopt a rigorous core curriculum for all highschool students whether they are bound for college or work. The levels of expectationfor college readiness and workforce training readiness should be comparable. Toensure students master the knowledge and skills to succeed after high school, ACT

supports the core curriculum recommendations of A Nation at Risk: The Imperative forEducational Reform, specifically, that students take a core curriculum of at least fouryears of English and three years each of mathematics, science, and social studies.


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Clear Performance Standards. States must define how good is good enough forcollege and career readiness. In addition to a consistent, rigorous set of essential K12contentstandards, states must define performance standards on assessments alignedwith college and career readiness learning standards, so that students, parents, andteachers know how well students must perform academically to have a reasonablechance of success at college or on the job. Based on decades of student performancedata, ACT defines college readiness as students having approximately a 75% chanceof earning a grade of C or higher or a 50% chance of earning a grade of B or higher infirst-year college English Composition; College Algebra; History, Psychology, Sociology,

Political Science, or Economics; and Biology.

Rigorous High School Courses. Having appropriate and aligned standards, coupledwith a core curriculum, will adequately prepare high school students only if the coursesare truly challenging. That is, taking the right kinds of courses matters more than takingthe right numberof courses. Students who take a rigorous core curriculum should beready for credit-bearing first-year college courses without remediation.

Early Monitoring and Intervention. States should begin monitoring student academicperformance early to make sure younger students are on target to be ready for college

and career. Interventions are needed for students who are off target. We know from ourempirical data that students who take challenging curricula are much better prepared tograduate high school ready for college and career. If students are to have a chance



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at college and career readiness, their progress must be monitored closely so thatdeficiencies in foundational skills can be identified and remediated early, in the upperelementary grades and middle school. In addition, age-appropriate career assessment,exploration, and planning activities encourage students to consider and focus onpersonally relevant career options so that they can plan their high school courseworkaccordingly.

Data-Driven Decisions. States need to establish longitudinal P16 data systems. Ifstates are serious about ensuring that more of their students are prepared for collegeand work in the 21st century, they must closely monitor student performance at everystage of the learning pipeline, from preschool through the elementary, middle, and highschool grades, all the way through college. Use of a longitudinal data system enableseducators to identify students who are in need of academic interventions at an earlystage, thus giving teachers and students more time to strengthen these skills beforegraduation. Longitudinal data systems provide a tool to schools to ensure all theirstudents take and complete the right number and kinds of courses before graduation.Using a longitudinal assessment system also permits schools to evaluate the valueadded by each core course in helping students to become ready for college and career.

In addition, such systems allow colleges to offer feedback reports to high schools thatexamine how well prepared each high schools graduates are for college. These reportscan be used to strengthen high school curricula.



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The ACT

test, one component of ACTs College and Career Readiness System thatalso includes EXPLORE and PLAN, measures students academic readiness to makesuccessful transitions to college and work after high school. Like EXPLORE (typicallytaken in 8th and 9th grades) and PLAN (typically taken in 10th grade), the ACT is firstand foremost an achievement test. It is a measure whose tasks correspond torecognized high school learning experiences, measuring what students are able to dowith what they have learned in school. The ACT is the most widely accepted and usedtest by postsecondary institutions across the United States for college admission andcourse placement.

ACT National Curriculum Survey. Every three to four years, ACT conducts a NationalCurriculum Survey, in which we ask more than 20,000 educators nationwide acrossgrades 714 to identify the knowledge and skills that are important for students to knowto be ready for college-level work. We also examine the standards for instruction ingrades 712 for all states. We then analyze the information to refine the scope andsequence for each section of the ACT. In this way, rather than imposing a test constructwithout empirical support, the ACT is able to represent a consensus among educatorsand curriculum experts about what is important for students to know and be able to do.

ACT also uses this data to identify and define for educators and policymakers thecontent and skill alignment gaps that currently exist in the important transition from highschool to college. For example, the most recent ACT National Curriculum Survey

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revealed that what postsecondary instructors expect entering college students to knowis far more targeted and specific than what high school teachers view as important.

ACTs College Readiness Benchmarks. Benchmarks are scores on the ACT subject-area tests that represent the level of achievement required for students to have a 50%chance of obtaining a B or higher or about a 75% chance of obtaining a C or higher incorresponding credit-bearing first-year college courses. These college courses includeEnglish Composition, College Algebra, an introductory social science course, andBiology. Based on a nationally representative sample of 98 institutions and more than90,000 students, the Benchmarks are median course placement values for theseinstitutions and as such represent a typical set of expectations. The ACT CollegeReadiness Benchmarks are:

College CourseACT Subject-

Area TestEXPLORE

BenchmarkPLAN

BenchmarkACT

Benchmark

English CompositionSocial SciencesCollege AlgebraBiology

EnglishReadingMathematicsScience

13151720

15171921

18212224

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ACTs College Readiness Standards are precise descriptions of the essential skillsand knowledge that students need to become ready for college and career, beginningin grade 8 and continuing through grade 12. Informed by the National CurriculumSurvey, the College Readiness Standards are validated by actual student academicperformance data through their alignment with the College Readiness Benchmarks. Withthe Benchmarks, the College Readiness Standards represent a single academicexpectation for all students, regardless of whether they go on to college or career afterhigh school.

Career Fields and Projected Job Openings. Data on the 20082018 projected jobopenings come from the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Thefollowing are example occupations for the 5 highest growth career fields, nationally:

Educationsecondary school teachers, secondary school administratorsComputer/Information Specialtiescomputer programmers, database administratorsManagementhotel/restaurant managers, convention plannersCommunity Servicessocial workers, school counselorsMarketing/Salesinsurance agents, buyers

For more information on interpreting data in this report, or to learn how ACT can help

your students increase their readiness for college and the workplace, go towww.act.org.

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condition of college and career readiness 2010

Documents