Redefining College Readiness

RedefiningCollege Readiness

David T. Conley

Prepared for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, March 2007

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Introduction 5

AnOperationalDefinitionofCollegeReadiness 5 UsesoftheExpandedConceptionofCollegeReadiness 6 HowCollegeIsDifferentfromHighSchool 6

Current Means to Determine College Readiness 8

CourseTitlesandGradePointAverages 8 Tests 9 PerformanceinCollegeCourses 10

Components in a Comprehensive Definition of College Readiness 12

KeyCognitiveStrategies 12 AcademicKnowledgeandSkills 14 AcademicBehaviors 16 ContextualSkillsandAwareness 17

A Definition of College Readiness 18

GeneralCharacteristics 18 ExamplePerformances 19

Possible Ways to Measure the Dimensions of this Definition 20

KeyCognitiveStrategiesMeasurement 20 KeyContentKnowledgeMeasurement 20 AcademicBehaviorsMeasurement 21 ContextualSkillsandAwarenessMeasurement 21 IntegratingtheFourSources 22

Implications of the Definition 23

GaugingCollegePrepPrograms 23 GaugingEffectsinCollege 23

What Schools and Students Can Do to Foster College Readiness 25

CreateaCultureFocusedonIntellectualDevelopment 25 SpecifyCoreKnowledgeandSkills 26 ProvideNecessarySupportstoStudents 26 ProvideNecessarySupportstoTeachers 27

What Students Can Do to Develop Their College Readiness 28

References 30

Table of Contents

To cite this report:

Conley, D. T. (2007). Redefining college readiness. Eugene, OR: Educational Policy Improvement Center.

© 2007 David T. Conley

Thepurposeofthispaperistoprovideanoperational definition of college readinessthat differs from current representations ofthisconceptprimarilyinitsscope Thepapersuggeststhat,whilemuchhasbeenlearnedaboutthisphenomenon,particularlyduringthe past 20 years, few systematic attemptshave been made to integrate the variousaspectsor componentsof college readinessthat have been investigated in some depthduringthisperiodoftime Asaresult,collegereadiness continues to be defined primarilyin terms of high school courses taken andgradesreceivedalongwithscoresonnationaltestsasitsprimarymetrics

Recent researchhas shed lighton severalkeyelementsofcollegesuccess Mostimportantforthispaperistherealizationthatarangeofcognitiveandmetacognitivecapabilities,oftendescribed as “key cognitive strategies,” havebeen consistently and emphatically identifiedbythosewhoteachentry-levelcollegecoursesasbeingasimportantormoreimportantthananyspecificcontentknowledgetaughtinhighschool Examplesofkeykeycognitivestrategiesincludeanalysis, interpretation,precisionandaccuracy,problemsolving,andreasoning

Closebehind in importance isknowledgeofspecifictypesofcontentknowledge Severalstudieshaveledtocollegereadinessstandardsthatspecifykeycontentknowledgeassociatedwithcollegesuccess Writingmaybebyfarthesingle academic skill most closely associatedwith college success, but the “big ideas” ofeach content area are also very importantbuildingblocks

Similarly important are the attitudes andbehavioralattributesthatstudentswhosucceedincollegemustdemonstrate Amongthesearestudy skills, time management, awareness ofone’sperformance,persistence,andtheabilitytoutilizestudygroups Thesearebothspecificskills and more general attitudes, but all ofthem require high degrees of self-awarenessand intentionality on the part of students astheyentercollege

Finally, an increasing number of studieshave highlighted the importance of thecontextual knowledge that a student mustpossess to be ready for college Thesestudies describe the need for students tounderstandhow toapply to college,how tomanage financial aid issues, and, perhapsmost importantly, how to adjust to collegeoncetheyarrive Thetransitiontocollegehasa component of culture shock for students,one that is more severe for students fromsome communities than others Informationabout the culture of college helps studentsunderstandhowtointeractwithprofessorsandpeersincollegeandhowtonavigatecollegeasasocialsystemandlearningenvironment

An Operational Definition of College Readiness

College readiness can be definedoperationally as the level of preparation astudentneedsinordertoenrollandsucceed—without remediation—in a credit-bearinggeneraleducationcourseatapostsecondaryinstitutionthatoffersabaccalaureatedegreeor transfer to a baccalaureate program “Succeed” is defined as completing entry-levelcoursesatalevelofunderstandingandproficiency that makes it possible for thestudenttoconsidertakingthenextcourseinthe sequence or the next level of course inthesubjectarea Thisconceptioniscalibratedagainstwhatourrecentresearchhascometodefineas“bestpractices”entry-levelcoursesas opposed to the stereotypical freshmancourse(Conley,Aspengren,Gallagher,&Nies,2006a, 2006b; Conley, Aspengren, Stout, &Veach, 2006c) If students are prepared tosucceed in best practices courses, they willbeabletocopewiththefullrangeofcollegecoursestheyarelikelytoencounter

The college-ready student envisioned bythis definition is able to understand what isexpectedinacollegecourse,cancopewiththecontentknowledgethatispresented,andcantakeawayfromthecoursethekeyintellectual

Introduction

5Redefining College Readiness

lessons and dispositions the course wasdesignedtoconveyanddevelop Inaddition,the student is prepared to get the most outof the college experience by understandingthe culture and structure of postsecondaryeducation and the ways of knowing andintellectual norms of this academic andsocialenvironment Thestudenthasboththemindsetanddispositionnecessary toenablethistohappen

Uses of the Expanded Conception of College Readiness

This definition can facilitate severalimportant actions First and foremost, it canbeusedtojudgethecurrentsystemwidelyinplacetogaugecollegereadiness Thepaperwillconcludethatalthoughmeasuresexistcurrentlyor are in the process of being developed togeneratehighqualityinformationinallofthecomponentareasofthedefinition,nosystemexists or is being developed to integrate theinformationand,moreimportantly,shapehighschoolpreparationprogramssothattheydoabetterandmoreintentionaljobofdevelopingstudentcapabilitiesinalloftheseareas

Thepursuitofsuchagoalshouldleadtotheconsiderationofneworrefinedmeasuresandmetricstogaugecollegereadinesswithgreaterprecisionandacrossawiderrangeofvariablesand learning contexts and to provide betterinformation to high school students abouttheir college readiness at key points in highschool Ideallyand inaddition, thedefinitioncanalsobeusedasaconceptualframeworktodesignobservationaltoolstoassessthedegreetowhichanyparticularhighschoolprogramofinstructioncontainsallthenecessaryelementstopreparestudentsforcollege Inshort,amorerobust,inclusivedefinitionofcollegereadinesscan help shape student behaviors and highschool practices in ways that lead to morestudentsenteringcollegereadytosucceed

How College Is Different from High School

College is different from high school inmany important ways, some obvious, somenotsoobvious Collegeisthefirstplacewherewe expect young people to be adults, not

largechildren Almostalloftherulesofthegamethatstudentshavesocarefullylearnedandmasteredoverthepreceding13yearsofschooling are either discarded or modifieddrastically The pupil-teacher relationshipchangesdramaticallyasdoexpectations forengagement,independentwork,motivation,and intellectual development All of thisoccurs at a time when many young peopleare experiencing significant independencefromfamilyandfromtheroleofchildforthefirsttime Nowonderthatthetransitionfromhigh school to college is one of the mostdifficultthatmanypeopleexperienceduringalifetime

Because college is truly differentfrom high school, college readiness isfundamentally different than high schoolcompetence Detailed analyses of collegecoursesrevealthatalthoughacollegecoursemay have the same name as a high schoolcourse,collegeinstructorspacetheircoursesmore rapidly, emphasize different aspectsof material taught, and have very differentgoals for their courses than do high schoolinstructors (Conley et al , 2006c) Studentsfreshoutofhighschoolmaythinkacollegecourse is very much like a similarly namedhigh school class taken previously only tofindoutthatexpectationsarefundamentallydifferent The college instructor is morelikely toemphasizea seriesof key thinkingskills that students, for the most part, donotdevelopextensivelyinhighschool Theyexpectstudentstomakeinferences,interpretresults, analyze conflicting explanationsof phenomena, support arguments withevidence,solvecomplexproblemsthathavenoobviousanswer, reachconclusions,offerexplanations, conduct research, engage inthe give-and-take of ideas, and generallythink deeply about what they are beingtaught(NationalResearchCouncil,2002)

Researchfindingsdescribecollegecoursesthat require students to read eight to tenbooksinthesametimethatahighschoolclassrequiresonlyoneortwo(StandardsforSuccess,2003) Inthesecollegeclasses,studentswritemultiplepapersinshortperiodsoftime Thesepapersmustbewellreasoned,wellorganized,and well documented with evidence fromcredible sources (National Survey of Student

6 Redefining College Readiness

Engagement, 2003, 2004, 2006) By contrast,high school students may write one or tworesearch papers, at the most, during highschool,andmaytakeweeksormonthstodoso Increasingly,collegecoursesinallsubjectareasrequirewelldevelopedwritingskills,researchcapabilities, and what have been commonlydescribedasthinkingskills

According to the National Survey ofStudentEngagement(2006)thevastmajorityof first-year college students are activelyengaged in small groups and are expectedtoworkwithothersinsideandoutsideclasson complex problems and projects Theyare then expected to make presentationsand to explain what they have learned Inthese courses, students are expected tobe independent, self-reliant learners whorecognize when they are having problemsandknowwhenandhowtoseekhelpfromprofessors,students,orothersources

At the same time, college facultyconsistently report that freshman studentsneed to be spending nearly twice the timetheyindicatespendingcurrentlytoprepareforclass(NationalSurveyofStudentEngagement,2006) Thesestudentsdonotentercollegewithaworkethicthatpreparesthemforinstructorexpectations or course requirements Collegefreshmen who are most successful are thosewho come prepared to work at the levelsfacultymembersexpect Thosewhodonotaremuchlesslikelytoprogressbeyondentry-levelcourses,aswitnessedbythehighfailurerates

inthesecoursesandthesignificantproportionof college studentswhodropoutduring thefreshmanyear

Finally,therelationshipbetweenteacherand student can be much different than inhighschool Anoft-citedexamplebycollege

faculty is the first-term freshman who isfailing the course, showsupatofficehoursneartheendoftheterm,andrequests“extracredit” in order to be able to pass Collegeinstructors are often mystified by suchrequests Thestudentsareequallymystifiedbytheinstructorreaction,sincethisstrategyhasworkedverywellforthestudentthroughouthigh school In other words, the culturaland social expectations about learning andperformancethatstudentsencountertendtobevastlydifferentaswell

In short, the differences in expectationsbetweenhighschoolandcollegearemanifoldandsignificant Studentsmustbepreparedtousequiteadifferentarrayoflearningstrategiesand coping skills to be successful in collegethan those developed and honed in highschool Currentmeasuresofcollegereadinessdo not necessarily capture well these manydimensionsofreadiness

Animportantquestiontoask,basedonthis assessment of the nature of college,is: How well do current measures gaugestudent readiness along these and otherrelatedimportantdimensionsnecessaryforcollegesuccess?Thenextsectiondescribesthe current means of determining collegereadinessandsomeofthelimitationsofthoseapproaches This is followed by a sectionthat first defines a more comprehensivenotionofwhatitmeanstobecollege-readyandthendetailseachofitsfacets Next,thepaper presents briefly some ways in which

these facets might be measured and howa more integrated approach to measuringcollege readiness might benefit students Finally, the paper considers the changesnecessary from high schools, colleges, andstudents for this new approach to be putintopractice

“The nature and quality of the courses students take are ultimately what matters and few real

measures of course quality exist currently ”


Whileitisbeyondthescopeofthispapertopresentafullcritiqueofcurrentconceptionsandconstructionsofcollegereadiness,itisworthwhiletoconsiderbrieflysomeofthelimitationsofthecurrentkeymeasures,mostnotablyamongthemcoursetitles,grade-pointaverages,andtests,aswellasarelatedmeasure,performanceinentry-level general education courses subsequentto admission This brief overview is presentedto accentuate the need for a more robust andcomprehensive definition of college readiness,onethatleadstonewtools,methods,andindicesthat will help students understand how readyfor college theyareandwillhelphighschoolsmake systematic improvements to increase thenumberofcollege-readystudentswhograduateeachyear Eachofthemajormeasuresandtheirlimitationsisdiscussedbrieflyinturn

Course Titles and Grade Point Averages

The most common approach is to definecollegereadinessintermsofhighschoolcoursetaking patterns, including the titles, perceivedchallenge level, and the number of unitsrequired for graduation, combined with thegradesstudentsreceive inthosecourses Whatthiswidelyhelddefinitionassumesorpresumesis that thenumberofcourses thathighschoolstudentstake,andtheunitsandnamesassignedto them, are accurate, comprehensive proxiesfor college-level success (Callan, Finney, Kirst,Usdan,&Venezia,2006) Generally,thesecoursetitles must be approved by college admissionsoffices, inanuneasybuthighlychoreographedinterplaybetweenhighschoolsandcolleges Theneteffectistoproducecoursetitlesthatappearstandardized on transcripts, but that promotea lackof “alignmentbetweenwhat is requiredtogetintocollegevs what’sneededtostayincollegeandsucceedasanadult ”(Wagner,2006)

Adelman (2006) employed transcriptanalysis to reach the conclusion thatcompleting a challenging high school

curriculum is the greatest pre-collegiateindicatorofbachelor’sdegreecompletion,and the impact is even greater for blackandHispanicstudentsthanwhitestudents This, however, leads toward a course titlebased definition of college readiness Simply increasing the prescribed coursesstudents take may not be sufficient,particularly for students who attend highschools with low academic standards andexpectations The nature and quality ofthe courses students take are ultimatelywhat matters (ACT, 2005b), and few realmeasuresof coursequalityexist currently A key necessary component that couldaddressissuesofcoursequalitywouldbeasetofcriteriathatspecifytheperformancesnecessarytoreceiveahighschooldiploma Sincethe1980s,stateshavecenteredtheirreformefforts around thedevelopmentofstatewide standards and assessments Yetmost of these standards setting activitiesend at the 10th grade Few states haveundertakentodefine12thgradehighschoolstandardsandthecurriculumnecessarytoattainthosestandards

While course requirements for the highschool diploma have increased in a numberofstates,theyhaveyettoproducesignificantimprovements in student performance incollege(Achieve,2004) Forinstance,since1987manystateshaveincreasedtheirmathematicsand science requirements (National ScienceBoard, 2004), but measures of collegegraduation have not shown increases (ACT,2002,2005a;Callanetal ,2006),norhaveNAEPscoresimprovedsignificantly(NationalCenterfor Educational Statistics, 2007) This lack ofimproved college success rates, even in theface of increasingly demanding high schoolgraduation requirements, demonstrates howdifficult it will be to achieve greater collegesuccess by simply having students take moreprescribed courses without understandingwhatisbeinglearnedinthosecourses

Current Means to Determine College Readiness


In fact, the mean grade point average ofhighschoolstudentshassteadilyincreasedevenasmeasuresof collegesuccesshavefluctuatedorworsened(Woodruff,2004) AstudyofhighschooltranscriptsundertakenbyACTresearchers(Ziomek&Svec,1995)foundcompellingevidenceof grade inflation More recently, data fromtranscriptanalysesperformedasacomponentoftheNationalAssessmentofEducationalProgress(NAEP) determined that 2005 high schoolgraduateshadanoverallgradepointaverageof2 98 Thisrepresenteda 30GPAincrease,from2 68in1990(Ziomek&Svec,1995) Inotherwords,a “B” average in high school now may reflectknowledge and skills equivalent to somethingmorelikea“C”averagethirtyyearsago Thisisparticularlyproblematicbecausemanycollegeshave raised their GPA requirements over thesameperiodoftime(Brelandetal ,2000)

Rather than leading to an improvementin student readiness for college, this appearssimplytohaveresultedinthecompressionofgradesattheupperendofthescale Thishasledtoanynumberofattemptstocompensatefor the compression, primarily through theweightingofparticularcourses TheUCsystem,for example, weights Advanced Placement®(AP®) and honors courses, so that many UCapplicantsnowdemonstrateGPAsthatexceed4 0 Individual high schools adopt their ownweightingcriteria, leading tomyriadways tocomputeagradepointaverage AccordingtoHawkins&Clinedinst(2006)manycollegesareweighting high school GPAs to combat thisproblem It’snotjusttheUCsystemthatgiveshigherweighttocollegeprepcourses;49%ofcollegesanduniversitiesaredoingit Manylessselectivecollegesanduniversitiesarechoosingthis weighting strategy over increasing GPArequirements Brelandetal (2000)foundthatGPA requirements have increased more inprivate than public colleges over the last 10years, which accounts for most of the effectthey saw in increased GPA requirements inhighereducationinstitutions

Tests

Beyondusinghigh school course titles todefinecollegereadiness,amoredirectapproachis to test a set of knowledge that studentsare presumed to need to know to succeedin college entry-level courses Admissions

tests define college readiness by establishingbenchmarksempiricallyorthrough“cutscores ”Forexample,ACThasdefinedcollegereadinessbyestablishingCollegeReadinessBenchmarksrepresenting the minimum ACT test scoresrequiredforstudentstohaveahighprobabilityofsuccessincorrespondingcredit-bearingfirst-year college courses The Benchmarks reflecttheACTscoresstudentsneedtoearntohaveatleasta75%orgreaterchanceofobtainingacoursegradeof“C”orbetter(ACT,2005a) Thisis not a direct measure of necessary contentknowledgeandthinkingskills,butagaugeofprobability

All states have adopted some form ofhigh school examination in English, mathandscienceforavarietyofreasonsincludingrequirements in the federal No Child LeftBehindAct ResearchconductedbyStandardsfor Success, published in the 2003 reportMixed Messages (Conley, 2003), found thatmoststatestandards-basedhighschooltestswere not well aligned with postsecondarylearning These tests are perhaps goodmeasures of basic academic skills, but notnecessarilyoftheknowledgeandcapabilitiesneededforcollegesuccess

As a result, the scores students receiveonstatetestsmaynotbegoodindicatorsofcollege readiness,but studentsmaybelievethat passage of the state test is just suchan indicator Recent data from the NationalAssessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)suggest a fundamental disconnect betweentrendsandscoresonstatetestsandonNAEPtests,whichhastriggeredafederalstudyofstatedefinitionsof“proficiency”(Cavanagh,2006) When performance on state tests iscompared to NAEP performance, significantdifferences exist from state to state, andstudents can show improvement on statetests and not corresponding improvementonNAEP Inotherwords,itisverydifficulttoknowwhatsuccessfulperformanceonastatetestreallymeans

This creates serious problems when highschools focus on getting students to passstatetests Whenstudentsdofinallypassthestate exam, their program of study may behopelesslyoutofsequencewithwhatittakestobecollegeeligible Onepossiblemeanstohelpaddressthisdisconnectwouldbesecond-


generation assessment systems that connecthighschooltestswithoutcomesbeyondhighschool (Conley, 2006) and, in the process,provide students with solid information onhow ready they were and what they neededtodotobecollege-readybasedontheirstatehighschoolexamscore

Colleges also rely on Advanced Placementtest scores as a potential measure of collegereadinessbecausethesecoursesareoneofthefewplacesinthehighschoolcurriculumwheresomeassumptionsmightbemadeaboutwhatastudentwhotakesaclasshaslearned ThisisbecauseeachAPcoursehasa setof curricularand resource requirements and, often moreimportantly, because many students take thecorrespondingAPexamsaftertheytakethecourse Thiscausesteacherstoaligncoursecontentwiththecurricularandexamspecifications

EvenAPcoursesarebeingquestionedbysome colleges and universities Although thereasonswhycollegesquestionAParecomplex,onecontributingissueisthatsomehighschoolshave adopted the practice of offering an APcourseinwhichnoneofthestudentstaketheAPexam,whileothershavetakentopostingAPcoursestostudenttranscriptsinsubjectareasforwhichnoAPexam,andtherefore,notrueAPcourseexists TheseissueswithAPcoursesdemonstratehowevenanexternally-referencedprogramsuchasAPcanbeco-optedtoservethepurposeof inflating theacademiccredentialsofstudentswithoutnecessarilycontributingtothestudents’collegereadiness

Performance in College Courses

Anobviousbutfrequentlyoverlookedfactis that the final arbiter of college readinessis student performance in college courses Studentswhomustenrollinremedialcoursesor who fail entry-level courses find it muchmoredifficulttograduatefromcollege

Remedial EducationThe high proportion of students who are

identifiedasneedingremedialordevelopmentaleducation is frequently cited as evidence of thelimitations of current admissions measures While the precise number of students requiringremediationisdifficulttoascertain,federalstatistics

indicate that 40% of admitted and enrolledstudentstakeatleastoneremedialcourse(NationalCenter for Education Statistics, 2004), reducingdramatically their probability of graduating andcostinguptoanestimated$1billionperyear(ACT,2005b) The California State University system,whichdrawsitsstudentsfromthetopthirdofhighschool graduates in the state and which tracksremediationratesmoreprecisely,findsthat46%ofallfirst-yearstudentsrequireremedialeducationinbothEnglishandmathematics (Ali& Jenkins,2002) Theratesatcommunitycollegesarelikelymuch higher, leading to multi-tier remediationprogramsatsomeinstitutionswherestudentskilllevelsaresolowtheymusttakemorethanoneremedialcourseinasubjectareabeforereachingacredit-bearingcourse

Having to enroll in remedial coursesincreasesthetimeittakesstudentstocompletetheirdegreesandisassociatedwithadecreaseinthelikelihoodtheywillgraduate(Adelman,1999;NationalCenterforEducationStatistics,2004) Nationally,only17%of thosestudentswhomusttakearemedialreadingclassreceiveabachelor’sdegreeorhigher;ofthosetakingtworemedialclasses(otherthanreading),only20%receivesuchadegreeorhigher(NationalCenterforEducationStatistics,2004)

Children from low-income families areparticularly vulnerable to a system that doesnot send clear signals to students on howreadytheyareforcollege Theyarethemostdependent on the schools to prepare themproperly forcollegesuccessbecause theyareoftenthefirstintheirfamiliestoattendcollege These families canonlygaugehowready forcollege success their children are based onthe measures used by the schools They areamongthemost likely toendup in remedialeducation

Only 60% of these youth can expect tograduatefromhighschool,onlyoneinthreewillenrollincollege,andonlyoneinsevenwillearnabachelor’sdegree(Bedsworth,Colby,&Doctor,2006; Conley, 2005) Those students who dosucceedinearningacollegedegreearetakinglongertodosonowthan20yearsago(ACT,2002) Thesefiguressuggestacircuitouspathtoattainingadegree,andthatmany,perhapsmost,ofthosewhogoontocollegearenotfullypreparedforwhatwillbeexpectedofthem,particularlyinthearea of how colleges operate (Adelman, 1999;


Horn,2004;Venezia,Kirst,&Antonio,2004) Justasimportant,thissuggeststhatthehighschoolprogramofpreparationisnotadequatelygearedtowardexpectingthesestudentstobepreparedforcollegeadmissionorsuccess Thesestudentsaresubjectedtoconsiderablylowerexpectationsanddemandsincourseswithtitlesthatsatisfytheneedsofcollegeadmissionsofficesbutdolittletoalignwiththeactualcontentknowledgeandintellectualskilllevelsfreshmancollegestudentsneedtosurviveinthegeneraleducationcoursesthat they normally take first (Achieve, 2004;Adelman,1999)

Remediation statistics reveal the tip ofthe iceberg Many institutions allow studentsto choose not to take remedial courses evenif the student is identifiedasneeding suchacourse Placementmethodsvarytremendouslyfrom institution to institution and are oftenrudimentary innature, identifyingonly thosestudents with the most serious deficiencies These factors in combination result in manystudents, particularly students from low-income families and firstgeneration collegeattendees, struggling during the first yearof college, resulting for many students inan increase in time-to-degree-completion Accordingtofederalstatistics,justoverhalfofstudentsseekingbachelor’sdegreesbeginningin1995-96hadattainedthatdegreefromthatinstitutionsixyears later (NationalCenter forEducationStatistics,2003)

General EducationStudentperformance ingeneral education

courseshaslongbeenanissueinpostsecondaryeducation,wherethesecoursescometoserveastherealarbiterofadmission These“gateway”coursesrestrictaccesstomajorsandalsotendto “weed out” students who are incapable ofsucceeding in them When students strugglein entry-level courses, it extends their time todegreecompletion,ahiddencostofinadequateor inappropriate preparation Failure rates in

someofthesecoursesapproach50percent,andwhilesomearguethisisthefaultofpoorcollegeteaching,othersarguethatthisfailureratecanbe explained equally by poor study habits, alack of understanding of the expectations ofcollegeinstructors,anddeficienciesincontentknowledgeandthinkingskills

Definingwhatittakestosucceedintheseentry-level courses is a key component indetermining what it means to be college-ready “Collegereadinessstandards”cansendclearer messages to high schools regardingcoursecontentandtostatesabouttheirhighschoollevelstandardsandassessments Thesestandards are not geared to what should ordoesoccurinhighschoolsasmuchastowhatwillbeexpectedofstudentsincollege

No less than a half-dozen such sets ofstandards exist currently at the national andstate levels They largely concur on whatstudentsneedtoknowandbeabletodotobereadyforcollege Allarefocusedexpectationsattendantwithentry-levelcollegecourses

TheStandardsforSuccessproject,sponsoredby the Association of American Universities,developed a comprehensive set of readinessstandards in six subject areas (Conley, 2003a) These statements outline the knowledge, skill,andkeycognitivestrategiesnecessaryforsuccessinresearchuniversities Washington,D C -basedAchieve, Inc , sponsored by state governors,organizedtheAmericanDiplomaProject Itsgoalwas to develop standards that reflected bothcollegeandworkreadinessinmathematicsandEnglish(Achieve,2004) BoththeCollegeBoardand ACT have published their own versionsof college readiness standards and criteria Inaddition, several states, most notable amongthemWashingtonstate,havepublishedorareintheprocessofdevelopingsetsofcollegereadinessstandardsor“definitions” thatconnect tostatehighschoolacademicstandards(TransitionMathProject,2005)

“While the precise number of students requiring remediation is difficult to ascertain, federal statistics indicate that 40% of admitted and enrolled students take at least one remedial course, reducing dramatically their

probability of graduating and costing up to an estimated $1 billion per year ”


College readiness is a multi-facetedconcept comprising numerous variables thatinclude factorsboth internalandexternal tothe school environment In order to providea functional representationof thekey facetsof college readiness, the model presentedbelow organizes the key areas necessaryfor college readiness into four concentriclevels These four areas of college readinessknowledgeandskillsemergefromareviewoftheliteratureandarethosethatcanbemostdirectlyinfluencedbyschools

In practice, these various facets are notmutually exclusive or perfectly nested asportrayed in the model They interact withoneanotherextensively Forexample,alackofcollegeknowledgeoftenaffectsthedecisionsstudents make regarding the specific contentknowledge they choose to study and master Oralackofattentiontoacademicbehaviorsisoneofthemostfrequentcausesofproblemsfor first-year students, whether they possessthe necessary content knowledge and keycognitivestrategies

Figure 1: Facets of College Readiness

What the model argues for is a morecomprehensive look at what it means to becollege-ready, a perspective that emphasizesthe interconnectedness of all of the facetscontained in themodel This is thekeypointof this definition, that all facets of collegereadiness must be identified and eventuallymeasured if more students are to be madecollege-ready

Key Cognitive Strategies

The success of a well-prepared collegestudent isbuiltuponafoundationofkeykeycognitive strategies that enable students tolearn content from a range of disciplines Unfortunately, the development of key keycognitive strategies in high school is oftenovershadowed by an instructional focus onde-contextualizedcontentandfactsnecessaryto pass exit examinations or simply to keepstudentsbusyandclassroomsquiet

For the most part, state high-stakesstandardized tests require students torecallor recognize fragmentedand isolatedbits of information Those that do containperformancetasksareseverelylimitedinthetimethetaskscantakeandtheirbreadthordepth The tests rarely require students toapplytheirlearningandalmostneverrequirestudents to exhibit proficiency in higherforms of cognition (Marzano, Pickering, &McTighe,1993)

Severalstudiesofcollegefacultymembersnationwide,regardlessoftheselectivityoftheuniversity,expressednear-universalagreementthat most students arrive unprepared for theintellectual demands and expectations ofpostsecondary (Conley, 2003a) For example,one study found that faculty reported thattheprimaryareas inwhichfirst-yearstudentsneeded further development were criticalthinkingandproblemsolving(Lundell,Higbee,Hipp,&Copeland,2004)

Components in a Comprehensive Definition of College Readiness


The term “key cognitive strategies”was selected for this model to describe theintelligent behaviors necessary for collegereadiness and to emphasize that thesebehaviorsneedtobedevelopedoveraperiodoftimesuchthattheybecomewaysofthinking,habitsinhowintellectualactivitiesarepursued In other words, key cognitive strategies arepatterns of intellectual behavior that lead tothe development of cognitive strategies andcapabilities necessary for college-level work The term key cognitive strategies invokes amore disciplined approach to thinking thanterms such as “dispositions” or “thinkingskills ” The term indicates intentional andpracticed behaviors that become a habitualway of working toward more thoughtful andintelligentaction(Costa&Kallick,2000)

The specific key cognitive strategiesreferenced in this paper are those shown tobe closely related to college success Theyinclude the following as the most importantmanifestationsofthiswayofthinking:

Intellectual openness: The student possessescuriosity and a thirst for deeperunderstanding, questions the views ofotherswhenthoseviewsarenotlogicallysupported, accepts constructive criticism,and changes personal views if warrantedby the evidence Such openmindednesshelps students understand the ways inwhichknowledgeisconstructed,broadenspersonal perspectives and helps studentsdealwiththenoveltyandambiguityoftenencountered in thestudyofnewsubjectsandnewmaterials

Inquisitiveness: The student engages in activeinquiryanddialogueaboutsubjectmatterandresearchquestionsandseeksevidenceto defend arguments, explanations, orlines of reasoning The student does notsimply accept as given any assertion that

ispresentedorconclusionthatisreached,butaskswhythingsareso

Analysis: The student identifies and evaluatesdata, material, and sources for quality ofcontent,validity,credibility,andrelevance Thestudentcomparesandcontrastssourcesandfindingsandgeneratessummariesandexplanationsofsourcematerials

Reasoning, argumentation, proof: The studentconstructs well-reasoned arguments orproofs to explain phenomena or issues;utilizesrecognizedformsofreasoningtoconstructanargumentanddefendapointofvieworconclusion;acceptscritiquesoforchallengestoassertions;andaddressescritiques and challenges by providinga logical explanation or refutation, or

by acknowledging the accuracy of thecritiqueorchallenge

Interpretation: The student analyzescompeting and conflicting descriptionsof an event or issue to determine thestrengths and flaws in each descriptionand any commonalities among ordistinctions between them; synthesizesthe results of an analysis of competingor conflicting descriptions of an eventorissueorphenomenonintoacoherentexplanation;statestheinterpretationthatismostlikelycorrectorismostreasonable,based on the available evidence; andpresentsorallyorinwritinganextendeddescription, summary,andevaluationofvariedperspectivesandconflictingpointsofviewonatopicorissue

Precision and accuracy: The student knowswhat typeofprecision is appropriate tothe taskand the subjectarea, isable toincreaseprecisionandaccuracy throughsuccessive approximations generatedfrom a task or process that is repeated,

“Understanding and mastering key content knowledge is achieved through the exercise of broader cognitive skills embodied within the key cognitive strategies ”


andusesprecisionappropriatelytoreachcorrectconclusionsinthecontextofthetaskorsubjectareaathand

Problem solving: The student develops andappliesmultiplestrategiestosolveroutineproblems,generatestrategiestosolvenon-routine problems, and applies methodsof problem solving to complex problemsrequiring method-based problem solving Thesekeycognitivestrategiesarebroadlyrepresentativeofthefoundationalelementsthatunderlievarious“waysofknowing ”

These are at the heart of the intellectualendeavoroftheuniversity Theyarenecessaryto discern truth and meaning as well as topursue them They are at the heart of howpostsecondaryfacultymembersthink,andhowtheythinkabouttheirsubjectareas Withoutthecapabilitytothinkintheseways,theenteringcollegestudenteitherstrugglesmightilyuntilthesehabitsbegintodevelopormissesoutonthelargestportionofwhatcollegehastooffer,whichishowtothinkabouttheworld

Academic Knowledge and Skills

Successful academic preparation forcollege is grounded in two importantdimensions—key cognitive strategiesand content knowledge Understandingand mastering key content knowledge isachieved through the exercise of broadercognitive skills embodied within the keycognitivestrategies Withthisrelationshipinmind,itisentirelyproperandworthwhiletoconsidersomeofthegeneralareasinwhichstudentsneedstronggrounding incontentthat is foundational to the understandingof academic disciplines The case for theimportance of challenging content as theframework for developing thinking skillsandkeycognitivestrategieshasbeenmadeelsewhereandwillnotberepeatedindepthhere(Bransford,Brown,&Cocking,2000)

In order to illustrate the academicknowledge and skills necessary for collegesuccess,abriefdiscussionofthekeystructures,concepts, and knowledge of core academicsubjectsispresentedbelow Thispresentationisnotasubstituteforacomprehensivelistingof essential academic knowledge and skills

A more complete exposition is contained inUnderstanding University Success, producedbyStandardsforSuccessthroughathree-yearstudy in which more than 400 faculty andstaff members from 20 research universitiesparticipatedinextensivemeetingsandreviewstoidentifywhatstudentsmustdotosucceedinentry-levelcoursesattheirinstitutions(Conley,2003a) Thesefindingshavebeenconfirmedinsubsequentstudies

This overview begins with two academicskillareasthathaverepeatedlybeenidentifiedasbeingcentrallyimportanttocollegesuccess:writingandresearch Thisisfollowedbybriefnarrativedescriptionsofcontentfromanumberofcoreacademicareas

Overarching Academic SkillsWriting: Writing is the means by which

students are evaluated at least to somedegree in nearly every postsecondarycourse Expository, descriptive, andpersuasive writing are particularlyimportant types of writing in college Students are expected to write a lot incollege and to do so in relatively shortperiodsof time Studentsneed toknowhowtopre-write,howtoedit,andhowtore-writeapiecebeforeitissubmittedand, often, after it has been submittedonce and feedback has been provided College writing requires students topresent arguments clearly, substantiateeach point, and utilize the basics of astylemanualwhenconstructingapaper College-level writing is largely free ofgrammatical,spelling,andusageerrors

Research: Collegecoursesincreasinglyrequirestudentstobeabletoidentifyandutilizeappropriatestrategiesandmethodologiesto explore and answer problems and toconductresearchonarangeofquestions To do so, students must be able toevaluatetheappropriatenessofavarietyof source material and then synthesizeandincorporatethematerialintoapaperor report They must also be able toaccess a variety of types of informationfrom a range of locations, formats, andsourceenvironments


Core Academic Subjects Knowledge and SkillsEnglish: Theknowledgeandskillsdevelopedin

entry-levelEnglishcoursesenablestudentsto engage texts critically and create wellwritten, organized, and supported workproductsinbothoralandwrittenformats ThefoundationsofEnglishincludereadingcomprehension and literature, writingand editing, information gathering, andanalysis, critiquesand connections Tobereadytosucceedinsuchcourses,studentsneedtobuildvocabularyandwordanalysisskills, including roots and derivations Thesearethebuildingblocksofadvancedliteracy Similarly, students need to utilizetechniques such as strategic reading thatwillhelpthemreadandunderstandawiderange of non-fiction and technical texts Knowinghowtoslowdowntounderstandkeypoints,whentore-readapassage,andhowtounderlinekeytermsandconceptsstrategicallysothatonlythemostimportantpoints are highlighted are examples ofstrategies that aid comprehension andretentionofkeycontent

Math: Most important for success in collegemathisathoroughunderstandingofthebasicconcepts,principles,andtechniquesof algebra This is different than simplyhavingbeenexposedtotheseideas Muchof thesubsequentmathematics theywillencounter draw upon or utilize theseprinciples In addition, having learnedtheseelementsofmathematical thinkingat a deep level, they understand whatit means to understand mathematicalconceptsdeeplyandaremorelikelytodoso in subsequent areas of mathematicalstudy College-ready students possessmore than a formulaic understandingof mathematics They have the ability toapplyconceptualunderstandingsinordertoextractaproblemfromacontext,usemathematics to solve the problem, andthen interpret the solutionback into thecontext They know when and how toestimatetodeterminethereasonablenessof answers and can use a calculatorappropriatelyasatool,notacrutch

Science: College science courses emphasizescientific thinking in all their facets In

addition to utilizing all the steps in thescientific method, students learn what itmeanstothinklikeascientist Thisincludesthecommunicationconventionsfollowedbyscientists,thewaythatempiricalevidenceisusedtodrawconclusions,andhowsuchconclusionsarethensubjecttochallengeandinterpretation Studentscometoappreciatethatscientificknowledgeisbothconstantand changing at any given moment, andthattheevolutionofscientificknowledgedoes not mean that previous knowledgewas necessarily “wrong ” Students graspthatscientiststhinkintermsofmodelsandsystems as ways to comprehend complexphenomena Thishelps themmake senseoutoftheflowofideasandconceptstheyencounter in entry-level college coursesand the overall structure of the scientificdiscipline they are studying In theirscience courses, students master coreconcepts,principles, laws,andvocabularyof the scientific discipline being studied Laboratory settings are the environmentswhere content knowledge and scientifickey cognitive strategies converge to helpstudents think scientifically and integratelearnedcontentknowledge

Social Studies: The social sciences entail arangeof subjectareas,eachwith itsowncontentbaseandanalytic techniquesandconventions The courses an entry-levelcollegestudentmosttypicallytakesareingeography, political science, economics,psychology, sociology, history, and thehumanities The scientific methods thatare common across the social studiesemphasizetheskillsofinterpretingsources,evaluatingevidenceandcompetingclaims,andunderstandingthemesandtheoverallflowofeventswithinlargerframeworksororganizingstructures Helpingstudentstobeawarethatthesocialsciencesconsistofcertain“bigideas”(theoriesandconcepts)thatareusedtoorderandstructureallofthe detail that often overwhelms themcan help build mental scaffolds that leadtowardthinkinglikeasocialscientist

World Languages:Thegoalofsecondlanguagestudy is to communicate effectively withandreceivecommunicationfromspeakersof another language in authentic cultural


contexts through the skills of listening,speaking, reading, and writing Learninganotherlanguageinvolvesmuchmorethanmemorizingasystemofgrammaticalrules It requires the learner to understand thecultures from which the language arisesand inwhich it resides,use the languageto communicate accurately, and use thelearner’s first language and culture as amodel for comparison with the languageandculturebeinglearned Secondlanguageproficiency can improve learning inotherdisciplines,suchasEnglish,historyandart,and expand professional, personal, andsocial opportunities Language learnersneed to understand the structure andconventionsofalanguage,butnotthroughword-for-wordtranslationormemorizationof de-contextualized grammatical rules Instead, students of a language need tomastermeaninginmoreholisticwaysandincontext

The Arts: The arts refer to college subjectareas including art history, dance, music,theater,andvisualarts Studentsreadyforcollege-level work in the arts possess anunderstandingofandappreciationforthecontributionsmadebythemostinnovativecreators in the field Students come tounderstand themselves as instrumentsof communication and expression whodemonstrate mastery of basic oral andphysical expression through sound,movement, and visual representations They understand the role of the artsas an instrument of social and politicalexpression They formulate and presentdifficult questions through their personalartistic visions They are able to justifytheiraestheticdecisionswhencreatingorperformingapieceofworkandknowhowto make decisions regarding the propervenue for performing or exhibiting anycreativeproduct

Academic Behaviors

Thisfacetofcollegereadinessencompassesa range of behaviors that reflect greaterstudent self-awareness, self-monitoring,and self-control of a series of processes andbehaviors necessary for academic success

These are distinguished from key cognitivestrategiesbythefactthattheytendtobemorecompletelyindependentofaparticularcontentarea,whereasthekeycognitivestrategiesarealwaysdevelopedwithinthewaysofknowinga particular content area The key academicbehaviors consist largely of self-monitoringskillsandstudyskills

Self-monitoringisaformofmetacognition,theabilitytothinkabouthowoneisthinking Examples of metacognitive skills include:awareness of one’s current level of masteryandunderstandingofasubject,includingkeymisunderstandingsandblindspots;theabilityto reflect on what worked and what neededimprovementinanyparticularacademictask;thetendencytopersistwhenpresentedwithanovel,difficult,orambiguoustask;thetendencytoidentifyandsystematicallyselectamongandemployarangeoflearningstrategies;andthecapability to transfer learning and strategiesfrom familiar settings and situations to newones(Bransfordetal ,2000) Researchonthethinking of effective learners has shown thatthese individuals tend to monitor actively,regulate, evaluate, and direct their ownthinking(Ritchhart,2002)

Anotherimportantareaofcollegereadinessisstudentmasteryofthestudyskillsnecessaryforcollegesuccess Theunderlyingpremiseissimple:academicsuccessrequiresthemasteryofkeyskillsnecessarytocomprehendmaterialandcompleteacademictaskssuccessfully,andthe nature of college learning in particularrequires that significant amountsof timebedevotedtolearningoutsideofclassforsuccess

Key academic behaviors

consist largely of self-monitoring and

study skills


tobeachievedinclass Studyskillsencompassa rangeof active learning strategies thatgofar beyond reading the text and answeringthe homework questions Typical study-skill behaviors include time management,preparing for and taking examinations,using information resources, taking classnotes,andcommunicatingwithteachersandadvisors (Robbins, Lauver, Le,Davis, Langley,& Carlstrom, 2004) An additional criticalsetofstudyskills is theability toparticipatesuccessfullyinastudygroupandrecognizethecriticalimportanceofstudygroupstosuccessinspecificsubjects Examplesofspecifictimemanagement techniques and habits include:accuratelyestimatinghowmuchtimeittakesto complete all outstanding and anticipatedtasksandallocatingsufficienttimetocompletethe tasks; using calendars and creating “todo”liststoorganizestudyingintoproductivechunksoftime;locatingandutilizingsettingsconducive to proper study; and prioritizingstudytimeinrelationtocompetingdemandssuchasworkandsocializing

Contextual Skills and Awareness

The importance of this broad category hasonlyrecentlybeenhighlightedasanever-widerrange of students apply to college Contextualfactors encompass primarily the privilegedinformation necessary to understand howcollegeoperatesasasystemandculture Itisthislackofunderstandingofthecontextofcollegethatcausesmanystudentstobecomealienated,frustrated, and even humiliated during thefreshmanyearanddecidethatcollegeisnottheplaceforthem Examplesofkeycontextskillsandawareness includeasystemicunderstandingofthepostsecondaryeducationalsystemcombinedwithspecificknowledgeofthenorms,values,andconventionsofinteractionsinthecollegecontext,andthehumanrelationsskillsnecessarytocopewithinthissystemevenifitisverydifferentfromthecommunitythestudenthasjustleft

Thisdoesnotnecessarilymeanthatstudentsneed to disown their cultural backgrounds,heritage, and traditions, only that they needto understand the relationship between theircultural assumptions and those operating incollege Success in college is enhanced forstudents who possess interpersonal and socialskillsthatenablethemtointeractwithadiverse

cross-sectionofacademiciansandpeers Theseskillsincludetheabilitytocollaborateandworkinateam;understandthenormsofthe“academic”culture and how one interacts with professorsand others in that environment; interact withpeoplefromdifferentbackgroundsandcultures;communicate informally; and demonstrateleadershipskillsinavarietyofsettings

Another important area of contextualawarenessisknownas“collegeknowledge ”Thisisinformation,formalandinformal,statedandunstated,necessaryforbothgainingadmissionto and navigating within the postsecondarysystem College knowledge includes anunderstanding of the following processes:collegeadmissionsincludingcurricular,testing,andapplicationrequirements;collegeoptionsand choices, including the tiered nature ofpostsecondaryeducation;tuitioncostsandthefinancialaidsystem;placementrequirements,testing,andstandards;thecultureofcollege;and the challenge level of college courses,including increasing expectations of highereducation(Lundelletal ,2004)

Admissions requirements, and timelinesin particular, are extremely complicated, andstudents often do not know or understandthe importance of either until it is too late Specific institutions have additional specialrequirements and exceptions that are notimmediatelyevident Financialaidoptionsarelargelyunknownorsubstantiallymisunderstoodbymanystudentsmostinneedofsuchsupport The economically well-off are more likelyto have this knowledge than working-classfamiliesorfamilieswhosechildrenarethefirstgeneration to attend college (Conley, 2005;Robbinsetal ,2004;Veneziaetal ,2004)

The next section provides an operationaldefinition of college readiness that theconceptual model helps to delineate Thesection seeks to include specific statementsacross all of the dimensions of collegereadiness These statements are presented ina form that allows them to be measured orgauged The net result would be a profile ofcollege readiness that would help studentsknowthedegreetowhichtheywerecollege-ready,andcouldeventuallyhelphighschoolsinparticulartoknowhowwelltheirprogramsofstudyarepreparingstudentstobereadyforcollegesuccess


It ispossible tocompilevery lengthyanddetailedlistsofthecontentknowledgestudentsmust know and the key cognitive strategiesthey must possess to be college-ready Infact,avarietyofsuchcompilationshavebeenproducedlately(Achieve,TheEducationTrust,& Thomas B Fordham Foundation, 2004;Conley,2003,2003a,2004) Inaddition,othershave identified the academic behaviors andcontextknowledgestudentsneed

Rather than repeat each of these previouslistsindetail,itmaybemoreusefultoconsiderahighlyrepresentativelistofknowledge,skills,and attributes a student should possess to beready to succeed inentry-level collegecoursesacrossarangeofsubjectsanddisciplines Sucha list attempts to capture “keystone” skills,onesthatcanonlybedemonstratedifasetofsubordinate and prerequisite knowledge andskillsareinplace Thelistisnotintendedtobeall-inclusive,buttosuggesttotheinformedreaderthetypesofindicatorsthatwouldbenecessaryto gauge the more comprehensive notion ofcollegereadinesspresentedinthispaper

General Characteristics

Students who possess sufficient masteryof key cognitive strategies, key contentknowledge, academic behaviors, andcontextual knowledge would be defined asbeing college-ready to the degree to whichtheycoulddemonstratethefollowing:

1. Consistent intellectual growth anddevelopment over four years of high schoolresulting from the study of increasinglychallenging, engaging, coherent academiccontent

2. Deepunderstandingofandfacilityapplyingkeyfoundationalideasandconceptsfromthecoreacademicsubjects

3. Astronggroundingintheknowledgebasethat underlies the key concepts of the coreacademicdisciplinesasevidencedbytheabilitytousetheknowledgetosolvenovelproblemswithin a subject area, and to demonstrate an

understanding of how experts in the subjectareathink

4. Facilitywitharangeofkeyintellectualandcognitive skills and capabilities that can bebroadlygeneralizedastheabilitytothink

5. Reading and writing skills and strategiessufficient toprocess the full rangeof textualmaterialscommonlyencounteredinentry-levelcollegecourses,andtorespondsuccessfullytothe written assignments commonly requiredinsuchcourses

6. Mastery of key concepts and ways ofthinking found in one or more scientificdisciplines sufficient to succeed in at leastone introductory-level college course thatcouldconceivablyleadtowardamajorthatrequires additional scientific knowledgeandexpertise

7. Comfortwitharangeofnumericconceptsand principles sufficient to take at least oneintroductory level college course that couldconceivablyleadtowardamajorthatrequiresadditionalproficiencyinmathematics

8. Abilitytoacceptcriticalfeedbackincludingcritiques of written work submitted or anargumentpresentedinclass

9. Ability to assess objectively one’s level ofcompetence in a subject and to devise plansto complete course requirements in a timelyfashionandwithahighdegreeofquality

10. Ability to study independently and with astudygrouponacomplexassignmentrequiringextensive out-of-class preparation that extendsoverareasonablylongperiodoftime

11. Abilitytointeractsuccessfullywithawiderangeoffaculty,staff,andstudents, includingamong them many who come from differentbackgroundsandholdpointsofviewdifferentfromthestudent’s

12.Understanding of the values and normsof colleges, and within them, disciplinarysubjects as the organizing structures forintellectual communities that pursuecommon understandings and fundamental

A Definition of College Readiness


explanationsofnaturalphenomenaandkeyaspectsofthehumancondition

Example Performances

Thegeneralcharacteristicslistedabovearesuggestiveordescriptiveoftasksthatstudentswill have to be able to complete in collegecourses The following examples, while farfromall-inclusive,illustratewhatastudentwhohassufficientcompetenceinthegeneralareaslistedabovewouldbeabletodoinacollegecourse Anystudentwhocandothefollowingwithproficiencywilllikelybereadyforarangeofpostsecondarylearningexperiences

• Writea3-to5-pageresearchpaperthatisstructured around a cogent, coherent line ofreasoning,incorporatereferencesfromseveralcredibleandappropriatecitations;isrelativelyfree from spelling, grammatical, and usageerrors; and is clear and easily understood bythereader

• Read with understanding a range ofnon-fiction publications and technicalmaterials, utilizing appropriate decodingand comprehension strategies to identify keypoints; note areas of question or confusion,remember key terminology, and understandthe basic conclusions reached and points ofviewexpressed

• Employ fundamentals of algebra to solvemulti-step problems, including problemswithout one obvious solution and problemsrequiringadditionalmathbeyondalgebra;doso with a high degree of accuracy, precisionandattentiontodetail,andbeabletoexplaintherationaleforthestrategiespursuedandthemethodsutilized

• Conduct basic scientific experiments oranalyses that require the following: use of thescientific method; an inquisitive perspective ontheprocess;interpretationofdataorobservationsin relation to an initial hypothesis; possible orplausible explanation of unanticipated results;andpresentationoffindingstoacriticalaudienceusingthelanguageofscience,includingmodels,systems,andtheories

• Conductresearchonatopicandbeableto identify successfully a series of sourcematerialsthatareimportantandappropriateto explain the question being researched;

organize and summarize the results fromthe search, and synthesize the findings ina coherent fashion relevant to the largerquestionbeinginvestigated

• Interpret two conflicting explanationsof the same event or phenomenon, takinginto account each author’s perspective, theculturalcontextofeachsource,thequalityoftheargument,itsunderlyingvaluepositions,and any potential conflict of interest anauthormighthaveinpresentingaparticularpointofview

• Communicateinasecondlanguage,usingthelanguageinaculturallyappropriatefashionfor common daily tasks and interactions,without resorting to literal translation exceptforcertainspecificwords

• Punctuallyattendastudygroupoutsideofclasswithstudentswhorepresentacontinuumofacademicabilitiesandculturalbackgrounds,incorporatingthestrengthsofgroupmembersto complete the assignment or project athand or prepare successfully for the exam orpresentationinquestion

• Complete successfully a problem orassignment that requiresabout twoweeksofindependent work and extensive research,utilizing periodic feedback from teachers andother pertinent resources along the way toreviseandimprovethefinalproduct

• Create and maintain a personal schedulethatincludesato-dolistwithprioritizedtasksandappointments

• Utilize key technological tools includingappropriate computer software to completeacademic tasks such as conducting research,analyzingdatasets,writingpapers,preparingpresentations,andrecordingdata

• Locatewebsitesthatcontaininformationoncolleges,theadmissionsprocess,andfinancialaid, and navigate such websites successfully,comparing the programs and requirementsofseveralcollegesandassessingthefinancialrequirementsandfeasibilityofattendingeach

• Present an accurate self-assessment ofreadiness for college by analyzing and citingevidencefromclassroomworkandassignments,grades,coursestaken,nationalandstateexamstaken,andapersonalassessmentofmaturityandself-discipline


Each of the four major components ofcollege readiness needs to be measured ina somewhat different but complimentaryfashion Whileatechnicaldiscussionofthesepotentialmethodsisbeyondthescopeofthepaper,abriefdescriptionofhoweachmightbemeasuredisoffered

Key Cognitive Strategies Measurement

The key cognitive strategies aredemonstrated primarily through learningactivitiesandtasksthataredeeplyembeddedinacourseorcourses Thesestrategiesshouldbeexpectedtodevelopovertime,implyinga continuous measurement system that issensitive to increasing sophistication andelaboration of capabilities and not justcounting the presence or absence ofparticularelements

The best means currently available toaccomplishthisgoalisprobablythecollectionof classroom evidence This approach hasbeenusedinanumberofsettingswithsomesuccess, including a range of relatively highstakes decisions While the measurement ofkey cognitive strategies envisioned in thispaperisprimarilyforformativepurposes,itisnotbeyondtherealmofpossibilitythatthesemeasurements might someday contribute tohigherstakesdecisions

Acollectionofevidenceis,asitsnameimplies,studentworkcollectedoveraperiodoftimetodemonstrate some specific set of capabilitiesor skills The collection is different from themore familiar “portfolio” in that it is focusedon a particular set of criteria and its contentsmust meet both sufficiency and proficiencyrequirements Collectionsofevidencearemorestructuredthanportfoliosandarescoredusingmorerigorousmethodsandinstruments

Collections of evidence have beenemployed in a variety of settings in the US

and abroad for college readiness purposes Several states in Australia use variations ona collection of evidence to judge studentwork produced purposely for an externalreview process (Gipps, 1994; Masters &McBryde, 1994; Sadler, 1992) In the US,the Proficiency-based Admission StandardsSystem (PASS) has utilized collections ofevidenceasanoptionalmethodtodeterminecollege admissions for students applying tothe Oregon University System for the pastseven years (Conley, 2004) More recently,the Office of the Superintendent of PublicInstructionadoptedacollectionofevidence-based method as an alternative means forstudentswhohadnotpassedthestatehighschoolexitexaminWashingtonstateaspartof the graduation requirements (Conley,O’Shaughnessy,&Langan,2006d) Currently,the Educational Policy Improvement Centerisdevelopingaformativeassessmentsystemwith20NewYorkCity“empowermentzone”highschoolsthatwillgaugethedevelopmentof key cognitive strategies along five keydimensions: reasoning, argumentation, andproof;interpretation;precisionandaccuracy;problem solving; and research (Conley,McGaughy,O’Shaughnessy,&Rivinus,2007)

Key Content Knowledge Measurement

Althoughadmissions testshave fora longtime done a good job identifying studentswho are potentially college-ready based onlyon a short test of general reading and mathabilities,advancesintheunderstandingofthekeyknowledgenecessarytosucceedincollegecoursessuggestapotentiallydifferent,oratleastadditional,measureofcontentknowledge Thatmeasureistheend-of-courseexam

The advantage of these tests is that theycanbecarefullygearedtoidentifiedstandardsandexpectationsforwhatwillbetaughtinthecollegecourse Thishelpsenhancealignment

Possible Ways to Measure the Dimensions of this Definition


betweenthehighschoolandcollegeprogramsof study If the tests are carefully geared tocover key concepts that are foundational tothesubjectarea,theycanprovideveryusefulinformationonstudentreadinesstothestudentand,potentially,topostsecondaryinstitutions

End-of-courseexamshavegainedpopularityduring the past ten years, particularly,although not exclusively, in southern states Texas is considering replacing its currentstate high school examination system, theTexas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills,with specific end-of-course exams Californiahas also added end-of-course exams to theirstandardizedstateexam

High schools are not unfamiliar withend-of-course exams for college preparationpurposes Most notably, Advanced Placementand International Baccalaureate exams havebeengivenattheendofawiderangeofspecifichigh school courses for many years (althoughtheAPcourseisdesignedtobeacollegecoursetaught inhighschool) The results fromtheseexams,however,arerarelycombinedwithothermeasures of college readiness while studentsare in high school Instead, the results fromthesetestsaretakenintoaccountbyadmissionsoffices as one element among many in thecomplexcalculusofadmissionsdecisions

Acollegereadinessassessmentsystemthatconsisted of a series of end-of-course examswouldyieldmuchmoredetailed,fine-grainedinformation on student knowledge andskills relative to college readiness standards Althoughclearlymoreexpensive toconstructand maintain than current admissions tests,the exams have the advantage of eventuallybecominganintegralcomponentofthecoursesassociatedwiththemandsomethingforwhichteachers can prepare students without thelabelof“teachingtothetest”beinganegativecharacterization Theseexamscanalsocontaincomplex problems and writing that are notcurrentlyavailabletoadmissionstests

Academic Behaviors Measurement

Academicbehaviorscanbemeasuredinrelativelystraightforwardwaysifthemeanstomeasurethemisdefinedlargelyintermsoftheirpresenceandthedegreeoffidelity

between student behavior and identifiedsuccessful strategies in a series of areas Most of these imply some sort of studentsurvey and inventory where students listtheirmethods,tools,andstrategiesinareassuchasstudyskills,timemanagement,andselfmanagement Other possible measuresrelate to self assessment of competencerelativetoarangeofacademicskills,whichwouldbefacilitatedifmeasureswereinplaceasdescribedforkeycognitivestrategiesandkeycontentknowledge Academicbehaviormanagement is an area that would alsolend itself todiscussionsbetween teachers(or advisors) and students to assess betterbehavior in practice versus espousedbehavior Such discussions could also takethe form of advising on how to improve However, progress could be gauged inrelationtoascaleorothersetofobjectivemeasuresofcompetence

Considerableworkisongoinginthisarea,onthetopicsofstudyskillsandtimemanagementparticularly,andstudentselfmanagementmoregenerally It is likely that a number of majortoolswillbeavailabletostudentsandschoolsin the near future that will be designed togaugestudentcompetenceintheseareaswithgreater precision The only potential issue isthatthesesystemsarenotnecessarilydesignedtoconnectwithinformationaboutintellectualdevelopmentandcontentknowledgemastery Whilea relationshipcanbeassumed toexistamongthethree,ameasurementsystemthatconnectedallmeasureswouldbepreferabletoonethatreportedeachseparately

Contextual Skills and Awareness Measurement

Student contextual knowledge of theentireprocessofcollegeadmissions,financialaid, and successful functioning in collegecan be gauged relatively simply throughquestionnaires However,thelargerissueishowthis information is used The most importantuse for the information is as a more generalindicator of the quality of the preparationprogramitself Whileinformationonindividualstudentsisquiteusefulinadiagnosticfashiontoidentifyareaswhereadditionalinformationis necessary, the overall profile of student


contextual skill and awareness suggests veryclearlythechangesthathighschoolprogramsneedtomaketoimprovestudentcompetenceandconfidenceinthisarea

Integrating the Four Sources

As noted, much of this informationcurrentlyiscollectedinonefashionoranother,butrarely,ifever,istheinformationcombinedintoacomprehensiveprofileforthestudenttogaugepersonalcollegereadinessandforthepreparing institution to gauge the adequacyofitspreparationprogram The“holygrail”ofcollegereadinesswouldbeanintegratedsystemthatprovidesallofthisinformationtostudentsinaprogressive,developmentallyappropriatefashion so that they have a continuous feelfor how well they are being prepared andpreparingthemselvesforcollege

As mentioned throughout this section,much if not all the basic instrumentationnecessary to create an integrated collegereadiness data system probably existsalready or is under development Numerousorganizations vie to provide these servicesand tools to schools and students However,fewschoolsutilizetheseservicesandtoolsinways that result in a comprehensive systemwithin theschool thataddressesall facetsofcollege readiness This more comprehensiveandinclusivedefinitionofcollegereadinessisaconceptualframeworkwithinwhichsomeofthemostimportantmeasurementsofstudentcapabilitiestoundertakepostsecondaryworkcanbe includedandcombined Theultimateresultwouldbeonesetofscoresorindicatorsacrossmultipledimensionsandmeasuresthatcouldbetrackedovertimefromperhapssixthgrade through high school that would alloweveryone involved to know where a studentstood relative to the various dimensions ofcollegereadinessatanygiventime


The definition of college readiness has aseries of implications and issues associatedwithitthatwillbetoucheduponbrieflyinthispaper Clearly, if this sort of definition wereadoptedatapolicylevel,theeffectswouldbesignificantbecause itwouldmakeclearerthegapthatexistsbetweenthosewhoareadmittedandthosewhohavethecapabilitiesnecessaryto succeed in postsecondary education Itspurpose at this point is not to suggest thatnumerousstudentsshouldbedeniedentrancetocollege,buttohighlightthegapsbetweenthecurrent impliedorde factodefinitionsofcollegereadinessandamorecomprehensive,systematicapproachtotheissue Inthiscontext,thedefinition isofferedmoreasa statementof probability: the more of the elements ofthe definition the student has mastered, thegreaterthelikelihoodthestudentwillsucceedinentry-levelgeneraleducationcourses Giventhismoregenerousinterpretation,thetaskofimplementing such an expanded definitionseemsmoremanageableandincremental

Gauging College Prep Programs

Areasonableinitialgoalmightbenottouseamorecomprehensivemeasuretodeterminecollegeadmissions,buttoascertainhowwelleachhighschoolwaspreparingstudentstobereadyforcollege Entry-levelcollegeprogramscouldalsobeassessed toascertain the typesof readiness they demand of students Suchinformationcanbeausefulstartingpointforprogram redesign to improve alignment byproviding information on the specific areaswherechangesareneededtoenhancestudentcollegereadinessandsuccess

High schools in particular need to beorganizedtodevelopmoresystematicallyeachof the elements contained in the definition Students shouldbeexposed to thedefinitionandprovidedtoolstoself-assesswhattheyaregoingtoneedtodotomakethemselvesready Admissionsofficesneedtoemphasizeintheircommunications with prospective applicantstheimportanceofachievingallthecomponentsof the definition Entry-level college courses

can be designed to build upon the elementsof the definition and not to reproduce highschool–level expectations that lead collegefreshmen to believe college is just like highschool,aperceptionthatleadsthemtoadoptworkhabitsthatquicklybecomeproblematic Admissions and placement testing methodsneed to evolve to capture more informationaboutstudentproficiencyonalltheaspectsofthedefinition

Gauging Effects in College

A student who meets all aspects of thecollege readiness definition would gain inseveral ways First, the student would becomfortable in essentially any entry-levelgeneraleducationcourse Thisisanimportantleveltoattainbecausefailuretosucceedinoneormoregeneraleducationcoursesduringthefirst year is closely associated with failure tocontinue in college (Choy, 2001; Choy, Horn,Nunez,&Chen,2000)

Second, the student couldkeepopen theoption to pursue a wide variety of majors,including those requiring math or science Currently,manystudentswhocompletemathandsciencerequirementsforcollegeadmissionare not really prepared to take college-levelcourses in these areas, and they assiduouslyavoid them These students essentiallyeliminate from the realm of possibility anymajorthatrequiresmathorscience

Giventhe increasingimportanceofmathandscienceascomponentsofmanymajorsthatpreviouslydidnot includethem,deficienciesin these subject areas have an even greatereffect on the choice of majors available tostudents Mathematicsisfoundinarangeofmajors from business to the social sciences Scientific knowledge is necessary for accessto whole fields such as human physiology,physical therapy, nursing, and other healthcarerelatedfieldsforwhichrapidjobgrowthis predicted Needless to say, lack of skill orconfidence in math or science completelyrulesoutallformsofengineering,anareaof

Implications of the Definition


criticalconcernintermsofnationaleconomicprioritiesaswellasanotherareaofrapidjobgrowthandeconomicopportunity

Third, and often overlooked, studentswholackfacilityintheareasoutlinedinthedefinitionwillsimplynotgetasmuchoutofcollege,particularlyiftheyfailtodevelopthekey cognitive strategies On one level, theintrinsicvalueandsenseofaccomplishmentthe student derives from college will belessened if the student expends significantenergy simply to survive and does notpursue challenges, which is what occurswhen students feel overwhelmed becausewhat they encounter during the freshmanyearisunfamiliaranddisorienting Collegejustwon’tbeasstimulatingandinterestingfor students who don’t really “get” whatcollegeisabout

For students from under-representedgroups theproblem ismoreserious Thesestudentsentercollegewithfarlessawarenessof what it takes to fit in and to cope withthesystem Whenthis iscompoundedbyalackofcontentknowledgeorlearningskills,there is little about the experience that ispositiveforthem,andmanyleaveduringthefreshmanyear Ifthesestudentsunderstandmore fully all of what college has to offer

andhowonebehavesincollegeinordertogainthemostbenefitfromtheexperience,theywillbemorelikelytoremain

On another level, this is a problem fortheinstitutionbecausemorestatesandotherorganizations are calling on colleges to beaccountable for the “value added” that thecollege experience imparts to the student inreturnfortheever-increasingtuitionexpensesincurred Unfortunately, students who enterpoorly prepared and not thinking in waysconsistent with the culture and structure ofpostsecondary education often find ways tonavigate the system without really getting alotoutof it Someevidenceexiststosuggestthatsomestudentscancompleteabachelor’sdegree and be less proficient at writing, forexample,thanwhentheyentered(Bok,2006)

A more comprehensive conception ofcollege readiness can createexpectations thatstudents understand the purposes of collegeandworktotakeadvantageofalloptionsandopportunitiesavailabletothem Theywouldbepreparedtoaddvaluetotheireducationandnotsimplynavigatethesystem Thiswouldsetthestage for postsecondary institutions to assessthe value added of a baccalaureate degree inmorecomprehensiveandconsistentways


If schools and students understandcollege readiness in a more expansive andcomprehensive way, they can do more todevelopthefullrangeofcapabilitiesandskillsneeded to succeed in college Indeed, at theheartofthisdefinitionisthenotionthatthosemostinterestedincollegesuccesswillchangetheirbehaviorsbasedonthegreaterguidancethe definition offers on how to be college-ready Thefollowingsectiondiscussessomeofthe changes that couldoccur inhigh schoolsandonthepartofstudentstoachievebetterandmorecompletereadinessforcollege

Create a Culture Focused on Intellectual Development

Usingthesecriteria, themost importantthingahighschoolcandoiscreateaculturefocused on intellectual development ofall students Intellectual development hasseveralelements

The first element involves studentsinteractingwithappropriatelyimportantandchallenging academic content For studentsto do so requires that the school have anintellectuallycoherentprogramofstudythatis systematically designed to focus on whatWiggins and McTeague (1998) describe asthe “big ideas” of each subject area taught Theythenteachthosebigideasbyexposingstudents to a series of “enduring” and“supporting understandings” that create anoverallintellectualandcognitivestructureforthecontent,astructurethatcanspanmultiplecoursesandgradelevelsbutthatisrevisitedby students each time a new course withinthatareaistaught

Second, key key cognitive strategiesshouldbedevelopedoverasequentiallymorechallengingprogressionthroughoutfouryearsofhighschool Ifthecontentoftheprogramofstudyiscarefullyorganizedaroundthekindsofkeyorganizingandsupportingconceptsand

informationasdescribedpreviously,itisthenpossible to use this structure of challengingand appropriate content as a frameworkfor developing key thinking and reasoningskills and other supporting cognitive habitsthatwillaffectsuccessincollegeasmuchorperhapsevenmorethananyspecificcontentknowledgestudentsacquire

Third, the academic program should bestructured to cause students todemonstrateprogressivelymorecontrolandresponsibilityfortheirlearningastheyapproachthecollegelevel Thisdoesnotnecessarilymeanstudentshavemorechoicesoverwhattheylearn,butrathertheyareexpectedtoworkindependentlyand semi-independently outside of class onprogressively larger, more complex piecesof work For example, students need tobecome better at critiquing their own workand then rewriting or modifying that worksothatitconformsmorecloselytoexpectedperformanceandoutput

The reason the intellectual climate ofthe school is a central element in collegereadinessisbecausetheschoolcancontrolthisvariabledirectlyandrelativelycompletelyifitsteachersandadministrators choose todo so Furthermore,thisisanareathatteachersandadministratorsoftenfailtoaddressconsciously,instead allowing students to dictate theintellectual tone and tenor of the school Insuch environments, little thought is given tohow students are developing intellectuallyfromcoursetocourseoryeartoyear,orwhatishappeninginanygivencoursetocausesuchdevelopmenttooccur

Theresultisthatstudentsoftenentertheirsenior yearofhigh schoolbelieving theyarereadyforcollegebecausetheyhavecompletedrequiredcourses Thisleadstothedevelopmentof particularly bad study habits and skillsduring the senior year (Conley, 2001; Kirst,2000;NationalCommissionontheHighSchoolSeniorYear,2001) Inthisfashion,thelackofa

What Schools and Students Can Do to Foster College Readiness


coherent,developmentallysequencedprogramof study also contributes to deficiencies inotherkeyareas,includingstudyskillsandtimemanagement Infact, it isdifficultto imaginea preparation program that emphasizes timemanagement and study skills but does notsequence challenge levels thatdevelop theseskillsprogressivelyfromyeartoyear

Specify Core Knowledge and Skills

Asnotedabove,theschoolmustorganizeits curriculum in each subject area arounda set of core concepts and supportinginformation The goal is to have studentsdevelopanunderstandingofthestructureofthe discipline and to retain specific contentknowledgewithinthisstructure Tofacilitatethis organization of knowledge, the schoolmustbepreparedtoadoptaformalsetofexitstandardsthatspecifywhatstudentswillknowandbeabletodoineachofthecoreacademicareas These standardsneednotbedetailedto the level of stating each and every pieceof knowledge that a student has mastered,but should be comprehensive enoughto identify the big ideas and supportingknowledge necessary to comprehend eachbigideafullyandcompletely Thesestandardscan be considered “keystone” expectationsthat clearly infer the mastery of significantsubordinate skills and knowledge necessarytoachievethem

Thissortofastructure facilitatesamorelogical progression and development ofknowledge mastery over four years of highschool in place of the isolated course-basedmodelthatcurrentlyexists Atthesametime,theexitstandardsdonotnecessarilymandateor require any particular organizationalstructure or instructional strategy Schoolsremain free to organize the instructionalprogram in the way they see fit to ensurestudentmasteryofthekeystoneknowledge

Provide Necessary Supports to Students

In addition to key cognitive strategiesandimportantcontentknowledge,studentsneed specialized information in order toaccess thecollegeadmissionsystem Given

thedecentralizednatureofUSpostsecondaryeducation, high schools are the only placewhereall studentshavetheopportunity tocome into contactwith informationon thecomplexities of college preparation andapplication High schools are responsibleto make this information available to allstudents, not just those who seek it out Thismeansincorporatingcollegereadinessactivitiesintotheroutinesandrequirementsoftheschool

For example, students need to knowabout college requirements and financialaid options They need to understand theapplication process In fact, an increasingnumber of high schools that serve highproportions of students who would befirst generation college attenders arerequiring all students to apply to at leastone college during the fall semester oftheirsenioryear Studentsneedexperiencepreparing a resume or other summarydocument that profiles their activities andaccomplishments Theyneedfamiliaritywiththe financial aid system and its attendanttimelinesanddocumentationrequirements Theyneed tounderstand the tierednatureof postsecondary education in the US andhowsomeinstitutionsaremoredemandingandselectiveintheiradmissionsprocesses,while others are more open and acceptessentially all applicants They need tounderstand that different kinds of collegesappeal to different kinds of learning stylesandinterestsandthatthemajorsacollegeoffers isan importantelement inpickingacollege Theyneedtoknowallofthevariousdeadlinesandrequiredpaperwork,suchasletters of recommendation or transcripts Finally,theyneedtounderstandtheroleofadmissions tests, such as the SAT and ACT,aswellasAP,IB,andothers,alongwithanydualenrollmentoptionsthestateandschoolmaymakeavailable

All of this information is necessary forstudentstomakegooddecisionsaboutcollegepreparation and to demystify the process Manystudentsgiveupsimplybecause theyfeel intimidated or overwhelmed by all ofthe requirements and activities associatedwith applying to college Others may lackthe maturity necessary to see as far into


the future as the college preparation andapplication process requires Activities tobreak this process down into manageablepieces that students master automaticallyas theymovethroughhighschoolwillhelpincreasethenumberofapplicantsandtheirsubsequentsuccessgettingadmittedtoandsucceedingincollege

Whiletheseactivitiesarenotveryeffectiveif conducted in isolation from the academicprogram, they are an important componentofanoverallenvironment inwhichstudentsdevelop the full set of knowledge and skillsnecessary for college success, includingintellectual capabilities and thinkingskills, complex and appropriate content,and knowledge of the system of collegepreparation,application,andadmission

Provide Necessary Supports to Teachers

To teach an intellectually challengingclass, teachers must be properly preparedand equipped with the understandings oftheir subject area necessary to evoke instudentsthedesiredresponsestomaterial,responses designed to deepen theirengagement with and understanding ofkey course concepts and to expand theirrepertoireofthinkingskillsandstrategies Teachers must have a reference point forcollegereadinessthatextendsbeyondtheirownpreviousexperiencesincollegeorselfreports from the few students who returntosharetheirpost-highschoolexperiencesincollege

The necessary support ideally takes theformofprofessionaldevelopmentactivitiesinwhich teachers learn to focus their curriculaonkey ideasandsupportingconceptsandtoteachthesethroughtechniques,activities,andassignments that requirestudents todevelopthe key cognitive strategies necessary forcollege success Suchactivitiesareoftenbestundertaken in partnership with colleaguesfrom postsecondary institutions They caninclude seminars on recent developments intheacademicfield,debateanddiscussionsofcontroversialideasinthesubjectarea,critiques

ofpotentialstudentassignments,andreviewsof student writing and a consideration ofstrategiestoimprovewriting

These activities need not be didacticin nature, with the postsecondary facultypossessing all the answers and the highschool faculty viewed as being in need ofenlightenment Instead,thesesessionscanbecollaborative and collegial in nature Whilesuch sessions ideally begin with face-to-face interactions, they can be sustained andcontinuedthroughtheuseofonlinediscussionboards and other electronic means that helpfacultybuildandstrengthenconnectionsacrossthesystemboundaries

Whileeveryhigh school teachermaynotnecessarily participate in such activities, acriticalmasswillhavea transformativeeffecton the academic culture and norms of thehighschool Expectationsforwhatconstitutescurrent teacher knowledge of the subjectwill be transformed along with the level ofchallenge and rigor in courses In the past,the Advanced Placement program attemptedtoachievethisgoalthroughsessionsthatdidverymuchwhatwasdescribedpreviously ThisworkedwellwhentheAPcommunitywassmallandcloseknit TherecentrapidexpansionofAPhasstretchedthefabricofthiscommunitytosomedegreeandmadeitmoredifficulttosustainthetypeofintellectualinteractionthatisneeded

Additionally, AP teachers often did notsharetheirexperienceswithotherhighschoolfaculty, which resulted in AP courses havingadifferenttenortothemthantherestofthecurriculum ThisnowneedstochangesothatthenewandexpandedAPofferingsatmanyschool can serve as a reference point for aninfusion of ideas and techniques that betterprepareallstudentsforcollege,whethertheytakeanactualAPcourse


Adefinitionofcollegereadinessmustalsoaddress the issue of how students combinethe various facets of college readiness Forstudents, the combination is more complexbecause it includes the elements under theschool’scontrolalongwiththosethatarenot

Inparticular,studentsneedtounderstandwhatitreallymeanstobecollege-ready Theyneedtounderstandwhattheymustdoaswellaswhatthesystemrequiresorexpectsofthem Theymust,firstandforemost,understandthatcollegeadmissionisareasonableandrealisticgoalthatcanbeattainedthroughplanninganddiligentattentiontonecessarytasks

Because colleges judge students basedonthesumtotaloftheirperformanceinhighschool (although many omit the freshmanyearandsomefunctionallyignorethesecondsemester of senior year), it is critical thatstudents begin their journey toward collegereadiness immediately before they arrive inhighschool Whilethispaperwillnotexploretheroleofthemiddleschoolinmakingstudentscollege-ready, it is worth noting that, at theleast, the connection between middle schoolandhighschoolmathandEnglishprogramsisworthcarefulscrutiny Students,fortheirpart,needtobemakingtherightdecisionastheyprepare their very first high school scheduleas incoming ninth graders A wrong decisionatthispointcanhaveramificationsthroughouthighschoolandbeyond

Similarly,theyneedtoconstructanoverallplan for college preparation that ensuresthey will develop the necessary skills in aprogressivelymorecomplexfashionoverfouryears Ideally,theschool’sprogramofstudywillbedesignedsothatstudentscannotmakebaddecisions The element of individual studentplanning is important in the US educationalsystem,wherehighschoolandcollegearenotcloselyordirectlyconnected

A number of states have instituted whatthey call “default” high school programs ofstudy into which all students are enrolledunless their parents specifically exempt themfromtheprogram Theprogramsofstudyaredesignedtomeettheentrancerequirementsofthestateuniversitysystem Thisisafirststepinthedirectionofensuringthatstudentsdonotmakebaddecisions inhigh school,decisionstheyquicklycometoregretwhentheyarefacedwiththeprospectoflifeafterhighschool

Studentsneedtotaketheresponsibilitytoutilize the informationpresented to themoncollege academic and financial requirementsandtodiscussthis informationwithadults intheirliveswhomaybeabletohelpthem Notallstudentshavesupportivefamilyenvironments,but support can come from other quartersaswell,andstudentsneedtobeencouragedto reachout toand interactwithadultswhocanhelpthemnavigatethecollegereadinessgauntlet, whether these adults are relatives,communityservicestaff,oradultsattheschoolwho may be paid staff or volunteers Youngpeople need personal contact and guidancetoknowhowtobecome,andbelievetheyarecapableofbeing,college-ready

Given the knowledge-intensive systemof college readiness, admission, andfinancialaidthattheUShasdeveloped,thiscomponentofpersonalsupportandstudentinitiativecannotbeoverlookedinthecollegereadinessequation

What Students Can Do to Develop Their College Readiness


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Redefining College Readiness

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