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Policy Report February 2013

©2013 by ACT, Inc. All rights reserved. The ACT® is a registered trademark of ACT, Inc., in the U.S.A. and other countries. 19527

College readiness helps provide

students with early momentum

towards long-term college success.

Helping more students become

ready for first-year college courses

in at least one more subject area

has the potential to help our nation

increase the number of its students

with a college degree and build a

more highly-skilled and productive

workforce.

Readiness Matters: The Impact of College Readiness on

College Persistence and Degree Completion

Key FindingsThis report highlights the importance of college readiness for persisting in college to timely degree completion. Primary findings suggest that:

• Beingbetterpreparedacademicallyforcollegeimprovesastudent’schances of completing a college degree.

• Usingmultiplemeasuresofcollegereadinessbetterinformsthelikelihood of a student persisting and succeeding in college.

• Collegereadinessreducesgapsinpersistenceanddegreecompletionamong racial/ethnic and family income groups.

• Earlymonitoringofreadinessisassociatedwithincreasedcollegesuccess.

IntermsofnumbersofACT-tested2012highschoolgraduates,theestimatedimpactofallstudentsbeingreadyforfirst-year,credit-bearingcollegecoursesinonemoresubjectareainclude:

• Nearly92,000moreACT-testedhighschoolgraduateswouldimmediatelyenrollincollegethefallfollowinghighschoolgraduation.

• OfACT-testedstudentsexpectedtoenrollinatwo-orfour-yearpostsecondaryinstitutionimmediatelyafterhighschool,about124,000morestudentswouldcompleteacollegedegreewithin sixyearsofenrollingincollege.

Havingmorestudentsimmediatelyenrollingincollegeafterhighschool,fewerstudentsrequiringremedialcoursework,andmorestudents completing a college degree in a timely manner has the potentialtohelpthenationmeetPresidentObama’s2020collegedegreecompletiongoalandbuildamorehighly-skilledand productiveworkforce.

Policy Report

2

Among ACT-tested 2012 high school

graduates, more than 80% aspire to

complete a bachelor’s degree, and

yet significant percentages of them

are not ready for first-year, credit-

bearing college courses:

• 33%forEnglishComposition

• 54%forCollegeAlgebra

• 48%forsocialsciencescourses

• 69%forBiology1

The ACT longitudinal assessment

systemincludesACTExplore® (taken

ingrade8or9),ACTPlan® (taken in

grade10),andtheACTTest(taken

ingrade11or12)thatmeasure

educational achievement in four

contentareas(English,mathematics,

reading,andscience).Based

onextensiveresearchintowhat

postsecondaryeducatorsexpect

from entering college students, each

assessment measures what students

are able to do with what they have

learned in school.

This study is based on a nationally

representative random sample of

~25,000ACT-testedhighschool

graduates who immediately

enrolled in either a two- or four-

year postsecondary institution after

high school and were tracked for

seven years using National Student

Clearinghouse data.2

IntroductionToday,amajorityofhighschoolgraduatesaspiretoearnacollegedegree,andyetonly68%ofthemimmediatelyenrollinatwo-orfour-yearpostsecondaryinstitutionaftercompletinghighschool.3Evenamongstudentswhodoenrollincollegemanyofthemfailtocompleteadegree—onlyabout60%ofstudentsatfour-yearinstitutionscompleteabachelor’sdegreewithinsixyearsofinitiallyenrolling,anddegreecompletionratesattwo-yearinstitutionsareevenworse.4

But,givenwhatweknowaboutthecurrentconditionofthecollegeandcareerreadinesslevelsofhighschoolgraduatesnationally,aretheselowdegreecompletionratesreallythatsurprising?Resultsfromstandardized test scores that are aligned to college readiness standards (suchastheACT®Test)assistinidentifyingthegapsthatexistbetweentheknowledgeandskillsstudentshaveacquiredinhighschoolandthosethatareneededtobesuccessfulincollege.5 Many students do not persistincollegetodegreecompletionbecausetheyareill-preparedforcollegeandrequireremedialcoursework.6 Many students also lack the academicbehaviorsandgoalsthatareneededtosucceedincollege.7

States,districts,andschoolsarelookingforsolutionstohelpimprovethecollegeandcareerreadinessoftheirhighschoolgraduates.Forty-fivestatesandtheDistrictofColumbiahaveformallyadoptedtheCommonCoreStateStandards.Somestates,districts,andschoolshaveimplementedadditionalcollegereadinessassessments,suchasthosethatcomprisetheACTlongitudinalassessmentsystem,tomonitorstudents’progresstowardsbecomingcollegeandcareerreadyandtoincreasetheirawarenessof,preparationfor,andaccesstohighereducation.8 Many states are also adopting more rigorous graduation requirements,aswellasend-of-courseexamstohelpensurecoursequality.9Statesanddistrictsarealsoworkingonactionstoimproveteacherpreparationandevaluation.10

Inthisreport,weexaminetheimpactofcollegereadinessonstudents’likelihood of persisting in college and completing a degree.11 This issue isexaminedfromthefollowingfourangles:

1.Theeffectsthathighschoolacademicpreparationhasonstudents’chancesoflong-termcollegesuccess.

2.Thebenefitsofusingmultiplemeasuresofreadinesstoinformthelikelihood of students persisting and succeeding in college.

3.Theextenttowhichcollegereadinessreducesgapsincollegesuccess rates among racial/ethnic and family income groups.

4.Thepositiverolethatearlymonitoringofcollegeandcareerreadinessplaysinincreasingthelikelihoodthatstudentswill persist in college and complete a degree.

Policy ReportFebruary 2013

3

ForeachadditionalBenchmark

that is met, students’ chances of

completing a bachelor’s degree by

year6increaseby7to8percentage

points for students who initially

enroll in a four-year institution

(referredtoasfour-yearstudents).

A similar result holds for two-year

students’ chances of completing an

associate’s or bachelor’s degree by

year6.

1. Students who are better prepared academically for college have a greater chance of persisting in college and completing a degree.

ACTdevelopeditsCollegeReadinessBenchmarkstohelpstudentsidentifyinwhichsubjectareastheyarereadyforcollegeandcareer.TheBenchmarksaretheminimumscoresontheACTthatrepresentthelevelofachievementrequiredforstudentstohaveahighprobabilityofsuccessinfirst-year,credit-bearingcollegecourses—EnglishComposition,CollegeAlgebra,socialsciencescourses,andBiology.12

StudentswhomeettheindividualACTBenchmarkshavehighercollegepersistenceanddegreecompletionratesthanthosewhodonotmeettheBenchmarks(byupto22percentagepoints),aftercontrollingforpostsecondary institution attended. The largest differences in success ratesaregenerallyseenbetweenstudentsmeetingandthosenotmeetingtheBenchmarkinmathematicsorEnglish.13

Moreover,asthenumberofACTBenchmarksmetincreases,students’likelihood of persisting in college and completing a degree also increases.Inparticular,studentswhoarereadyinallfoursubjectareashavesubstantiallyhighercollegepersistenceanddegreecompletionratesthanstudentswhoarenotreadyinanyofthesubjectareas.

Six-year degree completion rates by number of ACT Benchmarks met and institution type

Giventhataboutone-fourthoffour-yearstudentswhoarereadyinallfoursubjectareasarewithoutabachelor’sdegreesixyearslater,thereareclearlyotherstudentcharacteristicscontributingtostudents’successin college.

44

21 29

52

23

35

60

26

42

68

29

50

75

33

57

0

20

40

60

80

100

Bachelor’s degree Associate’s degree Associate’s or bachelor’s degree

Four-year students Two-year students

Per

cent

0 1 2 3 4 Number of ACT Benchmarks met:

Policy Report

4

ForeachBenchmarkgroup,the

percentage of students with a

HSGPAof3.00orhigheris

greater for degree completers

thanfornon-completers(by9

to23percentagepoints).

2. Using multiple measures of college readiness helps inform students’ likelihood of college success.

Usingmultiplemeasures—suchasbothACTscoresandhighschoolgradepointaverage(HSGPA)—isgenerallymorebeneficialforpredictingstudents’chancesofcollegesuccessthanusingasinglemeasure.14

HSGPAlikelymeasuresaspectsofboththecognitiveandnoncognitivecomponentsofcollegereadiness,includingacademicbehaviors.15 ACTscores,ontheotherhand,moredirectlymeasurethecognitiveknowledgeandskillsneededforcollegesuccess.ForstudentswhomeetthesamenumberofACTBenchmarks,degreecompletersaremorelikelythannon-completerstohaveaHSGPAof3.00orhigher.

Percentages of students with a HSGPA of 3.00 or higher by six-year degree completion status and the number of ACT Benchmarks met

Note: Degree completion status is defined as completing a bachelor’s degree for four-year students and completing an associate’s or bachelor’s degree for two-year students.

But,becauseofthelargedisparitiesbetweenhighschoolsintheirgradingpracticesandtherigoroftheircourses,simplyearninghighergradesinhighschoolisinsufficienttoguaranteethatstudentswillbesuccessfulincollege.Ahigh-rankingorhighHSGPAstudentfromoneschoolcoulddiffersubstantiallyfromahigh-rankingorhighHSGPAstudentfromanotherschoolinhis/herpreparednessforcollege-levelwork.Differencesinacademicpreparation,ontheotherhand,aregenerallyreflectedinACTscores.16

60

74

84 92

97

45

65 70

81

93

41

57

68

78

88

30

42

55

69 73

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 1 2 3 4 0 1 2 3 4


Per

cent

Degree No degree

Number of ACT Benchmarks met


5

ThenumberofACTBenchmarks

met provides additional differentiation

in students’ chances of persisting

in college and completing a degree,

overandaboveHSGPA.

The psychosocial factors measured

byACTEngage® that are important

for student success can be grouped

into three domains:

• MotivationandSkills

• SocialEngagement

• Self-Regulation

For the ACT-tested 2012 high school

graduatingclass,59%and44%

of African American and Hispanic

students met none of the ACT

Benchmarks,comparedto18%of

White students doing so.

Evenamongstudentswhoearnhighergradesinhighschool(aHSGPAof3.50orhigher),studentswhomeetmoreoftheACTCollegeReadinessBenchmarkshavehigherpersistenceanddegreecompletionratesthanthosewhomeetfewerofthem.

Six-year degree completion rates by number of ACT Benchmarks met and institution type for students with a HSGPA of 3.50 or higher

Priorresearchhasshownthatacademicbehaviors(includingmotivationandacademicdiscipline)provideinformationbeyondmeasuresofacademicachievementthatincreasesaccurateidentificationofstudentswhoareatriskofpoorgradesincollegeand for dropping out.17Otherstudentcharacteristics,includingfamilyenvironment(supportandencouragementtosucceedincollege)andlifesituations(theneedtoworkwhileincollege,carefordependents),alsohelpdifferentiatedegreecompletersfromnon-completers.18

3. Racial/ethnic and family income gaps in college success rates are reduced when college readiness is taken into account.

Gapsexistincollegereadinessandsuccessratesacrossracial/ethnicandfamilyincomegroups.Underrepresentedminoritystudentsandlower-incomestudentsarelesslikelytobeacademicallypreparedforcollegeandcareer.CollegeenrollmentratesarealsolowerforAfricanAmericanandHispanicstudentsthanforAsianandWhitestudents,andforlower-incomestudentsthanforhigher-incomestudents.19And,ofstudentswhoenrollincollege,substantialnumbersdonotpersisttoacollegedegree,especiallystudentsfromunderrepresentedminoritygroupsandthosefromfamilieswithlowerannualincomes.20

60

34

48

65

35

53

70

36

56

75

37

60

80

38

64

0

20

40

60

80

100

Bachelor’s degree Associate’s degree Associate’s or bachelor’s degree


Per

cent

0 1 2 3 4 Number of ACT Benchmarks met:

Policy Report

6

The likelihood of persisting in a four-

year college to bachelor’s degree

completion is much lower for African

American, Hispanic, and lower-

income students than for White and

higher-income students (by as much

as20percentagepoints).

AsthenumberofBenchmarksmet

increases,thesix-yearbachelor’s

degree completion rate also

increases for each racial/ethnic and

family income group.

Thegapinsix-yearbachelor’s

degree completion rates between

White and African American students

isreducedfrom19percentage

points (regardless of number of

Benchmarksmet;64%vs.45%,

respectively)to9percentagepoints

for students who meet all four of the

Benchmarks(75%vs.66%).

Six-year bachelor’s degree completion rates for racial/ethnic and family income groups for four-year students

Foreachracial/ethnicandfamilyincomegroup,persistenceanddegreecompletionaresubstantiallymorelikelytohappenforstudentswhomeetmoreoftheACTBenchmarksthanforthosewhomeetfewerofthem(byatleast26percentagepointsbetweenstudentswhomeetallfouroftheBenchmarksandthosewhomeetnoneofthem).And,comparedtotheoverallracial/ethnicandfamilyincomedifferencesincollegesuccessrates,gapsinratesamongracial/ethnicandfamilyincomegroupsaresmallerwhenstudents’collegereadinesslevelsaretaken into account.

Six-year bachelor’s degree completion rates by race/ethnicity and number of ACT Benchmarks met for four-year students

45

63

53

64

49

59

69

0

20

40

60

80

100

African American

Asian Hispanic White < $30,000 $30,000 to

$60,000

> $60,000

Per

cent

37 44

52 59

66

48 56

63 70

76

41 49

56 64

70

47 54

62 69

75

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 1 2 3 4

Per

cent


African American Asian Hispanic White


7

Thedifferenceinsix-yearbachelor’s

degree completion rates between

higher- and lower-income students

is reduced from 20 percentage

points (regardless of number of

Benchmarksmet;69%vs.49%,

respectively)to14percentagepoints

for students who meet all four of the

Benchmarks(79%vs.65%).

ACT data support that early

monitoring is associated with

increased:

• collegeandcareerreadiness

• collegeenrollment

• collegeachievement

• collegepersistence

• degreecompletion

Six-year bachelor’s degree completion rates by family income group and number of ACT Benchmarks met for four-year students

Reductionsinfamilyincomegapsincollegesuccessratesaregenerallysmallerthanthoseinracial/ethnicgaps.Lower-incomestudentsaremorelikelythantheirpeerstobefirst-generationstudentsandtohavenon-academicobligations(needtoworkand/orhavefamilyresponsibilities).Thesefactorscaninfluencetheirstudyhabitsandchancesoflong-termcollegesuccess,highlightingtheobstaclesthatlower-incomestudentsface,evenamongthosewhoarebetterpreparedacademically for college.21

4. Early monitoring of readiness is associated with increased college success.

ACTresearchhasrepeatedlyshownthatstudentsbenefitfromparticipating in an early monitoring system.22Besidesevaluatingreadinessandprovidingopportunityforearlyintervention,earlymonitoringwithACTExploreandACTPlanalsoletsstudentsexploretheircareerinterestsearlyandhelpsthemplanmoreeffectivelytoachievetheircollegeandcareergoals.Consideringlong-termcollegesuccess,studentswhoaremonitoredearlyaremorelikelytopersistincollegeandcompleteadegreethanstudentswhoarenot(i.e.,thosewhotaketheACTonly),aftercontrollingforthenumberofACTBenchmarksmetandthepostsecondaryinstitutionattended.23

36 43

51 58

65

43 50

58 65

72

53 60

67 73

79

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 1 2 3 4

Per

cent


< $30,000 $30,000 to $60,000 > $60,000

Policy Report

8

Four-year students who are

monitored early are also more

likely to complete a bachelor’s

degreebyyear6thanthosewho

arenotmonitoredearly(by4to

6percentagepoints).

Six-year bachelor’s degree completion rates by program participation and number of ACT Benchmarks met for four-year students

Note: Students who took all three assessments or just ACT Plan and the ACT Test are compared to those who took the ACT Test only. In the chart, these groups are referred to as “Early monitoring” and “ACT only,” respectively.

ResultsfromOklahoma,astatethatadministersACTExploreandACTPlanonastate-fundedvoluntarybasis,supportthislatterfinding:studentswhoaremonitoredearlyconsistentlyoutperformincollegethosewhotakeonlytheACTTest.24Moreover,earlyindicatorsofreadinessarepredictiveofstudents’likelihoodofgraduatingfromhighschool ready for college and of their chances of persisting in college to degree completion.25IthasalsobeenshownthatthechancesofcollegesuccessincreasewithimprovementinBenchmarkattainmentbetweengrades10and11/12.

Conclusions and RecommendationsFindingsfromthisstudyhighlightthepositiveeffectsthatcollegereadiness has on persistence in college to timely degree completion for studentsattendingeithertwo-orfour-yearpostsecondaryinstitutions.But,withoutrealreformsinK–12education,wewillcontinuetoseetoomanyhighschoolgraduatesenteringcollegeill-preparedforcredit-bearingcollegecourseworkandtoofewstudentsearningacollegedegree.Wewillalsocontinuetoseelargegapsincollegereadinessand success rates among racial/ethnic and family income groups. Implementation of college readiness standards is a step in the right direction.But,inorderfortheUStohaveaproperlyskilledworkforceabletomeettheworkplacedemandsofthe21stcentury,multiplestrategies and programs for increasing the college and career readiness of high school graduates are needed.

42 50

58 66

73

48 56

64 71

77

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 1 2 3 4

Per

cent


ACT only Early monitoring


9

To meet the economic demands

for our nation, we need a more

highly-skilled and better prepared

workforce.26 The majority of jobs in

thenextdecadewillrequiresome

form of postsecondary education.27

As a result, we must do a better job

ofpreparingandequippingstudents

to succeed in college and career.

ACT’sresearchsupportsthefollowingactionsforstates,districts,andschoolstobolstertheacademicpreparationandcollegereadinessoftheir students.

1.EvaluatetherigorandcontentofhighschoolcoursesinEnglish,mathematics,reading,andscienceandalignthecurricularcontentwithcollegereadinessstandards(suchastheACTCollegeReadinessStandards™andtheCommonCoreStateStandards)andtheskillsthatareneededtobesuccessfulincollegeandcareer.

2.Monitorearlyandoftenstudents’progresstowardsbecomingreadyforcollegeandintervenewithstudentswhoarenotontargetwhilethereisstilltimeforthemtocatchupbeforetheygraduatefromhigh school.

3.Helpstudentsdevelopstrongacademicbehaviorsthatcanenhancestudent success.

4.Provideallstudentswitheducationalandcareerguidancebydoingthefollowing:

• Helpthemtounderstandhowpreparingwellnowacademicallyiscritical for accomplishing their future career goals.

• Encouragethemtoexplorepersonallyrelevantcareeroptionsbasedontheirownskills,interests,andaspirations.

• Makeavailableusefulinformationandresourcesaboutthecollegeadmissions process and financial aid process to them and their parents,andassistthemwiththeseprocesses.

5.EstablishlongitudinalK–careerdatasystemstomonitorcloselystudentperformanceateverystageofthelearningpipeline,fromelementaryschoolthroughmiddleandhighschool,andallthewaythrough college and career to support alignment and cohesion of the education system.

Policy Report

10

Endnotes1 ACT,The Condition of College and Career Readiness 2012–National (IowaCity,IA:Author,

2012).

2 Primarydataforthisstudyincludedanationallyrepresentativerandomsampleof24,850ACT-tested2003highschoolgraduateswhoenrolledincollegeimmediatelyafterhighschoolandweretrackedforsevenyearsusingNationalStudentClearinghousedata.Seventy-sixpercentofthestudentsinthesampleenrolledinafour-yearinstitutioninfall2003(18,860four-yearstudentsfrom1,119four-yearinstitutions;5,990two-yearstudentsfrom603two-yearinstitutions).Weightedhierarchicallogisticregressionmodelswereestimatedtopredictpersistenceanddegreecompletion,whileaccountingforinitialpostsecondaryinstitutionattended.Formoredetailsaboutthestudy,seeJustineRadunzelandJulieNoble,Tracking 2003 ACT-Tested High School Graduates: College Readiness, Enrollment, and Long-Term Success, ACTResearchReportNo.2012-2(IowaCity,IA:ACT,Inc.,2012).

3 USDepartmentofEducationandNationalCenterforEducationStatistics,The Condition of Education 2006,NCES2006-071(Washington,DC:USGovernmentPrintingOffice,2006);ThomasD.SnyderandSallyA.Dillow,Digest of Education Statistics 2011, NCES2012-001(Washington,DC:NationalCenterforEducationStatistics,InstituteofEducationServices,USDepartmentofEducation,2012).Morethan75%ofhighschoolseniorsexpecttocompletesome postsecondary education.

4 PaulSkomsvold,AlexandriaWaltonRadford,andLutzBerkner,Web Tables—Six-Year Attainment, Persistence, Transfer, Retention, and Withdrawal Rates of Students who Began Postsecondary Education in 2003-04,NCES2011-152(Washington,DC:NationalCenterforEducationStatistics,USDepartmentofEducation,2011).Only16%ofstudentsattwo-yearinstitutionscompleteanassociate’sdegreewithinsixyearsofinitiallyenrollingincollege(ibid.,94,Table3.1-C).

5 ACT,ACT National Curriculum Survey® 2009(IowaCity,IA:Author,2009).

6 NationalCenterforPublicPolicyandHigherEducationandSouthernRegionalEducationBoard,Beyond the Rhetoric: Improving College Readiness by Improving State Policy (Washington,DC:Authors,2010);CliffordAdelman,Principal Indicators of Student Academic Histories in Postsecondary Education(Washington,DC:USDepartmentofEducation,2004).

7 DavidT.Conley,Redefining College Readiness, Volume 5(Eugene,OR:EducationalPolicyImprovementCenter,2011);VeronicaA.Lotkowski,StevenB.Robbins,andRichardJ.Noeth,The Role of Academic and Non-Academic Factors in Improving College Retention(IowaCity,IA:ACT,Inc.,2004).

8 ACT,Readiness and Success: Statewide Implementation of EXPLORE and PLAN (IowaCity,IA:Author,2009).

9 RobinChaitandAndreaVenezia,Improving Academic Preparation for College: What We Know and How State and Federal Policy Can Help (Washington,DC:CenterforAmericanProgress,2009),http://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/issues/2009/01/pdf/academic_prep.pdf.

10 SaraMead,Recent State Action on Teacher Effectiveness: What’s in State Laws and Regulations (Washington,DC:BellwetherEducationPartners,2012),http://bellwethereducation.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/RSA-Teacher-Effectiveness.pdf;BlakelyElizabethWhilden,K–12 Education Reform: Implications and Opportunities for Public Colleges and Universities (Washington,DC:AmericanAssociationofStateCollegesandUniversities,April2011).Actionsincludeestablishingnewstandardsforteachersandpreparationprograms,bettermonitoringofteachingpractices,andincorporatingstudentachievementintheevaluationprocess.

11 Priorresearchhasalreadydemonstratedthatstudentswhoarebetterpreparedacademicallyforfirst-yearcollegecoursesaremorelikelythanthosewhoarenotreadytoenrollincollegeimmediatelyafterhighschool,topersisttotheirsecondyearincollege,andtoachievehigherfirst-yearcollegecoursegrades.Theyarealsolesslikelytorequireremedialcoursework.Forresultsfrompriorstudies,seeforexample:KaseyKlepferandJimHull,High School Rigor and Good Advice: Setting Up Students to Succeed(Washington,DC:CenterforPublicEducation,2012),http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/Main-Menu/Staffingstudents/High-school-rigor-and-good-advice-Setting-up-students-to-succeed/High-school-rigor-and-good-advice-Setting-up-students-to-succeed-Full-Report.pdf;ACT,Mind the Gaps: How College Readiness Narrows Achievement Gaps in College Success(IowaCity,IA:Author,2010);ACT,What We Know about College Success: Using ACT Data to Inform Educational Issues(IowaCity,IA:Author,2008).


11

12 JeffAllenandJimSconing,Using ACT Assessment Scores to Set Benchmarks for College Readiness,ACTResearchReportNo.2005-3(IowaCity,IA:ACT,Inc.,2005);ACT,What are ACT’s College Readiness Benchmarks?(IowaCity,IA:Author,2013).

13 ResultsforindividualACTBenchmarkattainmentareprovidedinRadunzelandNoble,Tracking 2003 ACT-Tested High School Graduates, 2012.

14 JustineRadunzelandJulieNoble,Predicting Long-Term College Success through Degree Completion Using ACT Composite Score, ACT Benchmarks, and High School Grade Point Average, ACTResearchReportNo.2012-5(IowaCity,IA:ACT,Inc.,2012);JeffAllenandSteveRobbins,“EffectsofInterest-MajorCongruence,Motivation,andAcademicPerformanceonTimelyDegreeAttainment,”Journal of Counseling Psychology 57,no.1(2010):23-35.

15 HSGPAisnotonlyaffectedbylevelofcontentmastery,butisalsooftenaffectedbyastudent’sattendanceandpersonalbehaviors,suchaswhetherthestudentisprudentabouttakinggoodnotes,puttingfortheffort,participatinginclass,completinghomeworkassignments,andpreparingwellforcourseexams.

16 ACT,Courses Count: Preparing Students for Postsecondary Success(IowaCity,IA:Author,2005).

17 AllenandRobbins,“EffectsofInterest-MajorCongruence,Motivation,andAcademicPerformanceonTimelyDegreeAttainment,”2010;JeffAllen,StevenB.Robbins,AlexCasillas,andIn-SueOh,“Third-YearCollegeRetentionandTransfer:EffectsofAcademicPerformance,Motivation,andSocialConnectedness,”Research in Higher Education49(2008):647-664;StevenB.Robbins,JeffAllen,AlexCasillas,ChristinaHammePeterson,andHuyLe,“UnravelingtheDifferentialEffectsofMotivationalandSkills,Social,andSelf-ManagementMeasuresfromTraditionalPredictorsofCollegeOutcomes,”Journal of Educational Psychology 98(2006):598-616.

18 Conley,Redefining College Readiness,2011;JennyNagaoka,MelissaRoderick,andVanessaCoca,Barriers to College Attainment: Lessons from Chicago (Washington,DC:CenterforAmericanProgress,2009),http://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/issues/2009/01/pdf/ChicagoSchools.pdf;JenniferEngleandVincentTinto,Moving Beyond Access: College Success for Low-Income, First-Generation Students (Washington,DC:ThePellInstitute,2008);CarmenTym,RobinMcMillion,SandraBarone,andJeffWebster,First-Generation College Students: A Literature Review (RoundRock,TX:TexasGuaranteedStudentLoanCorporation,2004),http://www.tgslc.org/pdf/first_generation.pdf.Otherpsychosocial,familyenvironment,andlifesituationalcharacteristicswerenotavailableforthestudentsincluded in the current study.

19 SusanAud,WilliamHussar,GraceKena,KevinBianco,LaurenFrohlich,JanaKemp,KimTahan,andKatieMallory,The Condition of Education 2011, NCES2011-033(Washington,DC:USDepartmentofEducation,NationalCenterforEducationStatistics,2011);ACT,Mind the Gaps,2010.

20 ThomasD.SnyderandSallyA.Dillow,Digest of Education Statistics 2010, NCES2011-015 (WashingtonDC:NationalCenterforEducationStatistics,InstituteofEducationSciences,USDepartmentofEducation,2011).

21 EngleandTinto,Moving Beyond Access,2008; SylviaHurtado,ThomasF.NelsonLaird,andThomasE.Perorazio,The Transition to College for Low-Income Students: The Impact of the Gates Millennium Scholars Program (AnnArbor,MI:UniversityofMichiganCenterfortheStudyofHigherandPostsecondaryEducation,2010),http://www.gatesfoundation.org/learning/Documents/Final-TransitiontoCollege-Hurtado.pdf.

22 ACT,Staying on Target: The Importance of Monitoring Student Progress toward College and Career Readiness(IowaCity,IA:Author,2012).ThebenefitsofimplementingtheACTlongitudinalassessmentsystemdependonthequalityofbehaviorsandactivitiesimplemented,thepurpose(s)forwhichthesystemandrelatedbehaviorsarebeingimplemented,andthecontextinwhichtheyareimplemented.Formoreonthis,seeACT,Making Effective Use of ACT’s Longitudinal Assessment System (IowaCity,IA:Author,2012).Inthecurrentstudy,thespecificsrelatedtohowschoolsandstudentsusedthesystemandthetypesofactivitiestheyengagedinforstudentandschoolimprovementwerenotidentified.

23 FindingsholdtrueevenafteralsostatisticallycontrollingforHSGPAandannualfamilyincomerange.Theextenttowhichthesetwogroupsofstudentsdifferonotherstudentcharacteristicsthatarerelatedtolong-termcollegesuccesscouldaffecttheresults.

Policy Report

12

24 ACT,Early Monitoring and Long-Term College Success in Oklahoma(IowaCity,IA:Author,2013).

25 ACT,Catching Up to College and Career Readiness(IowaCity,IA:Author,2012);ACT,The Forgotten Middle: Ensuring that All Students Are on Target for College and Career Readiness before High School(IowaCity,IA:Author,2008).

26 JohnRaidt,“EnterprisingInnovationsforaCompetitiveNationalWorkforce,”Business Horizon Quarterly,Summer(2012):46-55.

27 InstituteforaCompetitiveWorkforce,Current Research and Practice, postedAugust26,2011,accessedDecember4,2012,http://icw.uschamber.com/content/current-research-and-practice;AnthonyP.Carnevale,NicoleSmith,andJeffStrohl,Help Wanted: Projections of Jobs and Education Requirements through 2018 (Washington,DC:GeorgetownUniversityCenteronEducationandtheWorkforce,2010).