Reality Check!
The Wednesday, August 17 2011 edition of the Chicago Sun Times headline reads, “Illinois ACT scores: 3 in 4 NOT READY FOR COLLEGE.” However, the folk in Illinois may take some consolation in the fact that the same is true of student performance in most other states.
In a recent posting regarding the concept of “Backwards Mapping” I referred to student performance on the 2010 ACT. Unfortunately, there was little improvement in student performance on the 2011 ACT. English and Reading performance remained unchanged, Math performance increased 2 percentage points and Science performance increased 1 percentage point.
- 66 percent of students were considered college-ready in English
- 52 percent of students were considered college-ready in Reading
- 45 percent of students were considered college-ready in Mathematics
- 30 percent of students were considered college-ready in Science
The huge differences in the level of college readiness by race continued to be disappointing:
- 41 percent of Asian students demonstrated college-readiness in all subject areas
- 31 percent of White students demonstrated college-readiness in all subject areas
- 15 percent of Pacific Islander students demonstrated college-readiness in all subject areas
- 11 percent of Native American students demonstrated college-readiness in all subject areas
- 11 percent of Hispanic students demonstrated college-readiness in all subject areas
- 4 percent of Black students demonstrated college-readiness in all subject areas
Although student performance is bad, it is worst when considered within the context of student postsecondary expectations. Following are the percentages of students demonstrating college-readiness in all areas and the percentages of students with aspirations of pursuing a 4-year college degree or higher:
- 41 percent of Asian students are college ready while 84 percent have aspirations of pursuing a 4-year college degree or higher
- 31 percent of White students are college ready while 85 percent have aspirations of pursuing a 4-year college degree or higher
- 15 percent of Pacific Islander students are college ready while 84 percent have aspirations of pursuing a 4-year college degree or higher
- 11 percent of Native American students are college ready while 78 percent have aspirations of pursuing a 4-year college degree or higher
- 11 percent of Hispanic students are college ready while 78 percent have aspirations of pursuing a 4-year college degree or higher
- 4 percent of Black students are college ready while 80 percent have aspirations of pursuing a 4-year college degree or higher
Clearly, something is wrong! How can so many students go through high school with aspirations of pursuing a 4-year college degree or higher and so few students are graduating from high school ready for college? Either our high schools are out of touch with what will be required for their students to succeed in college, our teachers are teaching students less than what their subjects require for students to be ready for college, or our children are out of touch with how they should be applying themselves in their high school coursework so that they are ready for college (which is what they are claiming to want). Perhaps there is a perfect storm in which all of these are true?
Nevertheless, as I previously posted,
“If you are a parent of an elementary and middle school student, then you should get copies of the ACT and SAT sample tests. Ensure that your child is being introduced to the type of problem solving, language, vocabulary, and core content necessary to perform well on either the SAT or ACT. Compare what your child is expected to know on the tests with what he or she is learning in school. As more schools focus almost exclusively on preparing your child for grade-level and standardized tests, your child may be short changed when it comes to developing the broad range of critical thinking and reasoning skills that he or she will need to ensure that he or she is ready for college.”