The Problem of College Readiness

Description

Though more students are entering college, many drop out, especially those who are low income and/or of color. To address this problem, educational stakeholders have focused on the concept of "college readiness," or the preparation a student needs to succeed in college. However, what it means to be college ready and how to help more students become ready are questions without clear answers. By way of historical and contemporary analyses, this book uses California as a case study to demonstrate how the state has endeavored to make postsecondary opportunity accessible for all students. The contributors also explore the challenges that remain and address what states and schools can do to improve college readiness and completion.
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments

Part I. Introduction

1. The Problem of College Readiness
Julia C. Duncheon

2. The Roots of College Readiness: An Old Problem with New Complexities
Daniel J. Almeida

3. The Challenge of the Least Ready: A Historical Perspective
Bryan Adán Rodríguez

Part II. Using Theory, Policy, and Practice to Analyze a State Response

4. College Readiness and Low Income Youth: The Role of Social Capital in Acquiring College Knowledge
Daniel J. Almeida

5. The Early Assessment Program: Is Early Notification Enough?
Lisa D. Garcia

6. Making Sense of Contested Terrain: Writing Remediation, Faculty Perspectives, and the Challenge of Implementation
Julia C. Duncheon

7. On the Path to Completion: Exploring how higher Education Policy Influences the Least Ready College Students
Bryan Adán Rodríguez

Part III. Conclusion

8. The Way Forward: Looking Back
William G. Tierney

Contributors
Index

Sujets

• Tertiary education
• Education

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 30 mars 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781438457253
• Langue: English

Extrait

THE PROBLEM OF COLLEGE READINESS
The Problem of College Readiness
EDITED BY William G. Tierney and Julia C. Duncheon
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2015 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Production: Jenn Bennett
Marketing: Anne M. Valentine
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The problem of college readiness / edited by William G. Tierney and Julia C. Duncheon.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4384-5723-9 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-4384-5725-3 (e-book) 1. Educational equalization—United States. 2. College preparation programs—United States. 3. Academic achievement—United States. I. Tierney, William G., editor of compilation, author. II. Duncheon, Julia C., 1984– editor of compilation, author. LC213.2.P755 2015 379.2'6—dc23 2014034930
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
PART I Introduction
1. The Problem of College Readiness
JULIA C. DUNCHEON
2. The Roots of College Readiness: An Old Problem with New Complexities
DANIEL J. ALMEIDA
3. The Challenge of the Least Ready: A Historical Perspective
BRYAN ADÁN RODRÍGUEZ
PART II Using Theory, Policy, and Practice to Analyze a State Response
4. College Readiness and Low-Income Youth: The Role of Social Capital in Acquiring College Knowledge
DANIEL J. ALMEIDA
5. The Early Assessment Program: Is Early Notification Enough?
LISA D. GARCIA
6. Making Sense of Contested Terrain: Writing Remediation, Faculty Perspectives, and the Challenge of Implementation
JULIA C. DUNCHEON
7. On the Path to Completion: Exploring How Higher Education Policy Influences the Least Ready College Students
BRYAN ADÁN RODRÍGUEZ
PART III Conclusion
8. The Way Forward: Looking Back
WILLIAM G. TIERNEY
Contributors
Index
ILLUSTRATIONS
Table 1.1. High school to college pipeline: Nationwide outcomes for the year 2010
Table 1.2. Average U.S. remediation rates among incoming college students, Fall 2006
Table 1.3. Remediation rates among incoming students at California State University, Fall 2013
Table 1.4. Components of college readiness
Table 1.5. The college readiness policy agenda for public high schools
Table 3.1. Percentage of students who tested into each level of math and English, Fall 2010
Table 3.2. Percentage of students who passed each level of remedial math based on initial placement
Table 3.3. Number of least ready students by subject in California community colleges, Fall 2010
Figure 3.1. Distribution of students across remedial math levels by race/ethnicity
Figure 3.2. Distribution of students across remedial writing levels by race/ethnicity
Table 4.1. Demographics and academic indicators of sample and school populations
Table 5.1. CSU regularly admitted first-time freshman English and math remediation rates, total and by ethnicity (1998–2013)
Table 5.2. 2006–2013 EAP English and math results
Figure 5.1. Early Assessment Program letter to eleventh grade students
Figure 5.2. EAP results as shown on the 11th Grade CST Score Report
Table 6.1. Campuses, remedial programs, and participants
Table 6.2. Participants’ roles
Figure 6.1. English faculty sense-making and implementation of the Early Start Program
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
W e are grateful to the Rossier School of Education and the Pullias Center for Higher Education at the University of Southern California for the financial support to undertake this project. Monica Raad and Diane Flores in the Pullias Center, and Noel Alumit in the Research Office were extremely helpful in the final production and editing of the text. Our editor at SUNY, Beth Bouloukos, also was supportive throughout the project and a pleasure to work with from beginning to end. All royalties for the book will be donated for financial aid for low-income youth to attend a postsecondary institution.
Part I

INTRODUCTION
1

T HE P ROBLEM OF C OLLEGE R EADINESS
JULIA C. DUNCHEON
C ontemporary economic trends and social concerns have propelled postsecondary attainment into the center of the education policy agenda (Executive Office of the President, 2014). Although a high school diploma historically signified adequate training for the workforce (Baker, Clay, Gratama, 2005), the modern knowledge-based economy increasingly requires tertiary degrees (Dohm Shniper, 2007). College completion is associated with myriad benefits such as increased earnings and job satisfaction, higher levels of civic engagement, and lower crime rates (Baum Ma, 2007; Camara, Wiley, Wyatt, 2010; OECD, 2009). Yet postsecondary attainment remains stratified by race, ethnicity, and class (Rosenbaum Becker, 2011). Educational stakeholders have thus focused on enhancing college access and success (Kirst Venezia, 2004). As President Obama declared in 2009, “a good education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity—it is a prerequisite.”
While larger proportions of high school graduates are entering college relative to prior generations, many students leave prior to degree completion (Ashtiani Feliciano, 2012). Approximately 56% of four-year university students and 30% of two-year students obtain a degree (Symonds, Schwartz, Ferguson, 2011). Table 1.1 presents data on students’ high school to college pathways. High rates of remediation, or non-credit-bearing coursework for students underprepared in English and math, present further cause for concern (Bettinger, Boatman, Long, 2013). Nationally, remedial enrollment exceeds 20% in public four-year institutions and 50% in community colleges (Complete College America, 2012). Remediation is associated with increased likelihood of attrition and time-to-degree (Flores Oseguera, 2013).
TABLE 1.1. High school to college pipeline: Nationwide outcomes for the year 2010 For every 100 9th graders # Graduate from high school # Enroll in college after high school # Are still enrolled their sophomore year # Graduate within 150% time In the U.S. 74 46 31 21 In California 74 46 30 22
Source: National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (n.d.)
Underrepresented students—those who are first-generation, low-income, and/or of color—face particular challenges pertaining to higher educational access and completion. For instance, only about 30% of students from the bottom income quartile enroll in college relative to 80% from the top quartile (Bailey Dynarski, 2011). In 2009, 35% of blacks and 29% of Latinas/os ages 18 to 24 were enrolled in higher education compared to 46% of whites (Kim, 2011). Despite the pervasive assumption that Asian students are the “model minority” (The Education Trust-West, 2012), the college enrollment rates of many Asian Pacific subgroup populations (e.g., Vietnamese, Hmong, Laotian, Cambodian, Pacific Islanders) trail behind those of whites (Teranashi, 2011). Underrepresented students also experience lower rates of completion on average relative to the general population (Aud et al., 2013). Low-income students are six times less likely than their higher-income peers to earn a bachelor’s degree by age 25 (Bailey Dynarkski, 2011). From 2010–2011, 39% of whites ages 25 to 29 held a bachelor’s degree or higher compared to 20% of African Americans, 13% of Latinas/os (Aud et al., 2012), and 12%–14% of Laotians, Hmong, and Cambodians (Teranashi, 2013). Part of the problem is that underrepresented students are more likely than their traditional counterparts to attend less-selective institutions for which they are overqualified (e.g., community colleges; Roderick, Coca, Nagaoka, 2011) or take remedial courses (Complete College America, 2012; see Table 1.2 ), factors that are associated with lower likelihood of graduation.
Enhancing higher educational attainment is not simply a matter of enrolling more students in college. High school students must graduate with the knowledge and skills necessary to pursue their postsecondary objectives (Achieve, 2011). Educational researchers and policymakers have thus focused on college readiness (Collins, 2009). A college-ready student is prepared to enter a postsecondary institution without need for remediation and navigate the system to obtain a degree (Conley, 2008; ConnectEd, 2012). Stakeholders aim to define the elements of readiness and enact policies to facilitate students’ movement through the K-16 pipeline (Callan, Finney, Kirst, Usdan, Venezia, 2006; Foley, Mishook, Lee, 2013).
TABLE 1.2. Average U.S. remediation rates among incoming college students, Fall 2006 Entering two-year colleges Entering four-year colleges African American 67.7% 39.1% Latina/o 58.3% 20.6% White 46.8% 13.6% Other race/ethnicity 48.9% 16.9% Low-income 64.7% 31.9% Total 51.7% 19.9%
Source: Complete College America (2012)
The college readiness agenda has revealed the misalignment between secondary and postsecondary contexts and encouraged greater rigor in high school curricula (A