The research behind Ramp-Up: rigor
Printer-friendly versionCollege readiness means going beyond minimum state academic standards and passing scores on state assessments. College readiness means preparation to handle the higher expectations, faster pacing and deeper thinking skills needed in college courses. That requires knowledge and skills that go beyond the measures of proficiency used to date on Minnesota state assessments, skills that can be acquired through rigorous high school classes.
Clifford Adelman’s research shows dramatic gains in college success from taking rigorous high school courses, especially for students of color and low-income students. He followed a national sample of students from the Class of 1992, from eighth grade through their college experiences. Adelman determined that the rigor of a high school curriculum mattered more than any other single factor in predicting graduation with a four-year degree. Specifically, the highest level of math taken in high school was critical, and going beyond Algebra II was a primary indicator of future graduation.cit.Adelman, C. (2006). The Toolbox Revisited: Paths to Degree Completion From High School Through College. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education. PDF download
David Conley’s researchcit.Conley, D. T., (October 22, 2008). Preparing More Students for Postsecondary Success, Western States Benchmarking Consortium, Educational Policy Improvement Center; Conley, D. T. (2007). Toward a more comprehensive conception of college readiness. Eugene, OR: Educational Policy Improvement Center. digs into the necessary content knowledge beyond course names and identifies “writing skills, algebraic concepts, key foundational content and ‘big ideas’ from core subjects” as the essential knowledge needed for postsecondary success. But even more important than content knowledge are the key cognitive strategies Conley identifies: analytic reasoning, problem solving, inquisitiveness, precision, interpretation and evaluating claims. These cognitive skills go far beyond memorizing information, which is often sufficient to pass state assessments.
Another measure of rigor in academic preparation is a student’s score on the ACT, the college entrance exam taken by the majority of Minnesota high school students. Only 32 percent of Minnesota’s 2009 ACT-tested graduates met all four college readiness benchmarks set by ACT: an 18 in English, 22 in math, 21 in reading, and 24 in science.cit.ACT, Measuring College and Career Readiness: The Class of 2009, Minnesota. August 2009, retrieved at http://act.org/news/data/09/statemenu.html Those scores reflect a 75-percent probability of getting a B, or 50-percent probability of a C, in the corresponding college course. For more information, see ACT’s explanation at www.act.org/research/policymakers/pdf/benchmarks.pdf
A working group of the Minnesota P-20 Education Partnership, consisting of a wide cross-section of K12 and postsecondary educators, employers, policy makers, and parents researched and deliberated for over a year to define ‘college and career readiness’ for Minnesota. Their report, called a Roadmap to College and Career Readiness, identifies a high academic bar that all students can and should meet, whether they choose college or a direct career path, as well as ways to achieve it. http://www.mnp16.org/documents/MicrosoftWord-ReadinessPaper-FINAL_002.pd...
