Ramp-Up to Readiness

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Grades, test scores and even attendance rates can often be lagging rather than leading indicators of trouble in school. Often, by the time problems appear in those areas, the student has already become disengaged from learning in ways that can have a devastating effect on his or her academic momentum and progress toward higher education.

To help monitor students’ motivation and attitudes toward school and preparing for higher education, another core component of Ramp-Up to Readiness is the Personal Readiness Evaluation for Postsecondary (PREP), a short, sel-report instrument that measures attitudes that research has shown affect academic momentum and success in school.

The PREP in Ramp-Up to Readiness builds on the successful use of the Student Engagement Instrument (SEI) as a tool for monitoring students’ likelihood of dropping out of school in the Check & Connect program. The Ramp-Up PREP will apply the same approach to the task of taking rigorous courses and preparing for college.

Collection of validation infromation on the PREP is continuing and so while it should not be used for hihg stakes educational decisions, the PREP is ready to use informally with students to spark discussion and inform instruction. A lesson plan for using the PREP with students, along with two versions of the instrument and self-scoring guidelines can be found below.