ERIC ED513813: A First Look at the Common Core and College and Career Readiness PDF
Preview ERIC ED513813: A First Look at the Common Core and College and Career Readiness
COLLEGE A First Look at the Common Core READINESS and College and Career Readiness A First Look at the Common Core Forty-onestateshaveadoptedtheCommonCoreStateStandards.Now, implementingtheStandards—torealizetheirpurposeofincreasingthe collegeandcareerreadinessofourhighschoolgraduates—takeson primaryimportance.Thistransitiontoimplementationintroducesanumber ofchallengingquestions:Whatisthebaselineofstudentperformanceon theCommonCoreStateStandards,andwhatreasonableexpectations shouldweholdforstudentsmovingforward?Whatdoesstudentcollege andcareerreadinesslookliketodaythroughthelensoftheStandards? ACTispleasedtoprovidethisfirstlookatstudentperformancerelativeto theCommonCoreStateStandardsandcollegeandcareerreadiness.The reportestablishesabaselineofperformanceontheStandardsbyusinga samplecomprisingaquarter-milliontypicalhighschoolstudents,andthen discusseshowstates,districts,andschoolscansupporttheimplementation oftheCommonCoreStateStandardsgoingforward. TheperiodbetweenCommonCoreadoptionandCommonCore implementationoffersanimportantopportunitytoevaluateandreframe educationpolicyandpracticeatalllevels.ACTbelievesthisreportprovides informationthatstakeholderscanusetounderstandthecurrentstateof collegeandcareerreadinessofstudentsandtobeginimplementing programsandpoliciesthatbestsupporttheCommonCore. Nowisthetimetoprovidestudentswithmoreeffectiveopportunitiesto prepareforeducationandworkplacesuccess. ©2010byACT,Inc.Allrightsreserved. A Baseline for College and Career Readiness According to the Common Core State Standards The Common Core State usedinthecreationoftheCommonCore StateStandards. Standards and College and Career Readiness AsstatesbegintoimplementtheCommon TheCommonCoreStateStandardsInitiative Coreandraiseexpectationsforwhatstudents representsoneofthemostsignificantreforms shouldknowandbeabletodobytheendof toU.S.educationinrecenthistory.Theefforts highschool,itisimportanttounderstandthe of48states,twoterritories,andtheDistrictof levelofcollegeandcareerreadinessof Columbiahave—forthefirsttime—given today’sstudentsanduseallavailabledatato consensustoeducatorsontheessential informdecisionsrelatedtoeducationpolicy knowledgeandskillsnecessaryforthecollege andpractice.Recognizingthatnostatehas andcareerreadinessofournation’sstudents. fullyimplementedtheCommonCoreState AsofOctober2010,41stateshaveadopted Standards,ACTidentifiedawaytoestimate theCommonCoreStateStandards. performancerelativetotheCommonCore. Thisreportsummarizesthosefindings. ACTispleasedtohaveplayedaleadingrole inthedevelopmentoftheCommonCoreState GivenACT’sleadingroleinthedevelopment Standards.Notonlydidtheinitiativedrawon oftheCommonCoreStateStandards,we ACT’slongitudinalresearchidentifyingthe classifiedACTtestitemstothestandards, knowledgeandskillsessentialforsuccessin clusters,anddomainsoftheCommonCore postsecondaryeducationandworkforce StateStandards(e.g.,KeyIdeasandDetails training,butACT’sCollegeReadiness inReading,NumberandQuantityin Standards™werealsoamongtheresources Mathematics,ConventionsofStandardEnglish inLanguage)tobestestimatestudent performanceontheCommonCoreinadvance ofstateimplementationefforts.1Ourworkwas ACThaslongdefinedcollegeand drivenbythreebasicquestionsthathave careerreadinessastheacquisition implicationsfortheimplementationofthe oftheknowledgeandskillsa CommonCoreStateStandards: studentneedstoenrolland succeedincredit-bearing,first- 1. Giventhelackofavailabledata,whatis yearcoursesatapostsecondary thebestestimateofcurrentstudent institution(suchasatwo-orfour- performanceontheCommonCoreState yearcollege,tradeschool,or StandardsusingACTcollegeandcareer technicalschool)withouttheneed readinessdata? forremediation.ACT’sdefinitionof 2. Whatarestudents’currentstrengthsand collegeandcareerreadinesswas weaknessesontheCommonCoreState adoptedbytheCommonCore Standards? StateStandardsInitiativeand providesaunifyinggoalupon 3. Whatstepscandistrict,state,andfederal whicheducatorsandpolicymakers policymakersandeducationleaderstake nowmustact. tohelpensureaneffectivetransitiontothe CommonCoreStateStandards? 1 Other A Unique Opportunity 5% Hispanic Thesethreeessentialresearchquestions 11% framedACT’sanalysisofthetestresultsof 256,76511th-gradestudentsinseveralstates 17% AfricanAmerican 67% whowereadministeredselectedformsofthe ACT®PlusWriting(i.e.,multiple-choicetestsin Caucasian English,Mathematics,Reading,andScience, plustheACTWritingTest)inspring2010.The Tested Cohort by Race/Ethnicity studentsrepresentedinthisreportwerenot N=256,765 self-selected,astraditionalACTexaminees Figure1 are,butratherrepresentallstudentswhotook reportthepercentageofstudentsinthe theACTaspartoftheirstates’annualtesting 11th-gradesamplewhometorexceededthe programs.Thegroupspansthefullrangeof performancelevelofcollege-andcareer- abilitiesandcollegeaspirations,reflectsa readystudentsonthetestitemsassociated rangeofcommunitiesandschools,and withthatCommonCorecluster.Wereport includesstudentstestedunderstandard thisinformationforthetotalgroupandfor conditionsaswellasunderaccommodations. Caucasian,AfricanAmerican,andHispanic Inotherwords,thesamplecomprisestypical students. 11th-gradestudentslikethosefoundinhigh schoolsallacrosstheUnitedStates.(See Sohowwellarestudentsperformingonthe Figure1.) contentclustersoftheCommonCoreState Standards?Helpingtoraiseawarenessofthe Methodology answertothisquestionallowseducatorsand policymakerstheopportunitytofocusefforts Sinceperformanceindicatorshavenotyet onimprovingstudentperformanceonthe beenestablishedfortheCommonCoreState CommonCoreandincreasingthecollegeand Standards,thisreportusesACT’sresearch- careerreadinessofallstudents. basedCollegeReadinessBenchmarksto estimatecollege-andcareer-ready performancelevelsoneachoftheclustersof Overall Results CommonCoreStateStandards.Foreach Theresultsofthisanalysisshouldbeused clusterforwhichACThasdata(i.e.,allbut withcaution,astheyarebasedonresultsof Speaking&ListeningandResearch),we studentswhowereadministeredtheACTas The ACT College Readiness Benchmarksaretheminimumscoresrequiredon theACTsubjecttestsforhighschoolstudentstohaveapproximatelya75percent chanceofearningagradeofCorbetter,orapproximatelya50percentchanceof earningagradeofBorbetter,inselectedcoursescommonlytakenbyfirst-year collegestudents:EnglishComposition;CollegeAlgebra;socialsciencescourses suchasHistory,Psychology,Sociology,PoliticalScience,orEconomics;andBiology. TheBenchmarkscoresontheACTtestsare18inEnglish,22inMathematics, 21inReading,and24inScience;ontheACTWritingTest,ascoreof7orabove indicatesreadinessforcollege-levelwritingassignments. 2 partoftheirstatewideassessmentatatime includesstudentswitharangeofabilitieswho priortotheadoptionoftheCommonCoreState testedundernormalandaccommodated Standards.Giventhatstateswereteachingto conditions. andassessingdifferentsetsofstandards,itcan OuranalysisindicatesthatacrossallCommon bearguedthatstudentswerenotadequately Coredomains,strands,andclusters,onlyone- preparedforanassessmentoftheCommon thirdtoone-halfofthe11th-gradestudentsare CoreStateStandards.Weagree;however,the reachingacollegeandcareerreadinesslevel analysisisintendednottofocusonstudent ofachievement.Moreover,foreachCommon performanceoncurrentstatestandards,but Coredomain,strand,andcluster,the toshedlightoncurrentstudentachievement percentagesofCaucasianstudentswhomet levelsrelativetotheCommonCoreState orexceededtheperformanceofcollege-and Standards.AsstatesadopttheCommonCore career-readystudentswereuniformlyhigher StateStandardsandbeginaligninginstructional thanthecorrespondingpercentagesofAfrican practices,resources,andassessmentsto AmericanorHispanicstudents. collegeandcareerreadiness—assomehave beendoingforanumberofyears—the Theseresultsindicatethatwemustbegin expectationisthatallstudentswillbe immediatelytostrengthenteachingand adequatelypreparedforsuchanassessment. learninginallareasoftheCommonCore,with Untilsuchtime,thisanalysisservesasa particularfocusonraisingcollegeandcareer startingpointforassessingachievementrelative readinessratesofAfricanAmerican,Hispanic, totheCommonCoreinadvanceoffullstate andotherunderservedstudents. implementationefforts. Figure2showstheoverallpercentageof Detailed Results studentsinthereportsamplewhometACT’s Thefollowingpagesreportstudent CollegeReadinessBenchmarkscomparedto performancewithineachCommonCore thepercentageofallACT-tested2010high StateStandardscategoryinEnglishLanguage schoolgraduates.Inallthreeareasofthe Arts&Literacy(pp.4–5)andMathematics CommonCoreStateStandards—English, (pp.6–7),reportedforallstudentsandbythree Reading,andMath—thepercentageof racial/ethnicsubgroups.Studentperformance studentsinthesampleislessthanwhatwe isreportedasthepercentageofallstudents seeinthe2010ACT-testedgroup.Thisistobe inthestudywhometorexceededthe expected;asmentionedpreviously,thereport performancelevelofcollege-andcareer-ready sampleincludesallstudentswhotooktheACT studentsineachcategoryofthatStandard. aspartoftheirstatewideassessmentand ACT-Tested 2010 High School Graduates v.Report Sample k gar 70% Meetinenchm 60% 66% ARCepT-otretssteadmp20le10highschoolgraduates sB 50% 56% nts 52% ofStudeReadines 4300%% 40% 43% 34% entageollege 2100%% cC PerCT 0% A English Reading Math Figure2 3 Common Core English Language Arts (ELA) & Literacy Reading KeyIdeas&Details Craft&Structure Integrationof Knowledge&Ideas 60% nts de u St of % 38% 47% 11% 19% 40% 48% 16% 24% 38% 45% 16% 24% 38% 46% 12% 21% 0% All Caucasian African Hispanic All Caucasian African Hispanic All Caucasian African Hispanic All Caucasian African Hispanic 11thgraders American 11thgraders American 11thgraders American 11thgraders American EthnicGroups EthnicGroups EthnicGroups EthnicGroups Writing TextTypes&Purposes Production& RangeofWriting DistributionofWriting 60% nts de u St of % 51% 60% 24% 33% 39% 44% 21% 31% 51% 60% 24% 33% 39% 44% 21% 31% 0% All Caucasian African Hispanic All Caucasian African Hispanic All Caucasian African Hispanic All Caucasian African Hispanic 11thgraders American 11thgraders American 11thgraders American 11thgraders American EthnicGroups EthnicGroups EthnicGroups EthnicGroups Language Conventionsof KnowledgeofLanguage StandardEnglish &VocabularyAcquisition andUse 60% nts de u St of % 53% 63% 26% 32% 54% 63% 27% 34% 35% 43% 17% 14% 0% All Caucasian African Hispanic All Caucasian African Hispanic All Caucasian African Hispanic 11thgraders American 11thgraders American 11thgraders American EthnicGroups EthnicGroups EthnicGroups Common Core Literacy Scores Literature InformationalText LiteracyinSocialStudies LiteracyinScience 60% nts de u St of % 4% 37% 44% 19% 23% 38% 47% 14% 22% 41% 49% 20% 26% 24% 30% 9% 0% All Caucasian African Hispanic All Caucasian African Hispanic All Caucasian African Hispanic All Caucasian African Hispanic 11thgraders American 11thgraders American 11thgraders American 11thgraders American EthnicGroups EthnicGroups EthnicGroups EthnicGroups 4 A First Look at Common Core ELA & Literacy (cid:1) Toofewstudentsareabletounderstandcomplextext.Relativetothe CommonCore,only31%ofstudentsareperformingatacollege-andcareer- RangeofReading& LevelofTextComplexity readylevelwithrespecttosuccessfullyunderstandingcomplextext.The CommonCoreStateStandardsdefinea“staircase”ofincreasingtextcomplexity designedtomoveallstudentstocollege-andcareer-readylevelsofreadingby nolaterthantheendofhighschool.Tohelpprepareallstudentsforthe challengesofreadingatthecollegeandcareerreadinesslevel,states shouldensurethatstudentsarereadingprogressivelymorecomplextexts 31% 38% 11% 18% astheyadvancethroughthegrades. All Caucasian African Hispanic 11thgraders American (cid:1) Increasedfocusisneededonsomekeyaspectsoflanguage.Twoareasof EthnicGroups emphasisintheCommonCoreStateStandardsforLanguageare(1)students’ knowledgeoflanguagevarietiesandabilitytouselanguageskillfullyand (2)students’abilitytoacquireandusearichvocabulary.RelativetotheCommon Core,only35%ofstudentsareperformingatcollege-andcareer-readylevels withrespecttotheseskills.Tohelpallstudentsdevelopasufficientcommand oftheselanguageskills,statesshouldensurethatstudentsgainsufficient understandingofhowlanguagevariesbycontext;howtouselanguage effectivelyfordifferentaudiences,purposes,andtasks;andhowtogainand useavocabularyadequateforcollegeandcareers. • Studentsshouldmasterthegrade-specificstandardsforCommonCore LanguageStandard3,which,beginningformallyingrade2andbuilding throughoutthegrades,focusesonsuchareasasrecognizingdifferences betweenformalandinformalEnglishandbetweenspokenandwritten English,usinglanguagepreciselyandconcisely,andmaintaining consistencyinstyleandtone. • Studentswouldalsobenefitfromgreaterandmoresystematicattentionto vocabularydevelopment.Thiscanincludedirectvocabularyinstructionand asteadilyincreasingemphasisonhelpingstudentsacquirevocabulary throughreading.ParticularlyimportantisthatstudentsgainwhattheStandards refertoasgeneralacademicvocabulary:wordsandphrasesthatareoften encounteredinwrittentextsinavarietyofsubjectsbutthatarerarelyheardin spokenlanguage. (cid:1) Content-areareadingneedsstrengthening.Studentsstrugglewhenreading textsincontentareas,especiallyinscience,whereonly24%ofstudentsareable toworkwithsciencematerialsatalevelthatwouldmakethemcollegeand careerready.Tohelpallstudentsachievesufficientliteracyskillsinhistory/social studiesandinscienceandtechnicalsubjects,aswellasinEnglishlanguage arts,statesmustensurethatteachersinthesesubjectareasusetheir uniquecontentknowledgetofosterstudents’abilitytoread,write,and communicateinthevariousdisciplines. • Specifically,Englishlanguageartsteachersinmiddleanduppergrades shouldincorporateaparticulartypeofinformationaltext—literary nonfiction—intothetraditionalcurriculumofstories,dramas,andpoems. • Teachersinothersubjectareasshouldusetheirownsubject-areaexpertise tohelpstudentslearntoread,write,andcommunicateeffectivelyintheir specificfield. • TheCommonCoreStateStandardsinreadingareexplicitlymodeledonthe ideaofsharedresponsibilityforstudents’literacydevelopment.Statesand districtsshouldthereforepreparemiddleandhighschoolcontent-area teachersforthisrolebyprovidingprofessionaldevelopmentopportunities thatbuildthereadinginstructioncapacityofcontent-areaspecialists. 5 Common Core Mathematics Number & Quantity Algebra RealNumberSystem;Quantities; SeeingStructurein CreatingEquations TheComplexNumberSystem; Expressions Vector&MatrixQuantities 60% nts de u St of % 34% 42% 10% 16% 35% 41% 11% 21% 32% 37% 12% 21% 33% 39% 13% 20% 0% All Caucasian African Hispanic All Caucasian African Hispanic All Caucasian African Hispanic All Caucasian African Hispanic 11thgraders American 11thgraders American 11thgraders American 11thgraders American EthnicGroups EthnicGroups EthnicGroups EthnicGroups Functions Geometry InterpretingFunctions;BuildingFunctions; Congruence Similarity,RightTriangles Linear,Quadratic,&ExponentialModels; &Trigonometry;Circles TrigonometricFunctions 60% nts de u St of % 42% 48% 22% 32% 33% 40% 8% 18% 44% 51% 22% 30% 39% 47% 15% 25% 0% All Caucasian African Hispanic All Caucasian African Hispanic All Caucasian African Hispanic All Caucasian African Hispanic 11thgraders American 11thgraders American 11thgraders American 11thgraders American EthnicGroups EthnicGroups EthnicGroups EthnicGroups Statistics & Probability InterpretingCategorical&QuantitativeData; MakingInferences&JustifyingConclusions; ConditionalProbability&theRulesofProbability; UsingProbabilitytoMakeDecisions 60% nts de u St of % 37% 42% 16% 30% 0% All Caucasian African Hispanic 11thgraders American EthnicGroups Mathematical Practices 1 Makesenseofproblemsand persevereinsolvingthem 2 Reasonabstractlyandquantitatively 1 2 4 6 3 Constructviableargumentsand 60% critiquethereasoningofothers 4 Modelwithmathematics nts 5 Useappropriatetoolsstrategically ude St 6 Attendtoprecision of % 7 Lookforandmakeuseofstructure 35% 42% 11% 19% 34% 40% 10% 23% 35% 43% 9% 20% 34% 40% 12% 19% 8 Lookforandexpressregularityin 0% repeatedreasoning 6 A First Look at Common Core Mathematics (cid:1) Increasedfocusisneededonthefoundationsofmathematics.Thelow performancebystudentsonNumber&Quantity(34%)intheCommonCoreis ofparticularconcernbecausetheseskillsarethefoundationforsuccessinthe otherCommonCoremathematicsconceptualcategories(e.g.,Algebra, ArithmeticwithPolynomials& RationalFunctions;Reasoning Functions,Modeling,Geometry,andStatistics&Probability).Studentsneedto withEquations&Inequalities makemeaningofnumbers,operations,andarithmeticexpressions,andtouse theirunderstandingtosolveproblems,reasonaboutmathematics,andexplain theirthinking.Toincreasemathperformance,statesneedtoensureK–8 curriculumandinstructionrequirerigorousunderstandingoftheconcepts inNumber&Quantityfromtheearliestgrades. 36% 43% 15% 23% • Intheearlygrades,studentswillbenefitfromproblemsolvinginnovelcontexts All Caucasian African Hispanic andhands-onexperienceswithincreasinglysophisticatedquantitiesandtheir 11thgraders American EthnicGroups measurement. • Inmiddleschoolandhighschool,teachersshouldleadstudentstosee connectionsbetweenNumber&QuantityandotherCommonCore mathematicsconceptualcategories,particularlyAlgebra. ExpressingGeometricProperties withEquations;Geometric Measurement&Dimension; ModelingwithGeometry (cid:1) Mathinterventionsareneededforstudentswhoarefallingbehindatthe earliestgrades.Acrosstheboard,HispanicandAfricanAmericanstudents performedwellbelowtheirCaucasiancounterpartsinallCommonCoremath domains.Statesmustensurethatteachersandstudentshavetheresources necessarytoidentifystrugglingmathstudentsasearlyaspossible(K–4) sothatproperinterventionsaremade.Providingteachersandstudentswith 33% 40% 9% 18% adequateopportunitiestocollectachievementdatathatfunctiondiagnostically— All Caucasian African Hispanic 11thgraders American datacollectedfrequentlyandfrombothformativeandsummative EthnicGroups assessments—iscrucialtosupportingstudents’learningprogressionsandfor optimalgrowthtooccur. (cid:1) Greaterunderstandingofmathematicalprocessesandpracticesisneeded. ForeachoftheCommonCoreMathematicalPracticesstandards,onlyabout one-thirdofstudentsreachedthecollege-andcareer-readylevel.Statesand districtsmustensurethatconceptualunderstandingisemphasizedforall studentsinmathematics.Morespecifically,studentsatallgradelevelsneed tobe: • workingandsolvingchallengingnonroutineproblems; • explainingmethodsandjustifyingconclusions; • predictingandconjecturingaboutthingslikeunknownnumbers, measurements,quantitativerelations,thebehavioroffunctions,howwella modelfitsreality,theeffectivenessofdifferentsolutionmethods,andtheway probabilisticeventsoccur;and • lookingforpatternsandstructureinplaceslikediagrams,equations,number systems,proofs,problems,tables,graphs,andreal-worldobjects. 3 5 7 8 40% 46% 21% 27% 7 Where Do We Go from Here? Clearlythereisroomforincreasedstudent beginnowtoaligncurrentcurriculawith achievementrelativetotheStandards—and theCommonCoreStateStandards.This tocollegeandcareerreadiness—acrossall processshouldresultinthedevelopmentof CommonCoredomains,strands,andclusters; high-qualitylessonsandinstructionalunits sowheredowestart?Whatinstructional alignedtotheStandards.Beyondthatinitial strategiesanddiagnostictoolsarenecessary step,wemustalsomakeeveryefforttohelp fordistricts,schools,andclassroomteachers educatorseffectivelyincorporatethese toarticulatetheStandardstostudents,identify Standardsintodailyinstructionandpractice, studentsinneedofimprovement,andtarget toensurethatthequality,consistency,and instructionalinterventions?Whatpolicy rigorofthecurriculumarealignedwiththose changesarerequiredatthestateandfederal Standards. levelstoenablethosechanges?Thesearethe ACTrecommendsthatstatesprovidetraining complexquestionsthateducatorsand andresourcestodistrictsandclassroom policymakersatalllevelsofoureducation teacherstocreaterigorousinstructionalunits systemneedtoanswerbeforeimplementing andcurriculartoolsformovingstudentsto theCommonCore. higherlevelsofperformanceasrequiredby theCommonCoreStateStandards.Teachers Recommendations for needtohaveaccesstomodellessonsand Instructional Strategies instructionalunitsalignedtotheStandards. and Interventions Teachersneedtohaveaccesstoformative assessmentitempoolsthatprovideuseful Thefindingsinthisreportindicatethatmuch feedbackaboutstudentprogresstoward workmustbedonetoprepareallstudentsfor meetingtheStandards.Teachersalso therigorsofpostsecondaryeducationand needtobeabletousetheresultsof workforcetrainingprogramsbythetimethey suchformativeassessmentstoguide graduatehighschool.Butimprovingthe instructionalinterventionsforstudents preparationofstudentsforlifebeyondhigh whoarenotyetcollegeandcareerready. schoolislargerthansimplyfocusingonresults Perhapsmostcriticalofall—teachersand atthehighschoollevel—thisisasystems schoolleadersneedasolidfoundationof issuethatmustbeaddressedbyalllevels professionaldevelopmenttosupporttheir (P–16)ofoureducationsystems.Improving effectiveandefficientuseofthesenew collegeandcareerreadinessiscrucialtothe resources. developmentofadiverseandtalentedlabor forcethatcanmaintainandincreaseU.S. ACTresearchonthepracticesofhigh- economiccompetitivenessthroughoutthe performingschoolsindicatesthatthereare world.Itisourcollectiveresponsibility— corepracticesthatcanhelpeducators educatorsandpolicymakersalike—toensure overcomethechallengesoureducation thateachandeverystudentispreparedand systemsfaceinincreasingstudent ontargetforsuccessfromtheearliestgrades achievement,whilealsoallowingstatesto throughhighschoolgraduationandbeyond. remaintruetothehighexpectationsfoundin theCommonCoreStateStandards.Basedon ACTrecommendsthatstateandlocal thisresearch,westronglyencourage educationpractitionersandpolicymakers 8
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