Table Of Content

The Condition of College and Career Readiness l 2011 Alaska ACT is an independent, not-for-profit organization that provides assessment, research, information, and program management services in the broad areas of education and workforce development. Each year we serve millions of people in high schools, colleges, professional associations, businesses, and government agencies, nationally and internationally. Though designed to meet a wide array of needs, all ACT programs and services have one guiding purpose—helping people achieve education and workplace success. A copy of this report can be found at www.act.org/readiness/2011 © 2011 by ACT, Inc. All rights reserved. The ACT® is a registered trademark of ACT, Inc., in the U.S.A. and other countries. ACT National Curriculum Survey®, EXPLORE®, and PLAN® are registered trademarks of ACT, Inc. College Readiness Standards™ and ENGAGE™ are trademarks of ACT, Inc. Alaska The Condition of College and Career Readiness | Class of 2011 Annually, ACT provides a snapshot of the college and invaluable resource as ACT works closely with states and career readiness of ACT-tested high school graduates. We school districts to transform the nation’s P–16 education offer this report as a service to inform policymakers and system. practitioners about selected indicators of effectiveness College and Career Readiness Defined and how that translates into readiness. It is designed to ACT has long defined college and career readiness as the stimulate discussion, inquiry, and action. In interpreting acquisition of the knowledge and skills a student needs to and using the results, keep in mind that the number and enroll and succeed in credit-bearing first-year courses at a percentage of 2011 graduates who took the ACT in your postsecondary institution (such as a two- or four-year state determine how representative these findings are. college, trade school, or technical school) without the Our Unique Added Value need for remediation. ACT’s definition of college and ACT has been measuring the academic achievement of career readiness was adopted by the Common Core 11th- and 12th-grade students since 1959, their career State Standards Initiative, which serves as validation of aspirations since 1969, and their academic preparation in our extensive research and ACT’s College and Career high school since 1985. ACT’s data system includes each Readiness Standards.™ of these areas for 8th and 10th graders and has been Using This Report1 monitoring student readiness and success for nearly two This report is designed to help inform the following decades. Since 1996, and every three to five years questions that are driving national efforts to strengthen thereafter, ACT surveys thousands of high school and P–16 education. college educators to pinpoint the knowledge and skills • Are your students prepared for college and career? needed for first-year college coursework. ACT is the only • Are enough of your students taking core courses? organization with decades of empirical data showing • Are your core courses rigorous enough? exactly what happens to high school graduates once they • Are your younger students on target for college get to college or to work and how they can maximize and career? success—based on their preparation from kindergarten • What other dimensions of college and career readiness through high school. These unique data sets are an should we track? ACT’s College Readiness Benchmarks Benchmarks are scores on the ACT subject area tests Composition, College Algebra, Biology, and an that represent the level of achievement required for introductory social science course. Based on a students to have a 50% chance of obtaining a B or nationally representative sample, the Benchmarks are higher or about a 75% chance of obtaining a C or median course placement values for these institutions higher in corresponding credit-bearing first-year college and as such represent a typical set of expectations. courses. These college courses include English The ACT College Readiness Benchmarks are: EXPLORE® PLAN® ACT® College Course Subject Area Test Benchmark Benchmark Benchmark English Composition English 13 15 18 Social Sciences Reading 15 17 21 College Algebra Mathematics 17 19 22 Biology Science 20 21 24 3 College and Career Readiness in Alaska Attainment Percent of 2011 ACT-Tested High School Graduates Meeting College Readiness Benchmarks by Subject of College and Career 100! Readiness 80! • 3,022 of your graduates, 65! 66! which is an estimated 40% 60! 56! nt! 52! of your graduating class, ce 47! 45! r took the ACT.* Pe 40! • From 2007–2011, the 30! 30! 25! 25! number of ACT test-taking graduates has increased by 20! 43.5%, while the number of graduates in your state has 0! decreased by 9.9%. English! Reading! Mathematics! Science! All Four! Subjects! Alaska! Nation! Percent of 2007–2011 ACT-Tested High School Graduates Meeting ACT College Readiness Benchmarks 100! 80! 65! 66! 65! 65! 65! 60! 55! 55! 55! 55! 56! nt! e rc 47! 46! 44! 47! 47! e P 40! 31! 31! 31! 30! * Totals for graduating seniors were 28! obtained from Knocking at the College Door: Projections of 20! 26! 26! 25! 26! 25! High School Graduates by State and Race/Ethnicity, 1992 to 2022, 7th edition. © March 2008 by the Western Interstate Commission 0! for Higher Education. 2007! 2008! 2009! 2010! 2011! English! Reading! Mathematics! Science! All Four Subjects! Note: Percents in this report may not sum to 100% due to rounding. 4 College and Career Readiness in Alaska Percent of 2011 ACT-Tested High School Graduates by Near Benchmark Attainment and Subject Attainment 100! of College 25! and Career 33! 80! 43! Readiness 56! 10! 60! 11! nt! e 9! c r e P 40! 14! 65! 56! 47! 20! 30! 0! English! Reading! Mathematics! Science! Met Benchmark! Within 2 Points of Benchmark! Below Benchmark by 3+ Points! Percent of 2011 ACT-Tested High School Graduates by Number of ACT College Readiness Benchmarks Attained Met 1 Benchmark! 12%! Met No Benchmarks! 28%! Met 2 Benchmarks! 18%! Met All 4 Met 3 Benchmarks! Benchmarks! 25%! 16%! 5 College and Career Readiness in Alaska Participation Percent of 2007–2011 ACT-Tested High School Graduates by Race/Ethnicity* and Opportunity 100! Over the past decade, 16! 15! 14! ACT has experienced 23! 30! 3! 3! unprecedented growth in the 80! 7! 2! number of students tested, as 2! well as statewide partnerships 60! in ten different states and in nt! 55! 54! ce 50! 53! many districts across the r e P 46! country. As a result, the 2011 40! Condition of College and 2! Career Readiness report 20! 2! 63!! 63!! 7! 4! provides a much deeper and 5! 8! more representative sample in 10! 13! 15! 16! 9! comparison to a purely 0! 4! 3! 3! 3! 4! self-selected college-going 2007! 2008! 2009! 2010! 2011! population. African! American! Asian! Hispanic! Pacific ! White! Two or! No Response! American! Indian! Islander! More Races! Note: Less than 0.5% will not appear. Percent of 2007–2011 ACT-Tested High School Graduates Meeting Three or More Benchmarks by Race/Ethnicity* 100! 80! 59! 60! 56! 56! 55! nt! 53! e c Per 40! 39! 42! 40! 40! 36! 37! 38! 28! 34! 36! 34! 19! 20! 20! 16! 15! 16! 15! 14! 15! 4! 13! 0! * Race/ethnicity categories have 2007! 2008! 2009! 2010! 2011! been changed to reflect updated US Department of Education African ! American! Asian! Hispanic! Pacific! White! reporting requirements.2 American! Indian! Islander! 6 College and Career Readiness in Alaska Participation and Opportunity by Subject Percent of 2011 ACT-Tested High School Graduates Meeting College Readiness Benchmarks by Race/Ethnicity and Subject* English Mathematics African! African! 46! 28! American! American! American! American! 33! 22! Indian! Indian! Asian! 52! Asian! 48! Hispanic! 59! Hispanic! 43! Pacific! Pacific! 40! 40! Islander! Islander! White! 82! White! 60! All! All! 65! 47! Students! Students! Reading Science African! African! 40! 10! American! American! American! American! 25! 10! Indian! Indian! Asian! 39! Asian! 26! Hispanic! 44! Hispanic! 25! Pacific! Pacific! 27! 7! Islander! Islander! White! 72! White! 40! All! All! 56! 30! Students! Students! 7 College and Career Readiness in Alaska Course-Taking Percent of 2011 ACT-Tested High School Graduates in Core or More vs. Less Than Core Courses Meeting College Patterns and Readiness Benchmarks by Subject Benchmark 100! Performance Within subjects, ACT has 80! 74! consistently found that 65! students who take the 59! 60! recommended core nt! 54! 50! e curriculum are more likely to c r e be ready for college or career P 38! 40! than those who do not. A core curriculum is defined as four 18! years of English and three 20! years each of mathematics, 9! social studies, and science.3 0! English! Reading! Mathematics! Science! Core or More! Less Than Core! 8 College and Career Readiness in Alaska Early Preparation ACT research shows that younger students who take a “the level of academic achievement that students attain by rigorous curricula are more prepared to graduate from 8th grade has a larger impact on their college and career high school ready for college or career. Moreover, our readiness by the time they graduate high school than recent research (The Forgotten Middle, 2008) found that anything that happens academically in high school.” Percent of 2010–2011 PLAN-Tested 10th Graders Meeting College Readiness Benchmarks (N=3,644) 100! 18! 33! 80! Met 1 44! 14! Benchmark! Met No 60! 20%! Benchmarks! nt! 60! 16! 27%! e c er 21! P 40! Met 2 68! Benchmarks! 19! Met All 4 51! Benchmarks! 22%! 20! 35! 17%! 21! Met 3 0! Benchmarks! English! Reading! Mathematics! Science! 15%! Met Benchmark! Within 2 Points of Benchmark! Below Benchmark by 3+ Points! Percent of 2010–2011 EXPLORE-Tested 8th Graders Meeting College Readiness Benchmarks (N=3,053) 100! 17! 29! 32! Met 1 80! 16! Benchmark! Met No 64! 20%! Benchmarks! ent! 60! 23! 29! 28%! c er P 40! Met 2 68! Benchmarks! Met All 4 20%! 19! 47! Benchmarks! 20! 39! 15%! 17! Met 3 0! Benchmarks! English! Reading! Mathematics! Science! 17%! Met Benchmark! Within 2 Points of Benchmark! Below Benchmark by 3+ Points! 9 College and Career Readiness in Alaska Other College and Career Readiness Factors ACT has found several other Percent of 2011 ACT-Tested High School Graduates with substantial factors that impact Career Interests in Jobs Calling for a Two-Year Degree or college and career readiness More in the State’s Five Fastest-Growing Career Fields4 for students. They include 25! career and educational planning and the academic Job Openings! behaviors of students. 20! Career Interests! 16! 16! nt! 15! e c 13! r e P 10! 10! 8! 8! 8! 7! 5! 5! 4! 0! Education! Management! Health! Engineering/! Community! Care! Technologies! Services! Preparation Percent of 2011 ACT-Tested High School Graduates for Careers in Interested in High-Growth Careers Meeting College High-Growth Readiness Benchmarks by Subject Fields 100! Many students who are interested in these career 80! 74! 71! areas fall short of meeting 67! ACT’s College Readiness 62! 64! 63! Benchmarks, suggesting that ent! 60! 52! 53! 52! they are not on the right path erc 44! 47!44! 45! P to take advantage of career 40! 38! opportunities in these high- 30! growth fields. 23! 23! 24! 18! 19! 20! 0! Education! Management! Health! Engineering/! Community! Care! Technologies! Services! English! Reading! Mathematics! Science! 10