Table Of Content

The Condition of College & Career Readiness l 2012 Delaware Delaware The Condition of College & Career Readiness | Class of 2012 Annually, ACT provides a snapshot of the college and career only), regardless of the high school they attend and their level readiness of ACT-tested high school graduates. We offer this of prior achievement. In fact, students who are monitored report as a service to inform policymakers and practitioners early are more likely to meet three or all four of the ACT about selected indicators of effectiveness and how that College Readiness Benchmarks than students who are not translates into readiness. In interpreting and using the results, monitored early, regardless of gender, race, or annual family keep in mind that the number and percentage of 2012 income. graduates who took the ACT in your state determine how The ACT groundbreaking research report The Forgotten representative these findings are for your state. Middle (ACT 2008) suggests that being on target for college Our Unique Added Value and career readiness by 8th grade puts students on a trajectory for success in high school and beyond. This ACT has been measuring the academic achievement of research shows that the level of academic achievement that 11th- and 12th-grade students since 1959, their career students attain by 8th grade has a larger impact on their aspirations since 1969, and their academic preparation in college and career readiness by the time they graduate from high school since 1985. ACT’s data system includes each of high school than anything that happens academically in high these areas for 8th and 10th graders and has been school. This research also reveals that students’ academic monitoring student readiness and success for nearly two readiness for college and career can be further supported decades. Since 1996, and every three to five years thereafter, and improved when they acquire and demonstrate behaviors ACT surveys thousands of high school and college educators in the upper elementary grades and in middle school shown to pinpoint the knowledge and skills needed for first-year to be related to successful academic performance. college coursework. ACT is the only organization with decades of empirical data showing exactly what happens to The problems are clear and very well documented. ACT high school graduates once they get to college or to work research strongly supports the need for an integrated, and how they can maximize success—based on their longitudinal, data-driven system to inform and encourage preparation from kindergarten through high school. coherence in school, district, and state efforts to prepare all high school graduates for college and career. Our high College and Career Readiness Defined schools must provide rigorous courses that are aligned with ACT has long defined college and career readiness as the college and career readiness standards, and more students acquisition of the knowledge and skills a student needs to must be prepared and have the opportunity to take these enroll and succeed in credit-bearing first-year courses at a core courses. All students must also have systematic postsecondary institution (such as a two- or four-year college, guidance and feedback about their progress, and get that trade school, or technical school) without the need for feedback early and often. remediation. ACT’s definition of college and career readiness Use of Student Growth Models in Early Monitoring was adopted by the Common Core State Standards Initiative, which serves as validation of our extensive research and As states and districts implement college and career ACT’s College Readiness Standards™. readiness standards, metrics aligned to those standards are needed to gauge individual and school progress toward this Measuring academic performance in the context of college goal. Using these metrics, growth modeling has strong and career readiness—focusing on the numbers and potential to help stakeholders measure progress—for percentages of students meeting or exceeding the ACT individual students and for school systems. Growth model College Readiness Benchmarks—provides meaningful and results can serve a variety of purposes. Educators and compelling information about the academic readiness of policymakers can use growth modeling results as part of students. The Condition of College & Career Readiness accountability systems, to measure student and school highlights that information. improvement, to more accurately diagnose areas of strength Early Student Monitoring and Intervention and weakness, and to inform educator professional ACT research continues to show the importance of early development initiatives. Early monitoring of academic growth monitoring of student achievement and appropriate toward the college and career readiness goal can help interventions. In the recently released research report Staying identify problems, so that interventions can be made to get on Target (ACT 2012), students who are monitored early the individual or school system back on track. before taking the ACT are more likely to be college and career ready than those not monitored early (i.e., who take the ACT © 2012 by ACT, Inc. All rights reserved. The ACT® is a registered trademark of ACT, Inc., in the USA and other countries. ACT National Curriculum Survey®, EXPLORE®, PLAN®, QualityCore®, and WorkKeys® are registered trademarks of ACT, Inc. College Readiness Standards™, ENGAGE™, and Core Practice™ are trademarks of ACT, Inc. A Comprehensive Framework of Best Practices the results of the ACT National Curriculum Survey®. One compelling reason for undertaking early and continuous This survey is given every few years to educators in monitoring of student performance that includes student postsecondary, secondary, and now in the elementary growth models and for implementing aligned, outcomes- grades to determine both what is being taught in the focused education standards is that there is strong classroom and the expectations of what is needed to empirical evidence for these educational practices.1 In succeed at the next level, be it middle school, high school, addition to these, other key practices for increasing readiness or college. It is a representative sample of educators from can be implemented at the district, school, and classroom across the country. For the first time, this survey has been levels as part of a comprehensive framework of best enhanced to drill into what is being taught and the specific practices. The Core Practice™ Framework is an example of expectations in the lower grades and how that aligns to this. Empirically developed and validated, the Core Practice success in college. As you may expect, there is a Framework outlines the evidence-based educator practices disconnection between what is being taught and the at each level of a school system—district, school, and expectations for success at the next level. The ultimate goal classroom—that will help all students master high standards. of this system is to give educators assessment tools to The Framework focuses on five themes: 1) Curriculum and intervene and get more students on the right track to college Academic Goals, 2) Staff Selection, Leadership, and Capacity and career success. Arguably, this is one of the reasons the Building, 3) Instructional Tools, 4) Monitoring Performance Common Core State Standards were developed. A system and Progress, and 5) Intervention and Adjustment. Included in like this will give you a jump-start into implementation of a the Framework are Critical Actions—steps on how to more robust, standards-based system centering on the right implement the 15 core practices. number and right types of assessments all tied to appropriate interventions. Building a System Using This Report2 ACT is pleased to announce that we will provide an aligned, coherent system that will now begin in the earlier grades, This report is designed to help inform the following questions giving states, districts, and schools a suite of opportunities driving national efforts to strengthen P–16 education. spanning grades 3–12. This new system is aligned to our • Are your students prepared for college and career? College Readiness Standards, which allows monitoring and • Are enough of your students taking core courses? intervening to take place much earlier and will help to get • Are your core courses rigorous enough? more students prepared to succeed at college-level work. • Are your younger students on target for college and career? The system is built on the framework of our College • What other dimensions of college and career readiness Readiness Standards, essentially pulling these standards should we track? down into the lower grades and defining what students need • How is the 2011 graduating class doing? to know and when in order to be on track for college. We have created these standards, and our test blueprints, around How does ACT determine if students are college ready? Empirically derived, ACT’s College Readiness Benchmarks are scores on the ACT subject area tests that represent the level of achievement required for students to have a 50% chance of obtaining a B or higher or about a 75% chance of obtaining a C or higher in corresponding credit-bearing first-year college courses. These college courses include English Composition, College Algebra, Biology, and an introductory social science course. Based on a nationally representative sample, the Benchmarks are median course placement values for these institutions and as such represent a typical set of expectations. 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 & Career Readiness in Delaware Attainment Percent of 2012 ACT-Tested High School Graduates Meeting College Readiness Benchmarks by Subject of College and Career 100! Readiness 80! 76! 67! • 1,328 of your graduates, 63! which is an estimated 14% 60! 57! nt! 52! of your graduating class, e c 46! r took the ACT.* Pe 39! 40! 34! 31! • From 2008–2012, the 25! number of ACT test-taking 20! graduates has increased by 34.7%, while the number of graduates in your state has 0! increased by 5.1%. English! Reading! Mathematics! Science! All Four! Subjects! Delaware! Nation! Percent of 2008–2012 ACT-Tested High School Graduates Meeting ACT College Readiness Benchmarks 100! 80! 80! 77! 77! 74! 76! 62! 64! 64! 63! 60! 60! nt! e 57! 57! 57! c 55! 55! r Pe 37! 37! 40! 39! 39! 40! * Totals for graduating seniors were obtained from Knocking at the 35! 34! 34! 31! 31! College Door: Projections of 20! High School Graduates by State and Race/Ethnicity, 1992 to 2022, 7th edition. © March 2008 by the Western Interstate Commission 0! for Higher Education. 2008! 2009! 2010! 2011! 2012! English! Reading! Mathematics! Science! All Four Subjects! Note: Percents in this report may not sum to 100% due to rounding. 4 College & Career Readiness in Delaware Percent of 2012 ACT-Tested High School Graduates by Near Benchmark Attainment and Subject Attainment 100! of College 16! and Career 27! 35! 80! 8! 45! Readiness 9! 60! 9! nt! e c er 16! P 40! 76! 63! 57! 20! 39! 0! English! Reading! Mathematics! Science! Met Benchmark! Within 2 Points of Benchmark! Below Benchmark by 3+ Points! Percent of 2012 ACT-Tested High School Graduates by Number of ACT College Readiness Benchmarks Attained Met 1 Met No Benchmark! Benchmarks! 13%! 19%! Met 2 Benchmarks! 17%! Met All 4 Benchmarks! Met 3 34%! Benchmarks! 18%! 5 College & Career Readiness in Delaware Participation Percent of 2008–2012 ACT-Tested High School Graduates by Race/Ethnicity* and Opportunity 100! 7! 5! 5! 5! Over the past decade, 11! 3! 2! 4! 3! ACT has experienced 2! unprecedented growth in the 80! number of students tested, as well as statewide partnerships 60! in 12 different states and in nt! 66! 69! 69! 66! 66! e many districts across the rc e P country. As a result, the 2012 40! Condition of College & Career Readiness report provides a 3! 4! 3! much deeper and more 20! 35!! 23!! 5! 4! 5! representative sample in 13! 16! 16! 17! 17! comparison to a purely 0! self-selected college-going 2008! 2009! 2010! 2011! 2012! 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 2008–2012 ACT-Tested High School Graduates Meeting Three or More Benchmarks by Race/Ethnicity* 100! 87! 80! 78! 80! 71! 61! 57! 58! 59! 59! 60! nt! 52! ce 45! 55! er 40! P 40! 34! 35! 21! 19! 19! 20! 16! 17! 0! * Race/ethnicity categories changed 2008! 2009! 2010! 2011! 2012! in 2011 to reflect updated US Department of Education reporting African ! American! Asian! Hispanic! Pacific! White! requirements.3 American! Indian! Islander! 6 College & Career Readiness in Delaware Participation and Opportunity by Subject Percent of 2012 ACT-Tested High School Graduates Meeting College Readiness Benchmarks by Race/Ethnicity and Subject* English Mathematics African! African! 39! 22! American! American! American! American! Insufficient data available Insufficient data available Indian! Indian! Asian! 82! Asian! 77! Hispanic! 76! Hispanic! 46! Pacific! Pacific! Insufficient data available Insufficient data available Islander! Islander! White! 86! White! 64! All! All! 76! 57! Students! Students! Reading Science African! African! 28! 12! American! American! American! American! Insufficient data available Insufficient data available Indian! Indian! Asian! 74! Asian! 63! Hispanic! 54! Hispanic! 30! Pacific! Pacific! Insufficient data available Insufficient data available Islander! Islander! White! 72! White! 45! All! All! 63! 39! Students! Students! 7 College & Career Readiness in Delaware Course-Taking Percent of 2012 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! 77! consistently found that 64! 63! students who take the 60! 58! 60! recommended core nt! e curriculum are more likely to c r be ready for college or career Pe 40! 40! than those who do not. A core curriculum is defined as four 24! years of English and three 20! 14! years each of mathematics, social studies, and science.4 0! English! Reading! Mathematics! Science! Core or More! Less Than Core! 8 College & Career Readiness in Delaware 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 2011–2012 PLAN-Tested 10th Graders Meeting College Readiness Benchmarks (N = 317) 100! # of 80! Benchmarks Met nt! 60! Insufficient data available e c er P 40! 20! 0! English! Reading! Mathematics! Science! Met Benchmark! Within 2 Points of Benchmark! Below Benchmark by 3+ Points! Percent of 2011–2012 EXPLORE-Tested 8th Graders Meeting College Readiness Benchmarks (N = 144) 100! # of 80! Benchmarks Met nt! 60! Insufficient data available e c er P 40! 20! 0! English! Reading! Mathematics! Science! Met Benchmark! Within 2 Points of Benchmark! Below Benchmark by 3+ Points! 9 College & Career Readiness in Delaware Other College and Career Readiness Factors ACT has found several other Percent of 2012 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 Fields5 for students. They include 25! career and educational planning and the academic Job Openings! behaviors of students. 20! Career Interests! 15! nt! e 12! c r e 10! 10! 10! 10! P 10! 9! 7! 6! 5! 3! 2! 0! Education! Health! Computer/! Community! Marketing/! Care! Information! Services! Sales! Specialties! Preparation Percent of 2012 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 78! interested in these career 80! 73! areas fall short of meeting 65! 63! ABCenTc’sh mCoalrleksg,e s Ruegagdeisnteinsgs that nt! 60! 54! 58!50!58! 57! 50! ce 47! 46! they are not on the right path er 42! P 40! 36! to take advantage of career 29! 30! 27! opportunities in these high- 21! 20! growth fields. 20! 16! 0! Education! Health! Computer/! Community! Marketing/! Care! Information! Services! Sales! Specialties! English! Reading! Mathematics! Science! 10