The Condition of College and Career Readiness 2013: Linguistically Diverse Students

The Condition of College & Career Readiness 2013Linguistically Diverse Students 2054The Condition of College & Career Readiness 2013ACT has been measuring college readiness trends for several years. The Condition of College & Career Readiness is ACT’s annual report on the progress of the graduating class relative to college readiness. This year, 54.3% of the graduating class took the ACT® college readiness assessment. The increased number of test takers enhances the breadth and depth of the data pool, providing a comprehensive picture of the current graduating class in the context of readiness levels as well as offering a glimpse of the emerging educational pipeline. A Holistic View of College ReadinessRecent ACT research (The Reality of College Readiness, 2013; Readiness Matters, 2013) demonstrates that academically prepared students, as measured by the ACT College Readiness Benchmarks, have greater chances for success in their future educational endeavors. However, academic readiness is just one of several factors that contributes to educational success. The academic behaviors of students and the interest levels in their specific major or career are other key factors. Together, these elements define a clear picture of student readiness for postsecondary education. To encourage progress, the educational system needs to monitor and sustain all key factors of success.The Science of ACT AssessmentsIn 2012, ACT conducted the ACT National Curriculum Survey®. Completed every three to five years, the survey is used to build and update a valid suite of ACT assessments, empirically aligned to college readiness standards. The survey informs the test blueprint for the assessments. Results from the assessments validate the ACT College Readiness Standards as well as the ACT College Readiness Benchmarks. ACT is committed to validity research, the first type of which is research into content validity. This step involves the validation of the ACT College Readiness Standards, built upon a foundation of empirical data and validated through the ACT National Curriculum Survey, plus frequent external standards reviews. Predictive validity is equally important. Using actual student course performance, we validate that the test correctly predicts performance.Our evidence-based assessments and ongoing research are critical components to answering the key question of what matters most with college and career readiness. This evidence and the validity cycle drive the development and continuous improvement of ACT’s current and future solutions, as well as the associated research agenda. Research is one of the many ways that ACT fulfills its mission of helping all individuals achieve success.Evidence and Validity Monitoring and a Review of Reporting Practices Led to Minor but Important Changes at ACTAs part of ACT’s commitment to continuous improvement and our efforts toward improving student achievement at all levels and based on results of the 2012 ACT National Curriculum Survey, ongoing research, and user requests, ACT will make several progressive modifications, which are described below. (For more information about these modifications, go to www.act.org/announce/improvements.)1. Minor reformatting of the ACT College Readiness Standards. As part of our ongoing content validity process, ACT recognized that tighter alignment was needed between the ACT College Readiness Standards and the Common Core State Standards. Our goal was simple—eliminate confusion by providing a more transparent connection. It is important to realize that the ACT College Readiness Standards have not changed. Where practical and feasible, we reformatted the language to align with the Common Core State Standards to facilitate comparison by users. The ACT College Readiness Standards will continue to represent the backbone of our assessment systems.2. Updating of the ACT College Readiness Benchmarks. The empirically derived ACT College Readiness Benchmarks predict the likelihood of success in corresponding credit-bearing first-year college courses in each specific subject area. During the routine practice of monitoring predictive validity, ACT analyzes the performance of students in college, looking at what is happening to students in the credit-bearing first-year college course in each specific content area. The data gathered through this routine review indicated a need to make adjustments to current ACT College Readiness Benchmarks in Science and Reading. Refer to the table on page 3 for more detail about the Benchmarks.3. Changes to the ACT aggregate reporting practices regarding the inclusion of college-reportable scores for accommodated students. Starting with the graduating class of 2013, results from all ACT-approved accommodated administrations that result Linguistically Diverse Students© 2014 by ACT, Inc. All rights reserved. The ACT® college readiness assessment and ACT WorkKeys® are registered trademarks of ACT, Inc., in the USA and other countri