Graduation

This annual report released by ACT presents data on college and career readiness levels for the 2014 high school graduates who took the ACT college readiness assessment. Because of the ACT’s alignment with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), the analysis of ACT scores also sheds light on academic readiness within a CCSS context. The report is designed to help educators address key questions regarding the readiness of their students and offer recommendations for state policy and practice to increase readiness.

This paper investigates the economic benefits of obtaining an Associate Degree prior to transferring to a four-year college. Data on student credit accumulation, award receipt, and labor market returns for students enrolled in the North Carolina Community College System were all taken into consideration. The author found students who transfer to four-year colleges before obtaining an Associate Degree frequently do not graduate and thus leave school with no credential.

This paper examines the ability of the freshman on-track indicator and off-track indicator to successfully predict graduation of high school freshman using student-level data collected for cohorts in two districts. The authors found the on-track indicator to be effective in predicting on-time graduation, even when controlling for student characteristics and grade 8 assessment scores. Also, students from both districts who were on track to graduate at the end of grade 9 did so on time and more than students who were off track.