College: 4-year

This study examines if participation in the Advanced Placement (AP) program predicts early college grades and retention. Second year retention and first semester grade point average data of a sample of 28,000 Texas high school students who attended public universities were used. It was found that there is no evidence that the average student is positively affected from AP participation more so than a non-AP curriculum strong in math and science.

This study examines the extent to which Advanced Placement (AP) and other honors-level courses taken in high school play a role in student’s performance in college. Data from a sample of 81,445 freshmen entering the University of California were examined. It was determined that the number of AP and honors courses taken in high school has little to no relationship to students’ performance in college.

This study analyzes the success of Advanced Placement (AP) students in college compared to other high achieving students. A questionnaire and college grade point averages of 41 high achieving college students in courses in natural science and English are examined. Results showed that AP students did not earn significantly higher grades in college compared to those that were considered high achieving students, and AP students also did not find their high school courses more beneficial than their high achieving peers.

The College and Career Development Organizer was created to synthesize and organize the field of college and career readiness initiatives. The organizer can be used to map the efforts of state educational agencies (SEAs) and local education agencies (LEAs) as well as the many organizations researching and providing support for college and career readiness. The organizer can also be used as a set of building blocks to help users develop college and career readiness strategies and initiatives to address student needs.

This study examined college readiness benchmark scores for the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) to determine the accuracy of the benchmarks for indicating college readiness. The findings revealed that students who met the benchmark were more likely to have enrolled in a postsecondary institution, earned higher grades in high school and their postsecondary institution, and to have taken a core curriculum and more rigorous courses in high school.

Using American College Testing (ACT) data, this study assessed whether students have the knowledge and skills necessary to enroll and succeed in a first-year course at a postsecondary institution. The report presents the percentage of students meeting the benchmarks in each area, alignment of student aspirations and workforce demands, graduates exposed to college entrance tests and students pursuing a core curriculum, overall academic achievement and behavior, and policies and practices to improve college readiness.

This study examined survey data of potentially eligible scholarship recipients to determine the effects a state-level merit-based financial aid program had on college access for underrepresented students. Findings showed that African American and low-income students' decisions to apply for college are likely to be impacted by their eligibility for scholarships.

This study examines the alignment of the American College Testing (ACT) and the American Diploma Project (ADP) national college readiness standards sets with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English language arts and reading (TEKS ELAR) standards for 9th-12th grade students, and their cognitive complexity. It was determined that a majority of the content in the ACT and ADP standards sets is addressed to some extent by the TEKS ELAR standards, and that the TEKS ELAR standards require higher levels of cognitive complexity than the other standards sets.

This study analyzes four different English language arts college readiness standards sets to determine the alignment of content and standards statements in three comparison sets to a benchmark set, and examines the cognitive complexity of all of the sets. Approximately 5 percent of the benchmark statements align with content in all three comparison sets. 53-68 percent of statements in the four sets were rated level 3 on a four-level cognitive complexity scale.

This study examined the effects of the Comprehensive Intervention Programs (CIP) on students’ preparedness for college by reviewing their reading and mathematics abilities. CIP provided a variety of activities and services intended to increase success in postsecondary education. Sixth grade students were tracked over a period of two years. The study did not find statistically significant program effects on CIP students’ standardized test scores in reading and math.