PK-8

This publication from the Institute of Education Sciences is a guide that is intended to assist schools and school districts develop practices to increase access to higher education. This publication contains specific steps on how to implement the recommendations that are targeted at school- and district-level administrators, teachers, counselors, and related education staff. The guide also indicates the level of research evidence demonstrating that each recommended practice is effective.

This report reviews the research on how students who are far off track in preparing for college can catch up in four years. The study examined data from four nationwide cohorts of students whose EXPLORE scores were 1 standard deviation below the benchmark scores associated with being on track. The authors found 10 percent or fewer students who were far off track in eighth grade met ACT College Readiness Benchmarks by twelfth grade.

This report details ACT's findings that the level of academic achievement students attain by the eighth grade has a larger impact on their college and career readiness by the time they graduate from high school than anything that happens academically in high school. ACT examined data from 216,000 high school graduates who had taken all three programs that make up the longitudinal assessment component of ACT’s College Readiness System.

This report describes how Project Exploration, a STEM pipeline alternative, has identified a disproportionate exit of minority and female students from STEM programs. The authors used a mix of quantitative and qualitative data to assess efficacy of Project Exploration's efforts to engage minority and female students who traditionally are under-represented in the STEM pipeline. Based on the success of their alternative approach, the authors propose an alternative model of a STEM pipeline that is based on a matrix of progressive competencies.

This report describes findings from ACT's 2013 College Readiness Assessment, with a special focus on student interest in STEM. The data displays the results by STEM subject, demographic, and college readiness score. A summary of key findings and details of the test are briefly discussed, and extra resources for further investigation of the topic are provided.

The Center on Innovations in Learning introduces its framework to personal competencies by differentiating between three fundamental terms: mastery, competence, and competency. To achieve a competence, or a sufficient degree of mastery in any given area, four specific competencies must be leveraged. These four competencies are: social/emotional competency, motivational competency, metacognitive competency, and cognitive competency. The remainder of this brief describes the four competencies in detail and their critical connection to student achievement.

This brief provides a comprehensive overview and practical guidance on the topic of competency-based grading policies. In doing so, it describes the weakness of the traditional grading scale; outlines six steps for effective implementation of competency-based grading policy and practice; offers current case examples and lessons learned from the field; and presents possible implications for policymakers and stakeholders.