Assessing College Readiness: Should We Be Satisfied With ACT or Other Threshold Scores?

• Published in: Educational researcher Vol. 41; no. 7; pp. 252 - 261
• Main Author: Maruyama, Geoffrey
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.10.2012; American Educational Research Association
• Subjects: Academic Achievement; ACT Assessment; Benchmarking; Benchmarks; Cognitive models; College Bound Students; College Entrance Examinations; College mathematics; College Readiness; College students; Colleges; Educational Attainment; Educational evaluation; Educational research; Grade point average; High school students; High schools; Higher education; Logic; Measures (Individuals); Minnesota; Performance Based Assessment; Probability; Regression (Statistics); SAT (College Admission Test); Secondary school students; Standardized tests; Thresholds; Minnesota; United States > US; educational policy; regression analyses; achievement; secondary data analysis; cognitive processes/development; performance assessment; accountability; correlational analysis; measurements
• ISSN: 0013-189X; 1935-102X
• DOI: 10.3102/0013189X12455095

This article examines the logic underlying different models for assessing the college readiness of high school students. It focuses on benchmark scores that purportedly identify students who are college ready and presents the challenges of using threshold scores from a single assessment instrument to represent readiness. As well as providing logical and methodological reasons to be wary of threshold scores, analyses of Minnesota and national data illustrate their shortcomings. The article argues that assessments of college readiness should (a) use benchmarks with meaning and consequences for students, (b) employ multiple measures to provide readiness information more precise than from a threshold score derived from any single assessment, and (c) present readiness in terms of probabilities or likelihoods rather than as ready or not.