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

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 t...