Based on the first cohort of students who took the PreACT® in 10th grade and the ACT® test in 11th grade, this study examines the effects of PreACT adoption on ACT test scores, participation in challenging high school courses, interest-major fit, and college score sending behavior. Adoption of the PreACT led to an increase in ACT Composite score…

We derived an index of high school academic rigor (HSAR) by optimizing the prediction of first-year college GPA (FYGPA) based on high school courses taken, grades, and indicators of advanced coursework. Using a large data set and nominal parameterization of high school course outcomes, the HSAR index capitalizes on differential contributions…

This brief summarizes five benefits of schools providing the PreACT® to all their students. The PreACT 8/9 (an earlier version of the PreACT test that is more appropriate for students in grades 8 and 9) and PreACT assessments are designed to provide students with an indication of their educational progress in the context of preparing for the ACT®…

This study employs hierarchal linear modeling to examine whether high school grade inflation occurred between 2010 and 2021, including for students who were tested during the pandemic. The study does so while simultaneously accounting for student and school characteristics. This is the first study, to the current authors' knowledge, that makes use…

We derived an index of high school academic rigor by optimizing the prediction of first-year college GPA based on high school courses taken, grades, and indicators of advanced coursework. Using a large data set (n~108,000) and nominal parameterization of high school course outcomes, the high school academic rigor (HSAR) index capitalizes on…

Over the past three decades, researchers have found cooperative learning to have positive effects on student achievement in various subject areas and levels in education. However, there are limited studies on the impact of cooperative learning on student achievement in the area of high school mathematics. This study examined the impact of…

We studied gains in student learning over eight semesters in which an introductory biology course curriculum was changed to include optional verbal final exams (VFs). Students could opt to demonstrate their mastery of course material via structured oral exams with the professor. In a quantitative assessment of cell biology content knowledge,…

The purpose of this study was to investigate differences between native and community college transfer students and identify factors that predicted upper-level biology course grade-point average and final overall grade-point average at a four-year institution in biological sciences. The results of this study indicated four-year institution…

More high school students are taking the ACT and more students are taking it at an earlier age. States such as Missouri are now testing all public and charter school students during their junior year to use the ACT as a formative assessment to drive discussions about student schedules, plans of study, and course offerings. With more data from more…

This report, released by Education Reform Now and the Alliance for Excellent Education, finds that the "12" in K-12 education may be unnecessary for nearly a quarter of high school students. The report introduces two accelerated pathways for college-ready juniors that would provide meaningful access to full-time, college-level…

Relativizing the popular belief that student effort is the key to success, this article finds that effort in the most advanced mathematics course in US high schools is not consistently associated with college calculus performance. We distinguish two types of student effort: productive and ineffective efforts. Whereas the former carries the…

We investigate the efficacy and equity of college admissions criteria by estimating the effect of multiple measures of college readiness on college performance in the context of race-blind automatic admissions policies. We take advantage of a unique institutional feature of the Texas higher education system to control for selection into…

Inclusive STEM high schools (ISHSs) (where STEM is science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) admit students on the basis of interest rather than competitive examination. This study examines the central assumption behind these schools--that they provide students from subgroups underrepresented in STEM with experiences that equip them…

In recent years, state policymakers have increased high school course requirements--particularly in mathematics and science. This research examines whether stricter requirements have been effective at improving student outcomes. Student-level evidence from a state's recent reform suggests that higher requirements had little effect on trends in…

This report provides a new resource for understanding the state of urban public schools in the U.S. Geared specifically toward city leaders who want to evaluate how well traditional district and charter schools are serving all their city's children and how their schools compare to those in other cities, the report measures outcomes for all public…