Using the National Center for Education Statistics 2002-2012 Educational Longitudinal Study (ELS) data set, this study examines the relation between college undermatching and bachelor's degree attainment, and whether the influences of undermatching on bachelor's degree attainment vary by race/ethnicity. Results revealed students who undermatched…

Retention is high on the list of priorities for both college and university administrators, as well as policy makers. It raises the question what high school data are known before a student attends a college that are predictive of student retention? This study examined 3445 first-time-in-college students from three academic years. Predictors…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the ability of standardized test scores to predict the performance of students in first-year mathematics courses, and the extent to which these tests displayed differential validity among various subgroups. Using discriminant analysis, it was established that the following percentages of…

Given the major investment in the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) grant, rising postsecondary access, trends in poor persistence and retention rates, and the ongoing accountability measures in higher education, it is critical to examine factors related to postsecondary performance and persistence of GEAR…

We examined 482,418 students who took the ACT in the seventh grade and again in high school, taking an exploratory analytic approach to examine academic growth trends from 1996 to 2017. Predictors included sociodemographics, interests, high school (HS) characteristics, HS coursework and GPA, and extracurriculars, which explained 25% of the…

Nationwide, Hispanic students continue to be underrepresented among students who complete a four-year degree in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields (National Center for Education Statistics, 2016) and among workers in STEM fields. This discrepancy is a concern, especially in light of the projected growth in employment in STEM…

The number of jobs in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) is growing rapidly and is expected to increase by approximately 1 million in the United States between 2012 and 2022 (Vilorio, 2014). People of many racial/ethnic minorities, however, including Hispanic people, are underrepresented among recipients of STEM degrees and among…

Regional Educational Laboratory Southwest conducted this literature review to identify malleable factors that can be measured in K-12 settings and that predict students' postsecondary science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) success (defined as enrolling in, persisting in, and completing a postsecondary STEM major or degree), particularly…

We investigated students' academic achievement in three high-enrollment, introductory-level history sections at a large, public, Hispanic-serving university. Using a conditional indirect-effects model, we analyzed supplemental instruction (SI) attendance and class absences as predictors of course success, after accounting for sex, ethnicity/race,…

This report looks at the progress of the ACT®-tested 2018 U.S. high school graduating class relative to college and career readiness. The data in this report are based on more than 1.9 million graduates--55% of the students in the 2018 national graduating class--who took the ACT at some time from grade 10 to 12. The ACT was taken by the majority…

This report is the ACT annual report on the progress of U.S. high school graduates relative to college readiness. This year's report shows that 64% of students in the 2016 US graduating class took the ACT test, up from 59% in 2015 and 49% in 2011. The increased number of test takers over the past several years enhances the breadth and depth of the…

This study examines the differential effects on student subgroups of using the ACT® College Readiness Assessment Composite (ACTC) score and high school grade point average (HSGPA) for making admission decisions. The subgroup characteristics investigated include race/ethnicity, gender, and income. For each student subgroup, we examine the effect of…

This report is the ACT annual report on the progress of U.S. high school graduates relative to college readiness. This year's report shows that 59% of students in the 2015 U.S. graduating class took the ACT® test, up from 57% last year and 49% in 2011. The increased number of test takers over the past several years enhances the breadth and depth…

One approach to test bias has focused on identifying the potential variables or factors that may be responsible for bias in a particular test for a particular subgroup. This approach was employed in this study to determine variables which may relate to differential test performance by Anglo and Hispanic students. The test materials used in this…

This research report is a review and analysis of all of the published studies during the past 25+ years (since 1974) in the area of differential validity/prediction and college admission testing. More specifically, this report includes 49 separate studies of differences in validity and/or prediction for different racial/ethnic groups and/or for…