Standardized reading assessments are often used as an admissions criterion for college admittance, however, the relationship and predictive validity of reading assessments to academic achievement remains in question. Through a quantitative review of the literature, we conducted a meta-analysis to examine how well performance on college reading…

Reading comprehension assessments are used for postsecondary course placement and advising, and they are components of college entrance exams. Therefore, a quantitative understanding of the relationship between reading comprehension assessments and postsecondary academic achievement is needed. To address this need, we conducted a meta-analysis to…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) provides greater flexibility in state accountability systems than did previous federal legislation. In response, many states continue to refine their accountability systems to include college readiness tests, including college admissions and placement exams. This paper summarizes perspectives of K-12…

This brief presents a review of research and current state practices as they relate to measures that Iowa might consider for its federal accountability indicator of school quality or student success--specifically, for inclusion within a composite index of postsecondary readiness. Section 1 of this brief introduces a framework for evaluating and…

Many postsecondary institutions, and community colleges in particular, require that students demonstrate specified levels of literacy and numeracy before taking college-level courses. Typically, students have been assessed using two widely available tests--ACCUPLACER and Compass. However, placement testing practice is beginning to change for three…

At community colleges, student preparedness for college-level work is a significant initial barrier. Over 70% of community college students are reported to be inadequately prepared for college mathematics. Because students need to pass college-level math in order to enroll in subsequent courses required for their majors or to complete general…

We examined the validity of using Compass® test scores and high school grade point average (GPA) for placing students in first-year college courses and for identifying students at risk of not succeeding. Consistent with other research, the combination of high school GPA and Compass scores performed better than either measure used alone. Results…

The present research examined the extent to which pre-college characteristics, high school experiences, college expectations, and initial enrollment characteristics were related to graduation from college. Data from admission applications, the "ACT Compass" survey, and initial enrollment measures for Fall 2004 and Fall 2005 first-time…

The adoption and implementation of the Common Core State Standards and Smarter Balanced assessments in mathematics are intended to provide all students in California with the knowledge and skills required to transition from high school to college-level coursework. This implementation will take time. Concurrent with these efforts, policymakers and…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of senior high school counselors' domain specializations--academic, advanced education, career, and personal/social--from two urban high schools, on alphabetically assigned graduating seniors' with low, mid-range, and high Grade Point Averages documented college and career readiness milestone…

Although close to half of all community college students leave before obtaining their stated goals, most retention studies are still being conducted at the four-year college and university level. There is still little research conducted at the community college level. In order to determine what student characteristics increase community college…

The purpose of the quantitative explanatory study was to investigate the relationship between student mathematics course prerequisite completion and the final grades attained in the required community college mathematics classes. A quantitative method was appropriate because it explored the relationship between the response variable, the final…