Education officials and journalists frequently track changes over time in the average ACT® College Readiness Assessment Composite scores and ACT College Readiness Benchmark attainment rates of individual high schools. Using standard statistical methods, I examined how often changes in these statistics are unambiguously positive or negative, rather…

There is a growing view that students who enroll in developmental courses are less successful in completing their programs than non-developmental students. Nevertheless, even though developmental students as a group ultimately might not be as academically successful as non-developmental students, many of them might still derive benefit from taking…

For more than two decades, education authorities have warned that the reading, writing, mathematics, and science skills of America's young adults are insufficient to maintain its economic strength. Some indicators suggest that the average educational achievement of high school students in the U.S. is mediocre in comparison to that of other…

The High School Course/Grade Information Section (CGIS) of the American College Testing (ACT) Assessment registration folder collects detailed information about the courses students have taken or plan to take in high school, and the grades they have earned in courses they have completed. In this study, data provided by students on the CGIS were…

A study attempted to verify earlier research results suggesting that college-bound students' self-reporting of coursework and grades is relatively accurate. It also examined whether different subgroups of students (categorized by sex, racial-ethnic group, ability level, educational level, and date tested) varied significantly in their reporting…

Course placement systems in postsecondary education consist of an assessment component to estimate students' probability of success in standard first-year courses and an instructional component in which underprepared students are taught the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in the standard courses. Student success is usually defined in…

This paper considers the problem of validating placement procedures or, more precisely, of determining their educational appropriateness. At issue is determining whether a test score serves the particular educational function it was designed to serve (for example, course placement), and whether it does so in an economical way. These determinations…

College freshmen's grade point averages at 260 colleges were predicted on the basis of multiple regression equations using the four previous classes separately to compute the equations. Predictor variables were four American College Test (ACT) scores and high school grades. Predictions remained accurate over the four-year period. (Author/CTM)

Debates about developmental instruction have prompted postsecondary institutions to justify their developmental courses. This study investigated a method of documenting the benefits of developmental courses that involves using placement test scores to predict college outcomes separately for students who take a developmental course before taking…

Course placement systems in the first year of college include both an assessment component (to estimate students' probability of success in standard courses) and an instructional component (in which underprepared students are taught the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in the standard courses). The effectiveness of a placement system…

An argument based on the content fit among a college course, the American College Testing Program (ACT) Assessment tests, and students' high school course work is described to justify use of ACT scores and self-reported high school grades for placement of college freshmen in undergraduate remedial education. A utility-based approach to quantifying…