low-income graduates

Data shady on how recent HS grads really doing in college


New report reveals that measuring enrollment, remediation and persistence data is fuzzy thanks to varying state mandates.

In the first report of its kind, data from publicly available sources has been compiled to paint a picture of college and career readiness (CCR) in every state, with the aim of moving past policy to actual facts on whether or not students are college- and career-ready. So…are they?

It’s a question that’s tough to answer, concluded Achieve—an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit education reform organization—due what the report describes as “significant limitations in the availability of data and inconsistencies in how they are reported across states.”

For example, just 15 states report data on how many students take and complete a high school course of study that would prepare them for college, and only 11 disaggregate that data by subgroups. 22 states report data on students earning college credit in high school through AP courses; just 7 of those states break those data down by subgroups. Only 7 states report how many students in 8th or 9th grade are on track to graduate based on timely credit accumulation.

“The inconsistency and lack of availability of the data makes it challenging for policymakers, educators, families, and advocates to get a clear answer to the simple question of whether high school graduates are prepared for postsecondary success,” said Michael Cohen, president of Achieve, in a statement. “We need more transparency from states if we are to move the needle on readiness in a significant way.”

What We do Know

Looking at K-12 data, which aggregated several indicators of college- and career-readiness in each state (including students’ performance on CCR assessments, completion of a rigorous course of study, and earning college credit while in high school), Achieve’s researchers found that, for the most part, too few high school graduates are prepared to succeed in two- and four-year postsecondary institutions or the military.

But for postsecondary indicators, the results are fuzzier. In the postsecondary report, researchers looked at graduates’ enrollment, persistence, and remediation rates at two- and four-year colleges. Achieve found that states report on their graduates’ postsecondary outcomes at very different levels of comprehensiveness.

For example, states’ reporting differs in whether they include students pursuing postsecondary education at two- and four-year institutions, whether they follow both in-state and out-of-state attendees, whether data includes both public and private institutions, and whether their reporting is limited to graduates from high schools in their state or includes anyone enrolled in their state institutions.

“Further, states vary in how they define enrollment, remediation, and persistence. As such, comparisons across states are challenging — but worth understanding,” notes the report.

(Next page: Results from the postsecondary report)

Inconsistencies in the data reported can be seen clearly just by looking at how different states report on all three indicators; for instance, Alabama only provides data on enrollment and remediation but not persistence; Missouri reports on remediation and persistence but not enrollment; and Georgia doesn’t provide data on any of the three indicators.

Achieve’s report not only details which states report on what indicators, but provides percentage breakdowns of what is reported for two- and four-year public and private institutions.

The report also defines what is, and is not, reported in each state via a short, written description.

According to the organization, the intent of the K-12 and postsecondary reports is two-fold:

  • To focus state and national conversations about college and career readiness on results — on the actual performance of high school graduates in each state.
  • To draw attention to the need to improve metrics to evaluate performance and progress. Many states do not yet report critical indicators, or they do so in vastly different ways from one another. Consequently, there is little comparability across states, and little transparency within many.

“We hope that this work will enable state leaders to determine the extent to which their K-12 system is producing college- and career-ready graduates, whether they are satisfied with the results, and if not, what they can do to improve those results,” said Cohen. “Secondly, we hope to draw attention to the need to improve metrics to evaluate performance and progress. Too many states do not yet report on critical indicators that are needed to understand and support postsecondary readiness.”

To view the results of the postsecondary report on each’s state’s data on enrollment, remediation and persistence, click here.

To view the results of the K-12 report, click here.

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