College Readiness

Senior High School Readiness can be compared to College Readiness since it seeks to assess the preparedness of students for higher education. According to David Conley (2007), college readiness can be defined operationally as the level of preparation a student need to enroll and succeed–without remediation–in a credit-bearing general education course at a higher education that offers a baccalaureate degree or transfer to a baccalaureate program. This apperception of college readiness is polished against what our recent research has come to define as best practices entry-level courses as opposed to traditional freshman coursework (Conley, Aspengren, Gallagher, & Nies, 2006a, 2006b; Conley, Aspengren, Stout, & Veach, 2006).

Determining college readiness is an essential part in determining who will qualify as a good candidate for admission into a college or a university. The last thing that colleges want is for students to qualify for admission and drop out, this affects drop out rate and graduation rate. According Robin Chait and Andrea Venezia (2009),

Patrick Sullivan's paper is to encourage and help 9th grade students towards college readiness. He starts off by explaining that by following this guide for the next four years will propel them to be mentally ready for college and will assist them in excelling. He mentions that there are crucial skills to be mastered in order for them to be prepared in college. The skills of writing, reading, grit, listening and maturity are needed to help and student not struggle. He believes that honing these skills to near perfection will help them achieve to great heights. He does not fail to mention how every college freshman needs to enter college with maturity. Sullivan strongly pushes that 9th grades start as soon as they can to grow these characteristics

In “Assessing College Readiness: Should We Be Satisfied with ACT or other Threshold Scores?”, educational researcher and psychology teacher Geoffrey Maruyama argues that the ACT and other threshold scores do not sufficiently determine college readiness, then suggests different approaches that can be used to assess college readiness.

Using a document analysis, the phenomenon of post-secondary readiness was explored to uncover the challenges, opportunities, similarities, and differences surrounding the transitioning of secondary school students in Jamaica and Ontario to university. In investigating the current educational climate of both countries, it is hoped this study will inform policy makers and educational leaders in making decisions on creating opportunities and formulating the best practices for the development and post-secondary academic choices for students transitioning from secondary to post-secondary institutions.

In the articles Experts Zero In on Nonacademic Skills Needed for Success and The Myth of the Tech-Savvy Student the authors both have a different view on how college and career readiness is defined. In Experts Zero In on Nonacademic Skills Needed for Success, the author Sarah D Sparks defines college readiness as not the educational value but the work ethic, teamwork, and perseverance when things get tough. In the article The Myth of the Tech-Savvy Student, the author Loyola University Maryland defines career readiness as knowledge about the online cultures that will be central in their lives. Different traits and knowledge have a handing in shaping someone for college and their careers.

The purpose of this paper is to inform the audience of two current trends that are affecting administrators, educators, and students within adult and career education. The topics that will be discussed throughout this paper are career and college readiness and online and blended learning. Both of these topics are very influential within our education today. The majority of our high school students are not prepared to go to college or begin a career and there are ways in which we, as teachers, can prepare our students to be ready for their futures. Also, online and blended learning is becoming more prominent within our education field. In blended learning classes the students are still able to attend classes but they have some aspects of the class to be completed online. Throughout this paper we will look at the philosophical, social, economic, political, demographic, and diversity of college and career readiness and online and blended learning.

Investigating college-readiness by looking at the data for particular groups pinpoints definite achievement gaps. The profile of a college student in the United States reveals that about 60% of recent graduate are “not college-ready” (Kirst, 2007). High school graduation data broken down by ethnicity indicates that 97% of African Americans and 90% of Hispanics are not college-ready upon high school completion (Collins, 2009). This percentage compares to 33% of Caucasian and 25% of Asian students being college-ready at high school completion (Bettinger & Long, 2007). Further, an investigation of gender disparities reveal that males and females tend to perform similarly on college readiness

Camara (2012) in his article, evaluated a number of criteria that can be employed to measure college and career accomplishment but contests that academic performance is the most pertinent and obtainable criteria for defining success. The researcher further elucidated that there are unconventional approaches to ascertain performance level descriptors ‘ (PLDs), cut scores and metrics that are perceived to be purposeful in appraising students’ college-and-career readiness. Moreover, the paper illustrated a general validation approach and required evidence to conduct predictive studies between Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) secondary assessments postsecondary success. The development and rationality of PLDs should be based on empirical data from the statistical links between high

Ever since I was young, I knew I wanted to have a spectacular career, I wasn't sure which one I wanted, but I knew it had to be something I was in love with. As I got older I realized more and more that a college education would be the essential in accomplishing this goal. Many great careers require a high level college education, therefore getting this education early on will enable me to be successful.

Conley Readiness index, published in Pearson’s lab, is one part of the assignment for week one. The purpose of this multiple choice psychological test -- divided in four or five sections -- is to define whether a student is ready for college or not. In this journal I would like to discuss a few points I found the most interesting to me.

Attending college gives the student a considerable amount of knowledge before entering their career. Pursuing a bachelor’s degree usually takes four years for the average student. During these years, students are studying all aspects and information about their future career

An Open Letter to Ninth Graders explains what skills are needed for college. These skills include: reading, writing, listening, grit and attitude. The author thoroughly explains how each of these skills are vital to a student’s college readiness. In addition, he also gives a few examples of how the lack of these abilities can affect the student’s college life. The author also encourages the strengthening and polishing of these skills throughout the next four years of a student’s high school life. In other words, you need to work hard on just these skills in order to be ready for college. The general argument of this author is that all you need to worry about when you go to college, is your college readiness and the commitment of this step

Self-esteem and self-efficacy play and key role in the achievement and behavior of high school students’. Students’ within urban areas are coined the lowest performers on standardize test. College readiness programs play a supplemental role within high schools. (Awé & Bauman, 2012) These readiness programs focus on improving students’ self-esteem and self-efficacy. The purpose of this research is to analyze the effectiveness of a college readiness program within an urban high school. (Awé & Bauman, 2012)

Throughout the years that I have spent in the workforce and during my myriad attempts to complete a postsecondary degree, I have learned many things about myself and about the direction that I would like my career to take. In my most recent encounter with higher education, I was shown and given many tools to utilize in my journey. The most useful of these is the CSU-Global Career Center, which contains quite a few tools and resources of which students may take advantage. By delving through these resources and materials, I have been able to use self-assessment to reflect on my journey thus far and redirect my efforts to better prepare myself for success in the long run. This self-assessment and redirection has helped me to identify my strengths and weaknesses, and has enabled me to understand how to overcome my weaknesses and how to employ my strengths to continue to grow in my life and career.