The Condition of College and Career Readiness 2015 First-Generation Students

The Condition of College & Career Readiness 2015First-Generation Students © 2016 by ACT, Inc. All rights reserved. The ACT® test and ACT WorkKeys® are registered trademarks of ACT, Inc., in the USA and other countries. The ACT National Curriculum Survey®, ACT Engage®, ACT Explore®, ACT Plan®, ACT Aspire®, and ACT QualityCore® are registered trademarks of ACT, Inc. The ACT National Career Readiness Certificate™ is a trademark of ACT, Inc.6350 Dear Colleagues,For more than 50 years, the federal government has supported a set of college access and support service programs known as TRIO to address social, academic, and cultural barriers to college opportunity facing low‑income students and their families. Although these initiatives began as anti‑poverty programs in 1980, Congress later added first‑generation college status as an eligibility criterion for the programs to reflect the challenges facing students from families with no college experience.This year’s report from ACT and the Council for Opportunity in Education (COE)—The Condition of College & Career Readiness 2015: First-Generation Students—shows, not surprisingly, that first‑generation students demonstrate college readiness in key academic areas at a much lower rate than their peers. We now know more about how lack of access to a rigorous academic curriculum constitutes a major barrier to matriculation for first‑generation students. Those who have had access to a core curriculum in English, reading, math, and science are more likely to meet ACT College Readiness Benchmarks. But we have also known for many decades that young people whose parents graduated from college— in addition to their time in school—most often participate in a 17‑year, 12‑month, seven‑day‑a‑week, invisible curriculum. Many of the factors related to college success—information, counsel, experiences, and the expectation that a young person will indeed graduate from college—are included in that curriculum. It is vital that students who have not benefited from this information, experience, and support receive it both in and out of school if they are to be truly college ready.A partial solution highlighted in the report is increasing the investment in college access programs such as TRIO and GEAR UP. The decades‑long track record of these programs demonstrates that providing academic tutoring, mentoring, counseling, and other supportive services can level the playing field for students who are the first in their families to attend college. But other avenues to communicate the invisible curriculum both in and out of school must also be explored.COE and ACT want to increase the focus within the national and state education policy and practice communities on the dimensions of college readiness and access as they pertain to first‑generation students. We hope this report increases understanding of the relationship of academic performance to the complex array of barriers facing students from families without college backgrounds.Marten Roorda CEO, ACTMaureen Hoyler President, Council for Opportunity in Education 3 The Condition of College & Career Readiness 2015 is the ACT annual report on the progress of US high school graduates relative to college readiness. This year’s report shows that 59% of students in the 2015 US 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 of the data pool, providing a comprehensive picture of the current graduating class in the context of college readiness as well as offering a glimpse at the emerging educational pipeline.The ACT: Now More Than EverACT has a longstanding commitment to improving college and career readiness. Through our research, our thought leadership, and our solutions, we seek to raise awareness of issues and best practices aimed at helping individuals achieve education and workplace success. As the landscape of education and assessment rapidly shifts and state education and economic development agendas converge, ACT is uniquely positioned to inform decisions at the individual, institutional, system, and agency levels. As a research‑based nonprofit organization, ACT is committed to providing information and solutions to support the following:• Holistic View of Readiness. Our research shows that the ACT College and Career Readiness Standards can help prepare students for college and career success. However, we understand that academic readiness is just one of several factors that contribute to educational success. One 2014 ACT report, Broadening the Definition of College and Career Readiness: A Holistic Approach, shows academic readiness—long the sole focus of monitoring college readiness—as one of four critical domains in determining an individual’s readiness for success in college and career. Crosscutting skills, behavioral skills, and the ability to navigate future pathways are also important factors to measure and