Using ACT Assessment Scores to Set Benchmarks for College Readiness

A C T R e s e a rc li R e p o rt S e rie s 2 0 0 5Using ACT Assessment® Scores to Set Benchmarks for College ReadinessI Jeff Allen Jim SconingACT August 2005 For additional copies write: ACT Research Report Series P.O. Box 168Iowa City, Iowa 52243-0168© 2005 by ACT, Inc. All rights reserved. Using ACT Assessment Scores to Set Benchmarksfor College ReadinessJeff Allen Jim Sconing AbstractIn this report, we establish benchmarks of readiness for four common first-year college courses: English Composition, College Algebra, Social Science, and Biology. Using grade data from a large sample of colleges, we modeled the probability of success in these courses as a function of ACT test scores. Success was defined as a course grade of B or higher, and for each college the ACT test score that yields a .50 probability of success was identified. The median of these scores represents the college readiness benchmark—the score that would typically indicate a student is ready for first-year college courses. Benchmarks were obtained for four common first-year courses: English Composition, using the ACT English score as the predictor; College Algebra, using the ACT Mathematics score as the predictor; Social Science, using the ACT Reading score as the predictor; and Biology, using the ACT Science score as the predictor. Using ACT Assessment Scores to Set Benchmarks for College ReadinessOne of the biggest transitions in a student’s career is from high school to college. College is currently viewed as the primary path to greater opportunity, to higher-paying and more rewarding jobs. As such, students, parents, and counselors put great emphasis on going to college. Of course, enrolling in college does not ensure success; a student must persist and obtain a college degree. Students who drop out usually do so in the first year of college (Choy, 2002), and one of the primary reasons is academic difficulty.The ACT Assessment® provides an objective measure of students’ academic achievement and readiness for college and includes four curriculum-based tests of educational development: English, mathematics, reading, and science. The ACT tests are designed to measure academic skills that are taught in typical college-preparatory curricula in high school and are necessary in the first year of college. High scores on these tests show that a student is proficient in these subject areas and is ready for college-level work. Thus, ACT scores may be used to help determine if a student is academically prepared for the first year of college.Factors other than academic preparedness—such as motivation and good study habits— are also important to success in college (Robbins et. al, 2004). In addition, other measures—e.g., high school grade point average and the level of courses taken in high school —can offer significant information on academic preparedness. The advantage of using ACT Assessment scores is that they are standardized measures that sustain meaning across schools and years. The meaning of high school grade point average, on the other hand, can differ across high schools. In this study, we focus on ACT Assessment scores and their relationship to success in the first year of college. The relationship between ACT Assessment scores and success in the first year of college has been well documented in previous studies (e.g., Noble & Sawyer, 2004; ACT, 1997). These studies use statistical methods, including linear regression and logistic regression, to relate ACT test scores to success in college. Other measures of success have been considered, including first- year college grade point average and grades in particular courses. These studies have shown positive relationships between ACT Assessment scores and success criteria, even after the effects of other factors (e.g., high school grades) have been statistically controlled for. In other words, the higher a student’s ACT score, the more likely that the student possesses the skills and knowledge necessary for success in college.In this study, grades in typical first-year college courses were modeled as a function of an ACT test score. The four courses studied were English Composition, College Algebra, Social Science, and Biology—courses that are taken by a large percentage of first-year students. The ACT Assessment scores used were English (with English Composition), Mathematics (with College Algebra), Reading (with Social Science), and Science (with Biology).Many factors are associated with success in a particular course, just one of which is academic preparation. And, even at the same college courses may vary in content and grading practices. Thus, for any test, theoretically there is no score below which a student cannot possibly succeed or above which a student is certain to succeed. Therefore, in this st