The Case for College Readiness

1. The Case for College Readiness Kent Pekel Executive Director College Readiness Consortium

2. Three Critical Questions: • Why should college readiness be the goal for all students? • What is college readiness? • What can we do to get all kids college ready?

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5. When I say the word collegeit includes:

6. When I say the word readinessit includes: • Academic Readiness • Admissions Readiness • Career Readiness • Financial Readiness • Personal and Social Readiness

7. Let’s start with some history…

8. W.B. Pillsbury, Scientific Monthly, 1921 “We can picture the educational system as having a very important function as a selecting agency, a means of selecting the men of best intelligence from the deficient and mediocre. All are poured into the system at the bottom; the incapable are soon rejected or drop out after repeating various grades and pass into the ranks of unskilled labor….The more intelligent who are to be clerical workers pass into the high school; the most intelligent enter the universities whence they are selected for the professions.” Source: W.B. Pillsbury. Selection—An unnoticed function of education. Scientific Monthly, 12, January 1921, p. 71

9. For a long time, that system worked: Source: Claudia Goldin, “The Human Capital Century: Has U.S. leadership come to an end?”, Education Next, Winter, 2003 (vol. 3, no. 1).

10. The 20th Century Education Race:High School Completion Rates % 1 13 1 27 Approximated by % of persons with high schooldiploma in age groups 55-64, 45-55, 45-44 and 25-34 years Source: Prof. Andreas Schleicher, OECD Directorate for Education

11. The 21st Century Education Race: CollegeCompletion Rates Expenditure per student at tertiary level (USD) Cost per student Graduate supply Tertiary-type A graduation rate

12. The 21st Century Education Race: CollegeCompletion Rates Expenditure per student at tertiary level (USD) United States Cost per student Finland Graduate supply Tertiary-type A graduation rate

13. The 21st Century Education Race: CollegeCompletion Rates Expenditure per student at tertiary level (USD) Australia Finland United Kingdom Tertiary-type A graduation rate

14. The 21st Century Education Race: CollegeCompletion Rates Expenditure per student at tertiary level (USD) Tertiary-type A graduation rate

15. The 21st Century Education Race: CollegeCompletion Rates Expenditure per student at tertiary level (USD) Tertiary-type A graduation rate

16. The 21st Century Education Race: CollegeCompletion Rates Expenditure per student at tertiary level (USD) Tertiary-type A graduation rate

17. The 21st Century Education Race: CollegeCompletion Rates Expenditure per student at tertiary level (USD) Tertiary-type A graduation rate

18. The 21st Century Education Race: CollegeCompletion Rates Expenditure per student at tertiary level (USD) Tertiary-type A graduation rate

19. The 21st Century Education Race: CollegeCompletion Rates Expenditure per student at tertiary level (USD) United States Australia Finland Tertiary-type A graduation rate

20. So why does it matter if our education system isn’t as good as Finland’s?

21. Projected GDP growth if U.S. high school students catch up to Finland’s $103 trillion Source: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, “The High Cost of Low Educational Performance: The Long-Run Economic Impact of Improving PISA Outcomes,” OECD 2010

22. Why readiness matters to individuals: Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey

23. Why readiness matters to families: Source: Ron Haskins, “Education and Economic Mobility” in Getting Ahead or Losing Ground: Economic Mobility in America, edited by Julia Isaacs, Isabel Sawhill, and Ron Haskins (Washington, D.C.: Brookings-Pew Economic Mobility Project, 2008), p. 91-104

24. But what about jobs that don’t require a postsecondary degree?

25. Ongoing Research from ACT: “…the majority of the fastest-growing jobs that require a high school diploma, pay a salary above the poverty line for a family of four, and provide opportunities for career advancement require knowledge and skills comparable to those expected of the first year college student.” Source: ACT, Inc. How Much Growth toward College Readiness Is Reasonable to Expect in High School?, 2009

26. So what does Minnesota’s future look like in this changing world?

27. Let’s take a look…

28. Educational Attainment in Minnesota Today Levels of Education for MN Residents Ages 25-64 Source: U.S. Census, 2000

29. Education and Jobs in Minnesota:2008 vs. 2018 Source: Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce, Help Wanted: Projections of Jobs and Education Requirements Through 2018, June 2010

30. Minnesota Grows Older Source: U.S. Census Counts and State Demographer Projection

31. Minnesota Grows More Diverse Source: Minnesota State Demographic Center

32. Is Minnesota educationally ready for these challenges?

33. College Readiness in MN Today: % Meeting ACT Benchmarks Source: ACT, Minnesota: The Condition of College and Career Readiness Class of 2010

34. % Meeting Readiness BenchmarkIn Math Source: ACT, Minnesota: The Condition of College and Career Readiness Class of 2010

35. % Meeting Readiness BenchmarkIn English Source: ACT, Minnesota: The Condition of College and Career Readiness Class of 2010

36. % Meeting Readiness BenchmarkIn Social Science Source: ACT, Minnesota: The Condition of College and Career Readiness Class of 2010

37. % Meeting Readiness BenchmarkIn Biology Source: ACT, Minnesota: The Condition of College and Career Readiness Class of 2010

38. Facing the Perfect Storm

39. Three Critical Questions: • Why should college readiness be the goal for all students? • What is college readiness? • What can we do to get all kids college ready?

40. Five Readiness Goals

41. Components of College Readiness • Academic Readiness • Admissions Readiness • Career Readiness • Financial Readiness • Personal and Social Readiness

42. College Students Look Back

43. Jr. and Sr. High School StudentsLook Forward

44. Components of College Readiness • Academic Readiness • Admissions Readiness • Career Readiness • Financial Readiness • Personal and Social Readiness

45. Jenn (college student): “I had a chemistry class my first quarter here…and I was in that class with a lot of people who knew the material. They were like, ‘Wow! This was easy. Why don’t you know this?” And I felt like I was dumb. And I knew I wasn’t. I worked so hard for a C in college when in high school I was in AP Chemistry and I got straight A’s…So it’s like I’m trying to catch up and it’s hard. I wish someone would have pushed me more….” Source: “College Readiness and Academic Preparation for Postsecondary Education: Oral Histories of First-Generation Urban College Students,” M. Jeanne Reid and James L. Moore III, Urban Education Volume 43 Number 2, March 2008

46. JB (college student): “ Writing in college has been one of the most difficult things I have ever experienced. I would definitely change my curriculum back in high school to have the chance to do more writing and writing about topics that are more academic….I spent three years in ESL where we didn’t do as much writing…writing little essays, not a big research paper. Last semester I had to write three research papers. One was 20 pages, one was 15 pages, and one was 12 pages. They were all due back to back.” Source: “College Readiness and Academic Preparation for Postsecondary Education: Oral Histories of First-Generation Urban College Students,” M. Jeanne Reid and James L. Moore III, Urban Education Volume 43 Number 2, March 2008

47. J.B. (college student): “ Take AP classes and take the postsecondary courses. Get some college credit because colleges are accepting college credits (you earn) while you are in high school. Take AP classes. TAKE THEM! TAKE THEM! TAKE THEM! It will help you so much. And take a foreign language too!” Source: “College Readiness and Academic Preparation for Postsecondary Education: Oral Histories of First-Generation Urban College Students,” M. Jeanne Reid and James L. Moore III, Urban Education Volume 43 Number 2, March 2008

48. Terra (college student) “A lot of kids in high school, when they don’t understand something, they go straight to their teacher and ask for help….But if you automatically go to the teacher and they give you the answer, when you hit college, you’re going to want the answer and go to your professor, and they’re just going to look at you and tell you to go find the answer.” Source: “College Readiness and Academic Preparation for Postsecondary Education: Oral Histories of First-Generation Urban College Students,” M. Jeanne Reid and James L. Moore III, Urban Education Volume 43 Number 2, March 2008

49. The academically ready student can: • Demonstrate mastery of knowledge and skills required for college-level work in English, math and science • Analyze complex problems and develop sound solutions • Evaluate claims and hypotheses • Ask and investigate important questions about ideas, issues and the world • Evaluate and revise work for accuracy

50. Components of College Readiness • Academic Readiness • Admissions Readiness • Career Readiness • Financial Readiness • Personal and Social Readiness