A new model for college & career readiness

1. Dayna Jean DeFeo, PhD Community & Technical College djdefeo@uaa.alaska.edu 907.786.6464 A new model for college & career readiness

2. College readiness doom & gloom • Low HS graduation • 65.8% in AK12 • Low college attendance • 30.1% in AK enroll directly out of high school12 • AK has lowest college-going rate in nation12 • Lots of developmental education • 2013 – Nationwide ACT scores lowest in 5 years6 • High college drop out rate • 20.6% persist to sophomore year12 • Low graduation rate • Poor time to completion • 6.6% graduate in 150% timeframe12 • Exorbitant debt upon graduation • Average debt $35,2005

3. Google “college readiness” Ambiguous representations… Extrapolations… Subtractive Deficit paradigm Focused on low-income or minority students Narrowly defined Test scores Academic skills Limited predictive validity for college success Quantitatively measured Focused on 4-year, liberal arts education • ACT • Standardized test performance • Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation • “graduate on-time with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed beyond high school” • “provide all students—especially low-income and minority students—with the opportunity to realize their full potential” • The College Board • Standardized test performance • Study habits & skills • CBS News article • ACT scores of high school seniors

4. College readiness as a label • Dangerous to label students13 • College-Ready/Underprepared* • Urban/Rural • Low-income • First-generation • Gifted • Move away from dichotomous classification systems that: • Abridge the richness of students’ experience • Highlight deficits over strengths • Tacitly blame students for systemic shortcomings • Create divisions along racial, geographic, or socioeconomic lines1,2,11

5. Scholarly perspective • Conley: College Knowledge4 • Cognitive strategies • Content knowledge • Academic skills • Contextual skills & awareness • Karp & Bork: Balancing Roles8 • Academic habits • Balance multiple roles • Cultural know-how • Help-seeking • McDonald & Farrell: Holistic Approach10 • Academic • Social • Personal preparedness

6. College & career pathways framework for college and career readiness • Holistic • Dynamic • Strengths-based • Steeped in literature

7. Academics • Quantitative measures • Assessments (snapshots) • ACCUPLACER, SAT, ACT, others • GPA • Rigorous coursework • Honors classes • AP or IB classes • 4 years of math & English • Focus & intentionality • Students contextualize their classes within their intended career field

8. Cognitive Strategies • Study habits • Study strategies2 • Prioritizing • Time management • Critical thinking • Information literacy3,15 • Metacognitive skills • Learning style awareness • Self-monitoring • Help-seeking

9. Dispositions & Attitudes • Ethical conduct • Initiative • Resilience (grit) • Motivation • Leadership • Intellectual curiosity

10. Goal setting • Self-knowledge • Aptitudes • Interests • Career exploration • Planning • Personal Learning and Career Plan (PLCP) • Salient goals • Major declaration • Contextualized learning7,14

11. College knowledge • Knowledge of institutional culture3,8 • Navigate bureaucratic system • Understand processes and procedures • Registration • Withdrawal • Office hours • Email etiquette • Ethos of college • Academic integrity • Scholarship • Difference between high school and college expectations • Resource awareness & access

12. Complicating the definition… … Or more accurately representing a concept? • Complications • Measurement & analysis • Indicators are multiple, qualitative, subjective, and of variable influence • Benefits • More accurate • Eliminate the label • The concept applies to all students • Strengths emerge • Collaborative effort and responsibility

13. College & career readiness is everyone’s business • Everyone has a responsibility • Everyone reinforces messages • Shifts onus of responsibility from English and math teachers • Change requires ecological and systemic buy-in1

14. Discussion • Thoughts? • Feedback? • Strengths? • Weaknesses? • Barriers?

15. References 1. Arnold, K.D., Lu, E.C., & Armstrong, K.J. (2012) The ecology of college readiness. ASHE Higher Education Report 38(5). 2. Conley, D.T. (2005). College knowledge: What is really takes for students to succeed and what we can do to get them ready. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. 3. Cox, R. D. (2009). Fear factor: How students and professors misunderstand one another. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 4. Educational Policy Improvement Center. (2009). Toward a more comprehensive conception of college readiness. Portland, OR: Conley, D.T. 5. Ellis, B. (2013, May 17). Class of 2013 grads average $35,200 in loans, credit card debt. CNN Money. 6. Grasgreen, A. (2013, August 21). ACT scores fall to lowest level in 5 years. Inside Higher Ed. 7. Hooley, T., Marriott, J., Sampson, J.P. (2011). Fostering college and career readiness: How career development activities in schools impact on graduation rtes and students’ life success. Derby UK: International Centre for Guidance Studies, University of Derby.

16. References 8. Karp, M.M. & Bork, R.H. (2012). “They never told me what to expect, so I didn’t know what to do”: Defining and clarifying the role of a community college student. Community College Research Center. Working Paper No. 47. 9. MAPWorks. (2013). Fall 2013 preliminary survey results. University of Alaska Anchorage. 10. McDonald, D., & Farrell, T. (2012). Out of the mouths of babes: Early college high school students’ transformational learning experiences. Journal of Advanced Academics 23(3), 217-248. doi: 10.1177/1932202X12451440 11. Moore, G.W., State, J.R., Edmonson, S.L., Combs, J.P. Bustamente, R., & Onwuegbuzie, A.J. (2011). High school students and their lack of preparedness for college: A statewide study. Education and Urban Society 42(7), 817-838. doi: 10.1177/0013124510379619 12. National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS), Student Pipeline Data: http://www.higheredinfo.org/dbrowser/index.php?submeasure=119&year=2008&level=nation&mode=data&state=0#/-1/

17. References 13. Popkewitz, T. S. (1998). Struggling for the soul: The politics of schooling and the construction of the teacher. New York: Teacher College Press. 14. Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy. (2011). Student Learning Plans: Supporting Every Student’s Transition to College and Career. Cambridge, MA: Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy. 15. Rose, M. (1989). Lives on the boundary: A moving account of the struggles and achievements of America’s educationally underprepared. New York, NY: Penguin Books. 16. Weis, L., & Fine, M. (2005). Working method: Research and social justice. New York, NY: Routledge.