In one of ACT’s recent reports, Mind the Gaps: How College Readiness Narrows Achievement Gaps in College Success, it was discovered that even with a disadvantaged background success in college depends on a few key factors.
The factors most focused on during this report are: college readiness (defined as meeting or exceeding ACT college readiness benchmarks), taking the ACT recommended core curriculum in high school (four years of English, three of math, science, and social studies), taking course beyond the recommended core in math and science. It was then determined if students were successful in college with this protocol having been met while in high school. Success in college was defined as first year enrollment immediately following high school graduation, earning a grade of B or higher in selected first year course, and maintaining a 3.0 grade point average the first year. A lot to look at, right?
So once it was all sorted through it was determined that if a student was prepared for college (and by prepared I mean according to the ACT’s definition of prepared), then “racial/ethnic and family income gaps in college success rates narrow substantially.” It just makes sense, doesn’t it? If you are prepared to do something then you can do it well. If you are not aptly prepared, you probably won’t do it well. I guess the report is trying to tell us that we want our kids in schools with high expectations compared to the norm and we want to make sure our kids follow the recommended core curriculum during high school. Now taking these classes doesn’t ensure success, but it is a great start. Let’s all support our kids no matter what our background and encourage our schools to promote the sometimes rigorous regiment of so many math and science classes. Let’s not settle for second best when it comes to how our high schools are educating our youth.
