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College Readiness among High School Students in Seattle Public Schools District
Problem Statement
Attending high school should be a dream fulfilled for every student. But as far as learning is concerned high school is not the end of the world. High school diplomas do not bring in much pay as an employee. There is more to learning than high school. If a student wants to earn enough to take care of himself and family, he needs to aspire for higher education. Have students in Seattle public high schools ever thought of this fact? Have they ever considered of what they are going to become in future? How can we measure college readiness among high school students in Seattle Public Schools District? The question that lingers in the minds of parents, educators, and government officials in Seattle area is how college prepared are our high school students?
Research Question
How can we measure college readiness among high school students in Seattle Public Schools District?
Literature Review
Overview
The literature review in this chapter is going to focus on two sections that are helpful in examining the issue of how to measure college readiness among high school students in Seattle Public Schools District. The first section deals with a subject area of my research: “college readiness among high school students;” this theme is going to be discussed extensively by exploring literatures previously written on the topic. Eventually, the second section discusses on how to measure the college readiness among high school students in Seattle Public Schools District.
College Readiness among High School Students
Leslie Siskin (2013) states that, “the challenge of designing new policies and programs that could accomplish the Regents’ goal that “all students should graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college and career” is tremendous (p. 3). But the persisting current problem to first be considered is “how far are we from the goal of college and career readiness for all students – both nationally and in New York. Precise figures vary across different studies, but the patterns are consistent, and the distance is considerable. Despite policy makers’ intentions and students’ aspirations, the existing ‘pipeline’ of academic preparation and programs to ready students is not strong enough to take them there” (Siskin, 2013, p. 3). Siskin (2013) further observes that, “The College Board (2008) provided a vivid graphic snapshot illustrating the national problem: “too many students are lost as they move through the p-16 pipeline”. While the numbers are fairly steady through the K-8 grades, there is a slight bump in ninth grade enrollment – a common retention year. But they begin to fall in the last few years of high school, and drop precipitously in the postsecondary years” (Siskin, 2013, p. 3).
According to Siskin (2013), “a new reform agenda began to rise around college readiness, this one driven not just by policy makers and politicians, but also by students and their families. This was ‘a profound shift from the idea of high school as the ‘people’s college’ to high school as the people’s ticket to college’ (Siskin, 2011, p. 184). The consortium on Chicago School Research reported that if one were to ‘ask any high school student in Chicago today what he wants to get out of high school … the answer is almost without fail, to graduate and go to college’ (Roderick, 2006). Across the country, students were giving the same answer. According to national Center for Educational Statistics data, the percentage of sophomores aspiring to college jumped from 41% in 1980 to 80% in 2002. The 2004 National Survey of High School Student Engagement found the figure at 90%; an Alger Association survey at 94% (2006). The wave was rising across the country and across all demographic groups, but most steeply among students for whom expectations had long been low: 78% of African American in 2004, 84% in 2006. According to the National High School Center, 77% of youth with disabilities reported aiming for postsecondary education. And among immigrant families, aspirations were not only growing, but were more consistently ambitious and more optimistic than among their native born counterparts (Raleigh & Kao, 2010). Siskin (2013) paraphrasing (Roderick, 2006) states that, “Though, as Roderick noted, the gap between aspirations and achieving that goal remained wide, it was now normal to expect not only to go to high school, but to go through it and on to college (Roderick, 2006). Politicians and policy makers have also concluded that students need to attain not just higher skills but higher credentials – college degrees or technical certificates – to find work in the new economy” (Siskin, 2013, p. 11).
In other to support overambitious perspective of high school students to attain college education, John Reynolds, Michael Stewart, Ryan Macdonald, & Lacey Sischo (2006) state that their study “tracks changes in high school seniors’ educational and occupational plans over a twenty-five year period and assess whether these plans have become increasingly unrealistic. Comparisons of seniors’ career plans with the contemporaneous achievements of high school graduate confirms that high school seniors’’ ambitions outpace what they are likely to achieve, a gap that is growing over time. Teenagers’ increasingly expect that community college will serve as an avenue for higher degrees and professional jobs” (Reynolds et al., 2006, p. 1). Reynolds et al., (2006) assert that, “Together with the declining influence of grades and curricular track on students’ educational and occupational plans, this provides additional evidence that teenagers have become too ambitious. Finally, longitudinal analyses of three cohorts of high school seniors confirm that the positive association between educational plans and attainments is on the decline” (Reynolds et al., 2006, p. 1). The authors claim in their research article that over ambitious attitudes found among American high school students make them to be preparing in wrong manners for colleges. They further claim that according to the results of their research, American high school students have wrong opinions about college education. They discover that some of the students believe that community colleges are automatic pathways to four-year colleges, among other misconceptions about college education. So the authors assert that giving accurate information about college education will reduce over ambitiousness found among the high school students.
According to Reynolds et al., (2006), “over the past two decades, America teens have become increasingly ambitious regarding their educational and occupational plans after high school. But does this development serve them well? Our results cast doubt on the benefits not only to them but to society” (Reynolds, 2006, p. 1). “While some youth clearly benefit, others find themselves in contexts where they are likely to fail. In this case, heightened ambition can lead to disappointment and discouragement rather than optimism and success. Our goal is to identify factors that have contributed to youth’s increased ambition in the face of minimal odds for success and to address the implications of this development for U.S. society” (Reynolds et al., 2006, p. 1). “The results demonstrate that high school seniors’ future plans are shaped less and less by signaling devices in high school, especially in the case of plans for postsecondary education. The positive effects of past grades and enrollment in a college preparatory track on students’ educational plans significantly declined over the study period” (Reynolds et al., p. 199).
Siskin (2013) further observes that, “Complete College America (2012) reported that nationally 50% of entering community college students would be placed into remedial courses, and fewer than 10% would make it to the degree; in Florida 78% of students entering community colleges required remediation. These reports raised questions about just how ready high school graduates are for college or a career, and about how to assess success. Preparing students for college and career – without remediation – became the new reform agenda, creating a new and unprecedented challenge for the American educational system and for the high school in particular” (Siskin, 2013, pp. 11-12). “This is not because high schools are failing to do their job, but because the job they were designed to do is something quite different” (Siskin, 2013, p. 12). Siskin emphasizes on the fact that American community has been sensitized concerning college attainment for high school students upon their graduation. Her research based specifically on the problems of college readiness among high school students in Philanthropy and New York in general. The author claims that there are a lot of factors to be implemented in order to fulfil the dream. She suggest in her article for practical subjects in similar with college courses to be taught at high school level this makes the students familiar with them before stepping on college’s soil.
According to Siskin (2013), “Inherent in the design, although not always realized, was the need to identify, early on, which students should be in which track. Counselors were charged with using test scores and transcripts to place students on the appropriate track. But because students were ‘under one roof,’ there could be room to change tracks to accommodate student efforts or correct for testing errors” (Siskin, 2013, p. 14). “The comprehensive high school – by design – served in part as a ‘sorting machine’ (Spring, 1988), identifying and placing students on track to suit their perceived interests and talents, to supply appropriate coursework, and to signal to colleges and employers where that track led. This is the traditional form of high school as we know it, the design that Bill Gates called obsolete – but that has proven so obstinately resilient to reform (Siskin, 2003). This reform effort, however, poses a different kind of challenge for the high school, one that calls not just for improvement but a radical redesign of the fundamental principles of sorting and preparing students for different futures” (Siskin, 2013, p. 14). “To remove toward preparing all students to reach the same goal, at the same time, is a radical shift, indeed, as a sea change that reaches every aspect of the high school design” (Siskin, 2013, p. 14). “In these schools students demonstrate performance on complex tasks, create projects, conduct research, present arguments and evidence – much like the new calls for deeper learning and college readiness that are now being urged an all schools” ( Siskin, 2013, p. 27).
Meyer J. W. (1970) takes a look at sociological impacts on high school students concerning their college readiness. He discovers that high school status plays a big part on how students get prepared for colleges while in high school. According Meyer, a famous high school that has many brilliant students with high competitions among the students will surely demonstrate high college readiness among its students. To him, majority of the students will find their ways to colleges. This observation should be compared with an infamous high schools with poor motivation and competition; only few students will demonstrate college readiness. “Since American public high schools do not vary greatly in their effects upon college intentions, knowledge about the high school adds little to our ability to predict whether students will plan to enter college. But our aim is to study how high schools affect students by analyzing the small effect which can be found in this important area” (Meyer, 1970, p. 59).
Roderick M., Nagoka, J., & Coca, V., (2009) came up with four essentials sets of skills that will make high schools students to be college ready while in school. They also give various steps for high school teachers and administrators to adopt the steps. “The authors also examine different ways of assessing college readiness. The three most commonly recognized indicators used by colleges, they say, are coursework required for college admission, achievement test scores, and grade point averages. Student performance on all these indicators of readiness reveals significant racial and ethnic disparities” (Roderick et al., 2009, p. 185).
College Readiness among High School Students in Seattle Public Schools District
David Conley (2007) discovered that though there is an increase recently in the number of high school graduates who gained admission to four-year colleges. However, according to Conley, there is a sharp decline of college students’ retention. In other words, the high school students do not stay long in the college because they drop out or spend longer years than necessary before graduating. The author claims that this happens because of lack of college readiness in the high school students. “In a district-level example, the Bellevue School District in Washington had designed initiatives to increase college readiness. The district established a goal of having all students complete an advanced placement course before graduation. To support this goal, the district undertook a systematic analysis of its curriculum from kindergarten through 12th grade, comparing its program with college readiness standards” (David, 2007, p. 28).
Jay and Forster (2003) believe that there are lot of young students in American public high schools who are not ready for college education. They claim that there are lot of these students who do not graduate on time from high schools according to the school stipulated time. To the authors, this is an indicator that they are not ready for college. They specify in their article three ways to be employed to solve this problem: “students must graduate from high school, they must have taken certain courses in high school that colleges require for the acquisition of necessary skills, and they must demonstrate basic literacy skills” ( Jay and Forster, 2003, p. ii). “On top of the need to accurately measure graduation rates, another problem that education policy makers are increasingly concerned with is that too many graduates aren’t college ready. There is a gap between what high schools require for graduation and what four-year colleges require before they can consider students’ applications, causing many students to graduate from high schools unable to apply to college” (Jay & Forster, 2003, p. 3).
Moore, G.W., Slate, J.R., Edmonson, S.L., Combs, J.P., Bustamante, R., & Onwuegbuzie, A.J. (2010) explored the reasons why high school students are not college ready. They conducted their research on all 1,099 high schools in Texas State for the 2006-2007 school year. They discovered that only about one-third of the students were college ready. Based on this finding, the authors suggested various steps to be taken in order to improve the situation among high school students in Texas State. They believe that their finding will make other states in the U.S. to be aware of the problem, and explore their recommendations to solve the problem. “We collected data for traditional high schools and eliminated charter school and alternative high school data. Therefore, the data reported in this study vary slightly from the state AEIS report in which data from all high schools were summarized. The data were analyzed to determine the college-ready graduate rates for all students and for each ethnic subgroup in reading, math, and in both subjects” (Moore et al., 2010, p. 830). “We also analyzed data to determine differences in college-ready graduation rates in reading, in math, and in both subjects as a function of ethnic membership. Data from this study might be used as basement data for future studies” (Moore et al., 2010, p. 830).
Roderick, M., Coca, V., & Nagoka, J. (2011) conducted their research among the high schools students in urban areas. They discovered various advantages for the students, especially, the ones whose schools are very close to a four-year college. They found out that the proximity of the college helps many of the high school students to aspire of attending one. The authors further claim that the aspiration is not enough, the students need to be coached by their teachers on the likely courses that will be help them to gain college experience while at high school, and also they need a guidance in the area of choosing schools that match their qualifications. “As public schools in the United States increasingly serve a majority minority student body, closing racial/ethnic and income gaps in college enrollment is imperative for pursuing this goal, and urban high schools must become the epicenter of reform. What will it take to transform high schools from institutions that prepare a select group of students for college enrollment to institutions that prepare the majority of their students for this goal? Most of the policy debate around high school reform has focused on improvement college access and performance by increasing college readiness” (Roderick et al., 2011, p. 202).
Holland and Farmer-Hinton (2009) claim that for high school students to be college ready, they must be accustomed to college culture right away from their high schools. They affirm that majority of the students at urban high schools where they conducted their research were strangers to college culture, though, some colleges might be very close to their campus. They suggest in their report that the school administrators and teachers should endeavor to create the required college environment, especially for the seniors. Some ways to do that were mentioned: taking AP courses, occasional visits to college campuses, and other suggestions mentioned. “All public schools should provide students with access to the human and material resources that will help students develop the skills to excel in school and beyond. One approach to this type of reform would be creating smaller, caring, K-12 learning communities that collaborate with higher education institutions in preparing students for success in postsecondary endeavors. Further, districtwide efforts should support individual schools as they develop a college culture by helping to cultivate collaborative relationships between K-12 and higher education institutions” (Holland & Farmer-Hinton, 2009, p. 39).
Callan, P. M., Finney, J. E., Kirst, M. W., Usdan, M. D., and Venezia, A. (2006) lament on the efforts of the U.S. government to make higher education accessible to high school students as inadequate. They claim that the government need to do more in order to get high school students ready for college and retain them there until graduation. They affirm that college readiness among the high school students is very low country wide; this was measured by the outcome of remedial educations for high school students at colleges, and high drop-out rates among the students at the colleges are mentioned as glaring indicators for lack of college readiness among the high school students. They make recommendations to education policy makers on how to create college awareness at high school campuses across the nation by making their courses to be college-like, and invite college professors from nearby colleges to have some takings with the students. “Many forces are converging to create a pressing need for state policies to improve college readiness and success. For example, the fastest growing job sectors in our economy require workers to have at least some education or training beyond high school. Yet completion rates for associate’s and bachelor’s degree programs have stalled over past decade, and wide gaps remain in college completion by ethnic and income group” (Callan et al., 2006, p. 3).
Methodology
Research Design
I was interested in knowing how college ready or prepared are high school students in Seattle Public Schools District. My curiosity was stimulated when I started doing my service learning this quarter at Roosevelt High School, Seattle area. The school is a public high school in Seattle Public Schools District; one of the largest schools in the greater Seattle area. Seeing how the students conduct themselves in careless manners makes me to wonder whether these students are aware of the fact that there is more to schooling than high school. I have attended 10th grade Advanced Placement Human Geography class at the school several times. This is one the classes that supposed to prepare the high school students for college. And I have come to a bitter conclusion that some of the students are not supposed to be taking the class, because in my opinion they are not yet ready for college. I wonder if the same scenario occurs in all the public high schools across the district. Currently, there are sixteen high schools in the district. So in order to validate my suspicion I intend to conduct field and survey researches on the students and teaching staff of Roosevelt High School, Seattle. Thus, I am using Roosevelt High School students as a sample for the general population of the rest of high school students in Seattle Public Schools District.
Assumptions
- I assume that majority of the high school students in Roosevelt High School in Seattle Public Schools District are not college prepared.
- I assume that the teachers that prepare the students for college are not doing enough for the students to be adequately college prepared.
- I assume that the same problem is possibly found among high school students across the district.
Concerns
- I am very concerned that it will be extremely difficult for me to conduct survey research among the high school students who take AP classes at Roosevelt High School.
- I am concerned that Roosevelt High School administration will ask me to secure permissions from the school district and parents before survey research can be conducted among the students.
- I am concerned that the teachers who teach AP classes may not cooperate with me if they understand what my research is all about.
- I am concerned that the data collected during the research may not be sufficient to generalize that the problem occurs in other public high schools across the district.
Methodology
Sources of Evidence and Authority
I will make use of various methodologies before I come to conclusion; the results of my findings will surely verify my suspicion concerning the problem of college readiness among high school students in Seattle Public Schools District. In order to make the finding authentic and valid, I will make use of survey research, field research, and research using available data. I believe that these chosen methodologies will be efficient to generate a valid finding concerning the problem of college readiness among Seattle public high school students. The high school students at Roosevelt High School, shall be my sample school; the findings among these students will be used as a generalization for other high schools across the district. I think using Roosevelt High School as a sample for other high schools in the district is reasonable; not only that I have easy access to the school because of my service learning there, my methodology is also supported by scholars. According to Singleton, R. A. and Straits, B. C. (2010), “The basic idea behind sampling: 1. We seek knowledge or information about a whole class of similar objects or events (usually called a population). 2. We observe some of these (called a sample). 3. We extend our findings to the entire class” (Singleton & Straits, 2010, p. 150).
Survey Research
I will make use of this methodology, survey research, to determine the finding of my proposal. I will use both questionnaire format and interviewing. I will interview the teachers that teach AP classes at Roosevelt High School, and I will ask some AP students and non-AP students to complete my questionnaires.
Survey Research Strengths. A survey research:
- Captures the thoughts of student subjects under research.
- Allows the researcher getting results without much interference with daily activities of the subjects.
- Can be administered to on time, late comers, and absentee subjects and get the same results.
Survey Research Weaknesses: A survey research:
- Costs a lot of money to get questionnaires ready.
- Involves burden of carrying papers all over the place.
- Involves concentration on the part of the subjects.
Field Research
I will make use of my service learning at Roosevelt High School as a pathway for my research. While on the service I will pay attention to AP classroom settings, teacher deliveries, students’ behaviors towards the lessons and teachers. All these will be done through my observations. This is a direct observation because I am on the scene of the natural setting of my observed under research.
Field Research Strengths. A field research:
- Makes it easy for the researcher to observe the subjects in their natural settings.
- Makes the data collected to be valid and reliable because they are first-hand.
Field Research Weaknesses. A field research:
- Makes subjects panic if they are aware of the reason behind researcher’s presence.
- Makes the researcher vulnerable of attacks from the subjects or acquaintances.
Research Using Available Data
I will make use of available data on the research topic of college readiness among Seattle public high schools students. I will read and select best literatures on the topic. The selected pieces will be part of my literature reviews. This is important because my readers need to know what previous researchers have to say concerning the topic.
Research Using Available Data Strengths. Research using available data:
- Makes a researcher have a look into previous data collected on this topic by various colleagues.
- Makes the researcher have deeper knowledge of the topic.
Research Using Available Data Weaknesses. Research using available data:
- Makes a researcher to get confused with various data which are contradictory on the topic under research.
- Possibly turns out that there are few data to look into.
Expected Findings
At the end of my study I expect to find causes of increase in college enrollment of high school students in Seattle Public School Districts. However, the study should highlight the reasons why many of these students do not finish their college education on time, and some completely drop out of the college. Based on these expected findings I want to assume that poor retention of high school students in colleges is a strong indicator that the students are not adequately college prepared right from their high schools. These are my expected findings:
- Advanced Level participation rate of Roosevelt High School is 71%
- College Readiness Score of Roosevelt High School is 62.3% (U.S. News High Schools (2016). Roosevelt High School Test Scores. Best High Schools Rankings: U.S. News & World Report.)
- In 2004, 67% of American high school students got enrolled into U.S. colleges
- 35% of college enrolled high school students graduated from four-year colleges on time
- 56% of the college enrolled students graduated six years later (Conley, 2007, p. 23).
- College drop-outs increase recently among the college enrolled high school students in Seattle Public Schools District; an indicator of lack of efficient college readiness among the students.
Bibliography
Callan, P. M., Finney, J. E., Kirst, M. W., Usdan, M. D., and Venezia, A. (2006). Claiming common ground: State policymaking for improving college readiness and success. The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. 6(1), 1-38.
College Board (2008). Coming to our senses: Education and the American Future. Report of the Commission on Access, Admissions and Success in Higher Education. http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/coming-to-our-senses-college-board-2008.pdf
Complete College America. (2012). Remediation: Higher education’s bridge to nowhere. Washington D.C.: Author. http://www.completecollege.org/docs/CCA-Remediation-final.pdf
Conley, D. T. (2007). The challenge of college readiness. Educational Leadership, 64(7), 23-29.
Holland, N. E. and Farmer-Hinton, R. L. (2009). Leave no schools behind: The importance of a college culture in urban public high schools. The High School Journal, 92(3), 24-43.
Jay, J. P. and Forster, G. F. (2003). Public high school graduation and college readiness rates in the united states. Education Working Paper, 3(1), 1-23.
Meyer, J. W. (1970). High school effects on college intentions. American Journal of Sociology, 76(1), 59-70.
Moore, G. W., Slate, J. R., Edmonson, S. L., Combs, J. P., Bustamante, R., and Onwuegbuzie, A. J. (2010). High school students and their lack of preparedness for college: A Statewide Study. Education and Urban Society, 42(7), 817-838.
O’Day, Bitter, & Gomez (Eds.), Education Reform in New York City: Ambitious Change in the Nation’s Most Complex School System. Cambridge MA: Harvard Education Press.
Reynolds, J., Stewart, M., Macdonald, R., and Sischo, L. (2006). Have adolescents become too ambitious? High school seniors’ educational and occupational plans, 1976 to 2000. Society for the Study of Social Problems, 53(2), 186-206.
Roderick, M., Nagoka, J., and Coca, V. (2009). College readiness for all: The challenge for urban high schools. The Future of Children, 19(1), 185-210.
Roderick, M., Coca, V., and Nagaoka, J. (2011). Potholes on the road to college: High school effects in shaping urban students’ participation in college application, four-year college enrollment, and college match. American Sociological Association, 84(3), 178-211.
Siskin, L. S. (2003). “When an irresistible force meets an immovable object: Core lessons about high schools and accountability.” In M. Carnoy, R. Elmore, & L. S. Siskin (Eds.). The New Accountability: High Schools and High-Stakes Testing (175-194). New York: Routledge.
Siskin, L. S. (2011). Changing contexts and the challenge of high school reform in New York. In Roderick, M. (2006). Closing the aspirations-achievement gap: Implications for high school reform. New York: MDRC.
Siskin, L. S. (2013). College and career readiness in context. Philanthropy, NY: Education Funders Research Initiative.
U.S. News High Schools (2016). Roosevelt High School Test Scores. Best High Schools Rankings: U.S. News & World Report. http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/washington/districts/seattle-public-schools/roosevelt-high-school-21155/test-scores
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