The Complexity of College Readiness: Differences by Race and College Selectivity

To make the abstract idea of "college readiness" legible for public purposes, readiness indicators have tended to treat students identically: If a student meets a simple benchmark, he or she is ready for any college. This shorthand ignores that indicators of readiness may differ according...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Educational researcher 2018-08, Vol.47 (6), p.334-351
Main Authors: Klasik, Daniel, Strayhorn, Terrell L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic readiness
Admission Criteria
Bachelors Degrees
Benchmarking
College Choice
College Readiness
College students
Educational Attainment
Educational Indicators
Ethnicity
High School Students
Institutional Characteristics
Outcomes of Education
Race
Selective Admission
Student Characteristics
Students
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Summary:To make the abstract idea of "college readiness" legible for public purposes, readiness indicators have tended to treat students identically: If a student meets a simple benchmark, he or she is ready for any college. This shorthand ignores that indicators of readiness may differ according to students' backgrounds and where they choose to enroll in college. We use nationally representative data to show that readiness measures that are sensitive to students' race/ethnicity and the selectivity and level of colleges in which they enroll reveal important nuance in readiness predictions. We find different readiness benchmarks indicate readiness for different groups of students when high school performance measures are used to predict different college outcomes, complicating the interpretation and use of conventional readiness measures.
ISSN:0013-189X
1935-102X
DOI:10.3102/0013189X18778598