David Conley, Director, Standards for Success, Associate Professor, University of Oregon
2003
It's common knowledge that few college freshmen are truly ready to do university-level work (for example, see http://www.edexcellence.net/gadfly/issue.cfm?issue=115#1452). Adding to this literature, Conley shows that high schools may not emphasize the skills and knowledge that colleges prize. This report compares high school reading and math assessments in 20 states to the standards for college readiness recently developed by a coalition of universities. Known as the Knowledge and Skills for University Success (or KSUS; see http://www.edexcellence.net/gadfly/issue.cfm?issue=21#135), these standards have been endorsed by 28 members of the Association of American Universities (including Harvard, Stanford, Duke, and many state universities). The report grades each state test from on its alignment to these college standards. Few do well: only 3 of 66 assessments earned an A, the majority earned Bs, while 16 pulled in Cs, meaning they have "limited potential to provide information related to postsecondary readiness." This is perhaps a nice way of saying that states could and should do more to ensure that their high school graduates are prepared for college work. And since what gets tested is what gets taught, assessments are a good place to start. The report acknowledges that local test makers never intended their tests to align with college standards. But that's the problem, and an urgent priority for public education should be to ensure that students are ready for the next phase of life. Unfortunately, this report doesn't provide specific guidance for those wishing to improve tests, nor does it provide a user-friendly explanation of its methodology (though with patience one can decipher it). And in the end, it does little to scold secondary education for its testing shortcomings. Savvy readers will realize, however, that the message here isn't mixed: it's a declaration that our colleges and universities are frustrated with the quality of their incoming students, despite their high-school diplomas. You can find it at http://cepr.uoregon.edu/MixedMessages/index.asp.
