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Paths to Postsecondary

The Paths to Postsecondary

The millions of MAP students exploring thousands of postsecondary schools create many “paths” of

growth, necessary for admission into the school that is the best fit.

NWEA Research

The results showed a correlation between ACT entrance scores, MAP RIT scores and the year-

to-year growth path to achieve the desired entrance score.

The NWEA Research Team created an alignment study between students who have valid MAP scores and also have valid Explore,

Plan and ACT scores.

College Readiness Linking Study

• Released in December, 2011

• Use MAP RIT scores as a predictor on how students will do on the college readiness benchmarks of the EXPLORE, PLAN, and ACT.

• The percentile ranks provide an indicator of the difficulty of these benchmarks using NWEA’s 2011 norming study.

• Provides tables showing the estimated probability of students meeting the designated college readiness benchmarks.

College Readiness

What does College Readiness mean?

• A 50% chance that a student will receive a grade of B on a college level entry class.

Or

• A 75% chance that a student will receive a grade of C on a college level entry class.

The demands of the courses are different in various post-secondary

institutions.

Where did the numbers come from?

• Active NWEA districts that use EXPLORE, PLAN, and ACT

• ACT data was matched to corresponding MAP data at the individual level

• No formal sampling strategies employed other than to cut extreme residuals

College Readiness Linking Study –

Models Explored

• MAP Reading to EXPLORE/PLAN/ACT English• MAP Reading to EXPLORE/PLAN/ACT Reading• MAP Language Usage to EXPLORE/PLAN/ACT

English• MAP Language Usage to EXPLORE/PLAN/ACT

Reading• MAP Math to EXPLORE/PLAN/ACT Math

College Readiness Linking Study –

Estimated Cut Scores - Math

College Readiness Linking Study –

Estimated Cut Scores - Reading

College Readiness Linking Study –

Estimated Cut Scores – Language Usage

College Readiness Linking Study –

Probability Tables

College Readiness Linking Study –

Accessing

• http://www.nwea.org/our-research/college-readiness

College/Career Readiness

College/Career Readiness

“Types” of Post-Secondary Institutions in these

Examples:

A “State” College

A “Top-Tier” Public University

An Elite, “Ivy League” Institution

ACT Entrance Score for:

A “State” College

Entrance ACT Reading/Math Composite =

24

ACT Entrance Score for:

A “Top-Tier” Public University

Entrance ACT Reading/Math Composite = 29

ACT Entrance Score for:

Entrance ACT Reading/Math Composite = 32

An Elite, “Ivy League”

Institution

Composite Entrance Scores

24/24

29/29

32/32

Student “Paths”

Introducing Three Normal Students, and their (potential)

Postsecondary Paths

Theodore Thirdgrader

Sandra Seventhgrader

Nate Ninethgrader

APPROPRIATE Postsecondary Paths

Each child is unique.

Each Postsecondary Path will be different and MUST be

appropriate for each individual student.

Theodore Thirdgrader’s Path

NWEA data indicates that for Theodore to achieve the entrance Composite ACT score for these

institutions, his spring RIT score should approach:

Entrance ACT 24

Spring RIT213

Entrance ACT29

Spring RIT224

Entrance ACT32

Spring RIT229

Another Way to Look at Third Grade Spring RIT Scores

Average ACT Composite entrance score for an Education Major is

20.8

Third grade spring RIT for a student on a 20.8 trajectory

is 209

Average ACT Composite entrance score for an Engineering Major is

23.7

Third grade spring RIT for a student on a 23.7 trajectory

is 219

The Early Grades are a Critical Time for Learning

Early intervention is the most cost‐effective approach to closing the achievement gap.Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) Infobrief

Investments in early education programs offer a return of $1.80 to as much as $17.07 for every $1.00 spent.RAND (2005) Study

A student who can’t read on grade level by 3rd grade is four times less likely to graduate by age 19 than a child who does read proficiently by that time. American Educational Research Association

Sandra Seventhgrader’s Path

NWEA data indicates that for Sandra to achieve the entrance Composite ACT score for these

institutions, her spring RIT score should approach:

Entrance ACT 24

Spring RIT232

Entrance ACT29

Spring RIT241

Entrance ACT32

Spring RIT246

Another Way to Look at Seventh Grade Spring RIT Scores

Average ACT Composite entrance score for an Education Major is

20.8

Seventh grade Spring RIT for a student on a 20.8

trajectory is 238

Average Composite entrance score for an

Engineering Major is 23.7

Seventh grade Spring RIT for a student on a 23.7

trajectory is 247

Nate Ninthgrader’s Path

NWEA data indicates that for Nate to achieve the entrance Composite ACT score for these institutions,

his spring RIT score should approach:

Entrance ACT 24

Spring RIT237

Entrance ACT29

Spring RIT246

Entrance ACT32

Spring RIT251

Another Way to Look at Ninth Grade Spring RIT Scores

Average ACT Composite entrance score for an Education Major is

20.8

Ninth grade Spring RIT for a student on a 20.8

trajectory is 244

Average Composite entrance score for an

Engineering Major is 23.7

Ninth grade Spring RIT for a student on a 23.7

trajectory is 254

The “Meeting the Norms Happy Dance”

- Educators and Parents often do the “Meeting the Norms Happy Dance” when their students meet their NWEA Growth Norms Trajectory, at the 50th percentile.

- Is that the right reason to dance?

NWEA Norms

- NWEA Norms are a communication of what the students in the norming study actually DID or how they performed.

- There are STATUS Norms, or a communication of where each student performed in relation to his/her peers.

- There are GROWTH Norms, or a communication of how much academic growth each student demonstrated.

WHEN to Dance?

NWEA Status/Growth Norms for Theodore

- If Theodore Thirdgrader performed at a Spring RIT of 224 (the score for the top-tier public university), he would be at the 96th percentile for Status Norms.

OR

- For Theodore to be on track for the top-tier public university, he will need to grow at the 56 percentile in Growth Norms...in other words, more growth than the 50th percentile “typical” growth.

Meeting the Norm

It’s the same situation for Sandra Seventhgrader and Nate Ninthgrader...in many cases if students only MEET the norm year after year their growth will not beenough to reach the level (ACT Composite score) they want.

Another Research Study

ACT found (1) that “only 10 percent of students who were far behind their peers in college and career readiness benchmarks in reading in 8th grade were able to meet readiness benchmarks in 12th grade.”

(1)"Getting Students on Track to College and Career Readiness: How Many Catch Up from Far Behind?

" 2012 by ACT Researchers Chris Dougherty and Flemming

(1) “Students who fall far behind in early grades never catch up, even when they are obviously motivated to do so, and even when they attend high-achieving schools with more resources to help them.”

NOT Tracking

• This does NOT mean that educators should “track” students by inferring that if students score below a certain point, they are destined to not get into the postsecondary school of their dreams.

• This is merely a reminder that individual student growth path/trajectory should be based on each student’s goals, ability and potential.

The Numbers –Lexiles & Career Planning

NWEA’s Vision:

A world in which education is kid-centric, relying on accurate and comprehensive data to inform each child’s optimal learning path.

Partnering to help all kids learn

Les PerryPartner Relations RepresentativeNorthwest Evaluation Association

218-850-1262 (Cell)

les.perry@nwea.org (E-mail)