Robin,+8,+College+Readiness+Factors

Craft - Seybold, R., (2011), Illustrating the Importance of a Prerequisite College Preparation Program in a Therapeutic Residential School. Spring Arbor University, School of Education library database, at [|www.arbor.edu], finallyrobins@gmail.com.
 * College Readiness - ** an excerpt from:

Dozens of intrinsic and extrinsic factors are important in defining effective qualities that contribute to preparing students for college readiness. Intrinsically students must be ready to meet academic challenges through behavioral practices that develop the characteristics needed to manage college demands. Extrinsically students need unwavering support while in high school by compulsory expectations of appropriatebehaviors. Academically, college-bound students should be directed toward, and held accountable to, meeting the standards of a college preparation program that is designed to introduce students to postsecondary skills and to facilitate their exposure to college expectations. The importance of college readiness recognized as personal behaviors, academic preparation and supportive implementation are all part of a system that can make the difference between college student persistence towards graduation and college student discontinuation. By setting college-level expectations for students at young ages, the initiative prepares them for the shock of being on a campus – a cultural and academic shift that turns many new high-school graduates away from higher education (Killough, 2009). On college campuses, students themselves are responsible for their education, while in high school, that responsibility falls more squarely on the teacher (Killough, 2009). This point succinctly illustrates the necessity of an academic bridge between high school expectations and college expectations. Why would students who are in high school and expected to enroll in college, or are already dually enrolled, not be previously trained to undertake that role? By not insisting on prior training, we are creating a situation of potential failure and needless struggle. From the beginning, students are told that they will need hard work, long hours, and summer classes to reach their goals; we want the kids to understand that what they’re doing now impacts their futures in significant ways, the point is that they can build confidence and enjoy it and succeed (Killough, 2009, p.2). If students survive the first year college, they will have learned two important lessons that will prove invaluable over the tenure of their college experience: (1) College is not high school; one cannot just coast through; and (2) The successful college student takes responsibility for their education and will become an active participant in constructing knowledge (Kidwell, 2005, p.1). Some academic differences to expect in college include an increased workload production in every course and the challenge posed by adopting new styles of learning that are less a matter of skills and more a matter of the student’s relation with him or herself as a learner. Also different in a college setting is that instructors serve not so much as authorities, but rather as facilitators in which the students have an equal responsibility to learn and to think for themselves; in this, the high-school experience seems to be more a part of the problem than the solution (Kidwell, 2005, p.2). College preparation should include introducing students to this type of mindset, a part of the behavior expected in college would be responsibility and targeted critical thinking skills, an area students have identified as important in life, whether engaged in vocational or higher education. By the end of the first year, students begin to realize their opinions must be backed with reasons and evidence and contrary opinions must be fairly analyzed and evaluated, they must be prepared to support their opinions as well as to be open to alternatives (Kidwell, 2005). These appear to be areas perfunctorily addressed in high school and excused from academic expectations when confronted by emotionally impaired youth afflicted with processing and reasoning deficits. This is exactly why I believe more, not less, specific, rigorous, formal academic instruction needs to be a college prerequisite for high school students. College is no longer an environment in which professors have the sole responsibility to teach but, rather, one in which the student has an equal responsibility to learn. Merely providing the right answer is no longer sufficient; instead, students must think why an answer may or may not be right, what makes one answer better than another, and they must also be prepared to explain what they think and why (Kidwell, 2005). High school teachers and college professors can help their students through this transition, but not by offering the easy way out, to the contrary, teachers and professors should work to gain a better understanding of the process of transformation induced by the freshman-year experience. We, too, need to stop regarding ourselves as the authority-who-knows and to become facilitators of student-directed learning realizing that we, like our students, are learners as well (Kidwell, 2005). To more clearly examine and define what college readiness factors are, 29 experts with backgrounds in special education, postsecondary transitions, higher-education, and/or counseling identified and rated the importance of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and other factors believed to be important for students with learning disabilities, and universally important to students’ success in college (Milsom & Dietz, 2009). Due to the considerable differences between college and high school settings, college readiness cannot be measured simply by high school success. That is, the ability to pass specific high school courses and/or earn a certain grade point average is not enough. College readiness has many intersecting facets, including academic content knowledge and writing skills, academic behaviors including study skills, cognitive strategies such as critical thinking, and contextual skills including knowledge of college policies and expectations as well as coping skills (Milsom & Dietz, 2009). Additional variables such as motivation, college expectations, social support, self-efficacy, time-management, study skills and rigorous high school courses, are all important academic abilities and personal attitudes for college success; social skills, self-awareness, academic preparedness, social supports and personal responsibility are all recommended for assessment when examining college readiness. The multi-faceted construct of college readiness is complex; Milsom & Dietz, 2009, operationalized the construct of college readiness as it relates to students by generating a comprehensive list of important college readiness factors. I think this intensely focused, and at the same time holistic view, and the targeted list items used to get to the heart of the matter regarding students’ college preparation, is one of the most useful sources I adapted to guide my own research. Many of the same list items I incorporated into my own student survey data collection. Twenty-nine out of sixty-five experts invited to participate responded, reporting an average of nineteen years of experience in their fields (Milsom & Dietz, 2009). Regarding the participants’ educational background, 11 possessed doctoral degrees, and 11 had master’s degrees from the fields of special education, higher education, school administration, school counseling, educational psychology, and rehabilitation counseling. They held positions as directors of college disability services offices, professors, school counselors, researchers, higher education personnel and administrators, and special educators (Milsom & Dietz, 2009). Participants were asked to list what they perceived to be critical knowledge areas, skills, attitudes, and other factors related to college readiness. Condensing the initial list of 570 responses to 89 unique factors, eliminating redundancy and similarity, was the first round. The second round was for these factors to be rated for importance on a scale from 1, not at all important, to 7, very important.By following a guideline of retaining only those responses that received a median rating of at least 6, they were able to retain only items having strong overall endorsement and minimal variation to reach a total of 66 factors out of the original 89, that met those criteria (Milsom & Dietz, 2009).They dropped six believing they only could be answered by students already attending college and would not be relevant for high school students, resulting in a final list of 60 college readiness factors. **Twelve items scored a rating of seven, defining those qualities as essential: 1. confidence; belief they can succeed, 2. knowledge of how to self-advocate, 3. willingness to self-advocate, 4. persistence/perseverance, 5. study skills, 6. time management skills, 7. self-determination skills, 8. self-discipline/self-regulation, 9. knowledge of personal strengths and weaknesses, 10. knowledge of whether the available college accommodations fit their individual needs, 11. knowledge that college is different than high school, and 12. resilience (Milsom & Dietz, 2009).** The most highly rated items, 1-12, have less to do with academic knowledge and skills and more to do with personal characteristics and attitudes. Of those 12 items, confidence, persistence/perseverance, resilience, self-determination skills and self-discipline/self-regulation reflect positive personal characteristics that could benefit students in numerous aspects of their lives.Students who positively endorse those five factors might be described as individuals who are able to persevere in their pursuit of goals despite potential barriers or setbacks because they believe in their ability to achieve and because they are able to maintain a clear focus on those goals. The remaining three college readiness factors in the top 12 reflected academic-related knowledge and skills; knowledge that college is different than high school, study skills, and time management skills. By helping students examine the ways in which college is different than high school, including the need to reexamine current study habits and time management skills, school counselors can enable students to proactively address requisite skills and knowledge for success (Milsom & Dietz, 2009). It is also noteworthy that of the top 12 college readiness factors, only one, knowledge of whether the available college accommodations fit their individual needs,might be considered unique to students with learning disabilities. These results suggest that the construct of college readiness mainly includes factors of universal importance. As such, large-scale interventions such as classroom guidance for all students could be used to target many college readiness factors (Milsom & Dietz, 2009). The Study Skills Inventory can be used to assess areas such as listening, note taking, test taking, self-management, and time management. The ARC Self-Determination Scale can be useful in assessing areas such as autonomy and self-regulation and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to assist students in gaining self-knowledge (Milsom & Dietz, 2009). Offering practical frameworks to assist college-bound students in high school are sources such as the Office of Community College Research and Leadership (Bragg & Ruud, 2007) and the Office of Civil Rights who offer a guide for high school educators suggesting how to assist students in transition to post-secondary education. The consensus is unanimous; high school students need academic rigor and college preparation has to include vigorous academic and behavioral support.
 * College Readiness Factors **

Bragg D., Ruud, C.,(2007).Career pathways, academic performance, and transition to college and careers: The impact of two select career and technical education (CTE) transition programs on student outcomes, Office of Community College Research and Leadership, //In Brief//

Kidwell, K. (2005). Understanding the college first-year experience. //The Clearing House//. 78(6), 253-5

Killough A. (2009). How to help struggling students in high school? Send them to college. //The Chronicle of Higher Education//. 55(42), 1-3

Milsom, A. & Dietz, L. (2009). Defining college readiness for students with learning disabilities: A Delphi study. //Professional School Counseling//. 12(4), 315-323