College Comes to High School: Participation and Performance in Tennessee’s Innovative Wave of Dual-Credit Courses

We analyze the rollout of a Statewide Dual-Credit (SDC) program intended to expand access to college-level courses during high school. We find that SDC increased early postsecondary course-taking among students in the middle of the achievement distribution, especially through courses in vocational subjects, without decreasing participation in Advanced Placement (AP). However, SDC was mostly offered by schools already providing courses in similar subject areas and was less frequently offered in small relative to large schools, thus doing little to ameliorate placed-based gaps in course-taking opportunities. Furthermore, a majority of students failed the end-of-course exams necessary to secure college credit, and those who passed closely resemble students who pass AP exams. Low SDC exam pass rates predict school-level discontinuation of SDC courses over and above a range of other factors that reflect student demand and staffing capacity.

Evaluating a collaborative and responsive project to develop language assessment literacy

We report on research conducted during a language assessment literacy (LAL) project set up for employees at a university language centre. Teachers, students and an external accreditation body requested a revision of the end-of-course exams to increase comparability, transparency and alignment to course aims. We used a collaborative approach where stakeholders involved in test development, quality control, use and interpretation brought their experiences, skills, knowledge and needs to the table, following Taylor’s (2013) view of differentiated LAL needs for different stakeholders. The project involves teachers (varying in numbers), five course/assessment coordinators and three researchers with a background in assessment (principal researcher, two research assistants, i.e. the authors). LAL training is needs-based, participant-driven, and evaluated in regular intervals. In response to these participant evaluations, delivery, content and focus of the training are adjusted. We present insights from five evaluation points gained during the first 3 years. We found that the collaborative and responsive LAL project was perceived as useful and effective by the participants, leading to learning gains and positive changes in assessment, teaching and coordination practices. Our insights contribute to a better understanding of the conditions that are conducive to designing and delivering effective LAL development projects.

Have you Heard? Newsworthy items from the field

A report from Grantmakers for Education sheds some light on the projects teachers are seeking to fund through DonorsChoose. A Fordham Institute study finds that students whose teachers are more rigorous graders perform better on end-of-course exams. And these effects persist into subsequent courses. A new report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development finds that teenagers’ career aspirations are increasingly narrow and do not necessarily align with labor market trends. The International Literacy Association has released its annual What’s Hot in Literacy report.

The effect of exit exams on college enrollment : a state level analysis

Efforts to better prepare students for college and workforce have always been a priority of state governments, and exit exams have been used as one of the tools to accomplish those goals. This study aims to examine the relationship between exit exams and college enrollment. By adopting student choice model as the theoretical framework to guide the research design, the study utilized information on first-time degree/certificate seeking students as the outcome variable from 1992-2016. With information on the implementation year of exit exams from the Center of Education Policy, the study employed quasi-experimental research design difference-in-differences. The results show that exit exams are positively related to enrollment in 4-year institutions only. When disaggregated by types, the study showed that end-of-course exams only have a positive and significant relationship with enrollment in 4-year institutions. However, the study indicated that there is no relationship between adopting exit exams and the number of students enrolling in out-of-state institutions. The findings of this study have important implications for the student choice model, policy-making, and future research.

To What Extent Does Hands-On Exposure to Algebraic Thinking Predict Mathematics Achievement for Urban Middle Schoolers?

In this study we investigated the relationship between urban eighth grade students’ Hands-On Exposure to Algebraic Thinking (HEAT) competition performance and their subsequent performance on standardized measures of mathematics achievement (ACT Composite Score, ACT Math Scores, and Louisiana Algebra End of Course Exams). It was found that the pictorial portion of the project was a relatively consistent predictor of participants’ high school academic performance. That is, as participants’ HEAT pictorial competition scores increased, so did their ACT composite, ACT math scores, and Algebra End of Course Exam Scores. Findings from the HEAT Project may contribute to conversations centered on ways to expose urban students to creative, social, hands-on pedagogy in non-evaluative contexts in order to position students for both immediate and long-term mathematics success without sacrificing intellectual rigor.