A new database that collects information on Massachusetts public high school graduates who enroll in Massachusetts public postsecondary institutions has become a powerful tool for policymaking and for helping students move successfully from high school to college.Education - Massachusetts ; Universities and colleges - Massachusetts

Carrie Conaway

English

Research Papers in Economics

Communities & Banking    25
by Carrie Conaway 
Massachusetts Department   
of Elementary and 
Secondary Education
College Readiness: 
Massachusetts Compiles the Data 
Until recently, the world of K-12 policy rarely intersected with the world of 
higher education policy. Schools developed standards, curricula, and instruc-
tional practices without considering how they might relate to expectations 
in a college environment, and postsecondary institutions structured their 
programs and coursework without thinking about how to help students 
bridge the transition from high school competence to college success. As a 
result, many students enrolled in college only to find that they needed to 
take substantial remedial coursework before they could begin to earn col-
lege credits, or that they had mastered high school material but were not 
prepared to meet higher expectations in college. Too frequently, they would 
grow discouraged and simply drop out.
digitalvision26    Spring 2009
After years of observing this sobering pat-
tern, high schools and colleges increasingly 
agree that they share responsibility for ensur-
ing that students leave the K-12 system pre-
pared to be successful in college. However, 
they often lack information on the nature 
and magnitude of the problem, particularly 
how it affects the students actually enrolled 
in their institutions.
To that end, the Department of Ele-
mentary and Secondary Education and the 
Department of Higher Education have col-
laborated  to  develop  a  school-to-college 
database that collects information on Mas-
sachusetts  public  high  school  graduates 
who  enroll  in  Massachusetts  public  post-
secondary institutions—both two-year and 
four-year colleges. The database has already 
demonstrated that it is a powerful tool for 
policymaking and for helping students to 
make the leap from high school to college.
The High School 
Class of 2005
The first report from the database answered 
a  critical  question,  one  that  Massachu-
setts had never been able to answer before:   
How  many  Massachusetts  public  high 
school  graduates  enroll  in  Massachusetts 
public colleges? 
As it turns out, about 19,500 public 
high school graduates—33 percent of the 
graduating class—enrolled in a Massachu-
setts public college in the fall after their high 
school  graduation.  A  few  hundred  more 
enrolled after taking some time off, but the 
lion’s share of those who enrolled in college 
within five years of high school graduation 
do  so  immediately  after  high  school.  Of 
those	19,500	students,	approximately	5,900	
enrolled  at  a  University  of  Massachusetts 
campus; 4,900 at a state college; and 8,700 
at a community college. All but 2 percent 
of state university and state college students 
enrolled as full-time degree-seeking candi-
dates; at community colleges, the rate was 
80 percent. 
The  most  powerful  statistics  in  the 
report, however, are on remediation rates. 
(See  “First-Semester  Remedial  Enroll-
ment.”) Students were placed into remedial 
courses if they score poorly on a placement 
exam	when	they	arrived	on	campus;	some	
also elected to enroll in them voluntarily. 
The report showed that 37 percent of the 
class of 2005 who went on to public colleg-
es in Massachusetts enrolled in at least one 
remedial subject during their first semester 
in college; 15 percent enrolled in at least 
two. This means that more than one-third 
of Massachusetts public high school grad-
uates  arrived  at  the  state’s  public  colleges 
and universities not ready to take college- 
credit-bearing  coursework  in  at  least  one 
subject area. 
 Remediation rates were substantially 
higher for community college enrollees, at 
65 percent. But the problem is not confined 
to two-year schools: 22 percent of state col-
lege enrollees and 8 percent of state uni-
versity enrollees took at least one remedial 
subject in their first semester, too. Math-
ematics was the most problematic subject; 
29 percent of public high school graduates 
took a remedial course in mathematics, ver-
sus 15 percent in writing and 11 percent 
in reading. Importantly, students who had 
achieved proficiency on the grade 10 MCAS 
tests were far less likely to require remedi-
ation than those who had scored at Needs 
Improvement,  suggesting  that  attaining 
proficiency in high school is an important 
step toward college readiness.
Access and Success 
Another key policy concern in Massachu-
setts is whether traditionally disadvantaged 
students,  such  as  those  from  low-income 
families or with limited English proficien-
cy,	experience	equal	access	to	and	success	  
in college. 
 
First-Semester 
Remedial Enrollment 
Massachusetts Public High School 
Graduates at Massachusetts Public 
Colleges, Class of 2005
One remedial 
course, 22%
No remedial 
courses, 63%
More than 
one remedial 
course, 15%
digitalvisionCommunities & Banking    27
     The demographic characteristics of the 
state’s  public  college  enrollees  who  had 
attended  public  high  schools  were  nearly 
identical to the state’s public high school 
graduating  class  as  a  whole.  Differences 
emerged, however, in remediation and reen-
rollment rates. For instance, nearly 60 per-
cent of African Americans and Hispanics, 
and more than half of low-income students, 
who graduated from Massachusetts public 
high schools enrolled in at least one reme-
dial course in their first semester, as com-
pared with 37 percent of the total cohort. 
Similarly, while 81 percent of public high 
school graduates overall reenrolled for a sec-
ond year, only 71 percent of low-income 
students did. (See “Remediation and Reen-
rollment Rates.”)
This  suggests  that  high  schools  are 
doing	well	in	setting	an	expectation	of	col-
lege for their graduates but it raises concerns 
about  whether  these  students  have  access 
to a high school curriculum that prepares 
them adequately to succeed once they arrive 
on campus.
Digging Deeper 
After establishing the statewide patterns of 
college enrollment and readiness, the state 
next	issued	reports	to	each	of	296	Massa-
chusetts high schools that sent 10 or more 
of their graduates on to Massachusetts post-
secondary institutions in fall 2005. These 
reports  offered  superintendents  and  prin-
cipals their first opportunity to observe the 
patterns of college enrollment and success 
for their own schools’ students and should 
serve as a benchmark against which to com-
pare future performance and outcomes.
The reports revealed a wide range of 
outcomes by high school. For instance, 44 
high schools sent fewer than 20 percent of 
their  graduates  on  to  public  higher  edu-
cation, while 20 sent 50 percent or more. 
Similarly, though the average remediation 
rate was 37 percent statewide, one-fifth of 
high schools saw 50 percent or more of their 
graduates taking at least one remedial course 
in their first semester. 
The  public  colleges  also  have  found 
uses for the database, requesting reports to 
improve their understanding of the student 
bodies from which they draw enrollees. For 
example,	 the	 database	 allowed	 them	 for	
the first time to know what share of their 
entering  students  had  taken  at  least  one 
Advanced Placement course in high school. 
Previously, they had known only who had 
taken the AP tests but not how many had 
been	exposed	to	college-level	work	without	
actually taking the test. The database also 
allowed the colleges to learn how many of 
their enrolling students had been placed in 
special education programs in high school, 
as well as which high schools send a large 
share of their graduates to the college and 
thus might be potential partners for college 
readiness programs. 
Next Steps
Massachusetts  education  policymakers  are 
already  using  the  information  from  the 
database  to  drive  change  throughout  the 
educational system. The governor featured 
the remediation rate in his education policy 
agenda as a call to action and a key bench-
mark  against  which  K-12  system  perfor-
mance can be measured. The findings have 
also  spurred  the  state  to  define  a  recom-
mended high school program of studies for 
college readiness and to invest more heav-
ily	in	programs	that,	for	example,	expose	
high school students to college-level work 
through Advanced Placement and encour-
age  simultaneous  enrollment  in  college 
courses while still in high school.
Schools  and  districts  are  putting  the 
findings to work at the local level as well. 
Representatives from the state educational 
agencies are working with schools and dis-
tricts to help them understand their reports 
and  translate  the  results  into  school  pro-
grams and activities. And districts are devel-
oping more partnerships with local public 
colleges and universities to ease the transi-
tion	from	high	school	to	college.	For	exam-
ple,  the  Berkshire  Compact—a  Berkshire 
County  partnership  uniting  local  public 
schools,  public  colleges,  and  businesses—
enables	every	sixth	grader	to	visit	a	local	col-
lege and gives high school students increased 
opportunities  to  enroll  in  college  courses 
free of charge. 
Even with all this activity, Massachu-
setts has only begun to tap the potential of 
the  School-to-College  database. The  state 
expects	to	continue	to	issue	reports	to	high	
schools and colleges each year as well as to 
expand	 the	 information	 available	 in	 the	
database so that it can answer more-sophis-
ticated questions about college preparation 
and success for Massachusetts public high 
school  graduates.  Fall  2009,  for  instance, 
will be the first opportunity to learn how 
many students from the high school class 
of 2005 graduated on time from four-year 
schools.  With  information  like  that  in 
hand,  the  database  will  continue  to  con-
tribute important information to the edu-
cational policy debate in Massachusetts for 
years to come. 
Carrie Conaway is director of planning, re-
search, and evaluation at the Massachusetts 
Department  of  Elementary  and  Secondary 
Education. 
Remediation and Reenrollment Rates, High School Class of 2005
Group 
(status in high school)
Percent enrolled in at least 
one remedial course, first 
semester in college
Percent reenrolled for a 
second year in fall 2006
Overall 37 81
African American 59 74
Asian or Pacific Islander 33 83
Hispanic 58 69
White 34 82
Low income 52 71
Special education 63 74
Limited English proficiency 50 80
 Education  
policymakers in  
Massachusetts are 
already using the  
information from 
the database to drive 
change throughout 
the educational 
system.
This	Communities	&	Banking	article	is	copyrighted	by	the	Federal	Reserve	Bank	of	Boston.	The	views	expressed	
are not necessarily those of the Bank or the Federal Reserve System. Copies of articles may be downloaded without 
cost	at	www.bos.frb.org/commdev/c&b/index.htm.

College readiness: Massachusetts compiles the data

http://www.bostonfed.org/commdev/c&b/2009/spring/Carrie_Conaway_college_readiness.pdf

College readiness: Massachusetts compiles the data

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Research Papers in Economics