American students accustomed to standardization in secondary education have experience with fulfilling the requirements imposed upon them, but often these students require further assistance to facilitate their personal decisions about education after high school. Postsecondary education and career preparation programs, educators, and educational…

Rising remediation rates among college students are leading to increased time for completion of degree, additional costs for students and colleges, and financial aid being used on courses that do not count towards a degree. In response to these issues, in 2007 the state of Illinois passed the College and Career Readiness Act, Public Act 095-0694,…

High school students in the United States have been taking more challenging courses in recent years, but academic achievement has been stagnant. At the heart of the matter is the quality of curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Some courses tend to be more challenging in name than in practice. High schools also have a history of autonomy that…

This study examined the separate and joint use of high school course grades, course work taken, and American College Testing Program (ACT) Assessment subject area scores for making course placement decisions. The data for this study were obtained from nine institutions through their participation in a pilot study of the ACT Course Placement…