ERIC Number: EJ1372190
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023-Apr
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0013-189X
EISSN: EISSN-1935-102X
Mixed Signals? Economically (Dis)advantaged Students' College Attendance under Mandatory College and Career Readiness Assessments
Educational Researcher, v52 n3 p131-143 Apr 2023
In 2015, Wisconsin began mandating the ACT college entrance exam and the WorkKeys career readiness assessment. With population-level data and several quasi-experimental designs, we assess how this policy affected college attendance. We estimate a positive policy effect for middle/high-income students, no effect for low-income students, and greater effects at high schools that had lower ACT participation before the policy. We further find little evidence that being deemed college-ready by one's ACT scores or career-ready by one's WorkKeys scores affects college attendance probabilities. Pragmatically, the findings highlight the policy's excellence and equity consequences, which are complex given that the policy has principally helped advantaged students. Theoretically, the findings shed light on students' (dis)inclinations to update educational beliefs in light of new signals. [For the corresponding grantee submission, see ED624339.]
Descriptors: Disadvantaged Youth, Low Income Students, College Attendance, College Readiness, Career Readiness, Educational Policy, Evaluation, College Entrance Examinations, Occupational Tests, College Bound Students, Family Income, Bayesian Statistics
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2993
Related Records: ED624339
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education; High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Institute of Education Sciences (ED)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Wisconsin
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: ACT Assessment; Work Keys (ACT)
IES Funded: Yes
Grant or Contract Numbers: R305B150003; R372A150031
WWC Study Page: https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/WWC/Study/92541