College Readiness Evaluation for Schools and Teachers
Gauging and Improving Postsecondary Success
High schools are paying greater attention to the challenge of preparing an ever-increasing proportion of students for postsecondary education. To help high schools achieve this goal, EPIC is conducting a national project designed to identify the factors present in high schools that do an outstanding job of preparing students for success in college. EPIC will develop a tool to help other high schools incorporate these strategies into their own programs.
The College Readiness Evaluation for Schools and Teachers (CREST) project starts with a nationally recognized model of college-readiness developed by Dr. David Conley and uses the model as a framework to investigate four areas that are critical to college-readiness: key cognitive strategies, key content knowledge, academic behaviors, and contextual knowledge. (The project is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.)
The CREST project has identified 30 schools across the United States that stand out due to their ability to effectively prepare students for college. The project paid special attention to schools that prepare large proportions of students from groups historically underrepresented in higher education. Schools were selected based on a host of criteria including previous recognition and a demonstrated track record of success preparing students for college.
Currently, EPIC is sending teams of researchers to each school to conduct a two-day site visit during which EPIC researchers observe classes and conduct interviews and focus groups with school administrators, teachers, counselors, students, and parents in order to learn more about how the school's structure, culture, and instructional program promote college-readiness. The research team also collects key documents such as course syllabi and scoring rubrics. Findings from these site visits are being analyzed and the results will be used to develop an online instrument that will allow high schools around the nation to compare their programs to the best practices from these 30 high-performing high schools. This online system will also generate an individualized profile containing recommendations for improvement and links to resources that will help the high school improve its ability to prepare students for college success.
