AASA PROMOTES"REDEFINING READY" INITIATIVE

The American Association of School Administrators is promoting its new initiative, which urges consideration of numerous factors in determining if a student is "ready" for college, instead of reliance on one variable such as a "point in time" test.

"Redefining Ready", as the initiative is called, starts with a minimum GPA, and then provides a range of criteria in addition, of which a student should meet one or more to be considered "ready".

Here are the specifics of the Redefining Ready"initiative:

So minimally a student might have a 2.8+ GPA in high school and have gotten a "C" or better in Algebra 2, a 500 on each subtest of the SAT, a "C' or better in an AP or Dual Credit course, or a 3+ score on an AP test, and be considered "college ready".  This addresses the issue of the student who passes an AP or Dual Credit course and fails to meet the mark on the SAT or ACT - the student has demonstrated "College Readiness" on one measure but not on another.

We did some research on the class of 2016 (current seniors) to see how many met the GPA requirement. What we found was that 72% of our seniors met this first criterion. It will take a bit more research to see how many students who met the GPA requirement met one or more of the others, but we know that GPA is the most important predictor of college readiness.

However, use of these criteria could help parents understand what it takes for their child(ren) to demonstrate readiness, and that it's more than one high-stakes measure.

AASA is also promoting a "Career Ready" about which we are more uncertain:

Though some of the criteria for "Career Readiness" seem appropriate,  it seems that 90% attendance and 25 hours of community service might be appropriate for all students, not just those who are going to college. Perhaps the GPA requirement, attendance, and community service indicators could all be base requirements, and some combination of additional requirements might equal readiness for "Life After High School".

However, AASA has done a really good job of identifying multiple factors that are important for success, no matter the route students choose after they graduate from high school.