Chamber program participants report higher-than-state-average college readiness scores

Posted on 08/06/2018 by Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce

The Greater Austin Chamber has announced Class of 2018 college readiness rates at five major Austin-area school districts part of its Direct-to-College program surpassed Class of 2017 rates and tied with the Class of 2014’s record rate of 63 percent. These districts educate about 14,000 high school seniors and enroll approximately 200,000 students combined.

Statewide, Texas college readiness rates for high school graduates dropped from 54 percent to approximately 39 percent between the Class of 2014 and the Class of 2016.

Local outcomes are tracked as part of the Direct-to-College (DTC70) partnership between the Austin Chamber and Austin, Hutto, Leander, Pflugerville and Round Rock independent school districts and reflect efforts to ensure more students graduate academically prepared for the education and training they need to compete for good jobs. They partnered with the Chamber to improve direct to college enrollment rates to the national average of 70 percent.

The Chamber’s DTC70 Partners have taken action to strengthen college readiness rates:

  • The Chamber, though a major investment by Opportunity Austin, has created a programming tool through OneLogos to help educators determine whether a student has met the college readiness standards.

  • Austin ISD students who are not college ready are identified and connected to free tutoring provided by Austin Partners in Education in an effort significantly funded by the Austin Chamber’s economic development arm, Opportunity Austin. An in-time dashboard is being developed to identify students who need assistance in completing a postsecondary plan. Using the school district and UT-Austin Ray Marshall student survey data, campus college and career counselors will meet with individual students to develop action plans based on academic and personal goals.

  • Leander and Hutto ISDs connect students to free online resources to help them improve performance on SAT and ACT assessments; Leander also offers easy-to-access ACT and SAT testing during the school day for all high school juniors.

  • Round Rock ISD offers SAT school day testing for all juniors and pays for The Official SAT Online Course, offering interactive lessons, official practice tests, sample essays, auto essay scoring and personalized score reports.

  • Hutto, AISD, and Round Rock ISDs continued to provide support to recent graduates over the summer, including offering TSI assessments to ensure students have a last chance to demonstrate college readiness prior to enrolling in college.

  • Pflugerville ISD offers ACT school day testing for all juniors, pays for initial TSI testing for students who don’t demonstrate readiness on the ACT or SAT, and assigns students to teacher-led classes to help them become college-ready if they are not.

Additionally, despite tight budgets for the 2018-2019 school year, Austin, Leander and Pflugerville ISD will join Round Rock ISD in providing at least one free administration of the ACT or SAT.

Here’s what Central Texas education leaders had to say:

“Business relies on a well-educated workforce to drive innovation and growth and families rely on a public education system that helps them prepare young people to meet this demand. Our DTC70 Partnership school leaders deserve immense credit for having worked with the Chamber to identify high school seniors who are not yet college ready,” said Nikki Graham, 2018 Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce Education Chair and Austin Market President for Bank of America. “These students were matched with the tutoring and support they needed while they were still in high school and continued this work into the summer. As a result, more students became college ready.”

“In Austin ISD, we are reinventing the urban education experience,” said Dr. Paul Cruz, Superintendent of the Austin Independent School District. “We work to ensure that our 82,000 students graduate college-, career-, and life-ready. With high academic standards, aligned with the district’s belief in equitable access and inclusion for all AISD students, we are preparing our students for the 21st-century. I am proud of the hard work of our AISD students, staff, families and district partners to help improve the percentage of students who are college ready. I thank the Austin Chamber for their continued support through the DTC70 partnership.”

“Central Texas schools offer tremendous opportunities for our high school students, connecting our young men and women with a well-rounded academic course of study,” said Dr. Dan Troxell, Superintendent of Leander Independent School District. “By connecting our students with a post-secondary opportunity, either a certification, two-year degree, or four-year degree program, we put students on a path for success after graduation.”

“Our world-class educators and our District leadership work extremely hard in Round Rock ISD to ensure our graduates succeed after graduation, whether it be in higher education or a career,” said Superintendent of Schools Steve Flores, Ph.D. “While we are proud of the progress we have made through this outstanding partnership, we will continue to collaborate and move forward to ensure that all students have the resources and skills they need to find success.”

“It is our mission at Pflugerville ISD to empower our students to reach their full potential to serve as productive members of our society after high school,” said Dr. Doug Killian, Superintendent of Pflugerville Independent School District. “The increase in our college readiness rate is a good indicator of the work our staff has done, in conjunction with the Austin Chamber of Commerce, to ensure our students are prepared for post-secondary or their career.”

“Hutto ISD is proud of the 16-percentage point increase from 2017 to 2018 in the rate of high school graduates academically prepared for college, but recognize the need to strive for more,” said Dr. Celina Estrada Thomas, Superintendent of Hutto ISD. “Our students are fortunate to live in Central Texas where they have limitless opportunities for advancement and success. We applaud the other districts in our area who are also increasing their college readiness, and we are challenged daily by their example. Part of striving for more is preparing students for selecting a path that ignites their passion. While we expect every student to be ready for a two or four-year college, we celebrate all post-secondary decisions including entering a career and technical institution, military enlistment or entering the workforce with future career possibilities."

Source and Methodology:

*For 2014, the college-ready rate reflects the percentage of graduates that met or exceeded the college ready criteria on the TAKS exit-level test, the SAT test, or the ACT test. The college-ready benchmarks for 2014-2016 are accessible on the Texas Education Agency's Texas Academic Performance Reports for 2014.

**For 2015 and 2016-College Ready-Graduates are defined as the percentage of annual graduates that meet or exceed the college-ready criteria on the Texas Success Initiative Assessment (TSIA), the SAT test, or the ACT test. These benchmarks are accessible on the Texas Education Agency's Texas Academic Performance Reports for here for 2015 and here for 2016.

***Preliminary college readiness assessment data for Graduating Class of 2018 as of June 29, 2018. Preliminary college readiness assessment data for Class of 2017 as of 10/11/17. Methodology: College-ready rates reflect the percentage of the graduating class who met Texas Success Initiative (TSI) benchmarks in both reading and math across ACT, SAT, or the Texas Success Initiative Assessment (TSIA). TSI benchmarks are set by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) and indicate student readiness to enroll in credit bearing courses at the postsecondary level. THECB college-ready benchmarks for the ACT, SAT, and the Texas Success Initiative Assessment (TSIA) are hyperlinked here for the ACT and SAT and here for the TSIA.

Related Categories: Education and Talent