Both HSGPA and ACT scores leave large high school effects on college graduation unexplained, which the study recommends measuring and publishing directly¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 2019 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? There are large high school effects on college graduation that neither HSGPA nor ACT scores capture; school differences are larger for students with the same HSGPA, consistent with grade suppression in higher-achieving schools. → Allensworth 2019

Evidence¶

Allensworth 2019¶

Allensworth, Elaine M., & Clark, Kallie. (2019). Are GPAs an Inconsistent Measure of College Readiness across High Schools? Examining Assumptions about Grades versus Standardized Test Scores. University of Chicago Consortium on School Research. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/are-gpas-inconsistent-measure-achievement-across-high-schools-examining-assumptions

q2 · i? · associational · r3

Authors' synthesis of the variance-component results across models (n=17,753): school effects remain after controlling for either measure, and are larger among students with the same HSGPA.

"There are large high school effects on college graduation, such that students with either the same HSGPA or the same ACT score graduate from college at different rates, based on which high school they attended. Neither capture all of the ways in which high schools influence college graduation."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Combining ACT scores with HSGPAs reduces high school variance in college graduation rates relative to HSGPA-only models — related
• Students with the same HSGPA or the same ACT score graduate from college at different rates depending on which high school they attended — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• College graduation rates vary significantly across high schools among students with the same HSGPA, and about one-fourth of that school-level variation is induced by comparing students with similar HSGPAs — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• HSGPAs have a strong, consistent relationship with college graduation that is larger than school effects, while ACT scores have a weak relationship smaller than high school effects with slopes varying by school — related
• Adding ACT scores to models with HSGPA contributes little to the prediction of college graduation and does not reduce between-school variability — related
• School average ACT scores predict college graduation for students with the same individual HSGPA and ACT score, reducing between-school variance by 42 percent, while school poverty is not significant once average ACT is included — related
• ACT scores show a weak relationship with college graduation, with slope variation across high schools larger than the average signal — related