Add two or three college aspiration and expectation questions to existing school climate surveys to flag students needing readiness supports¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The article recommends that K-12 districts already administering climate surveys "including two or three questions about college expectations and aspirations could be helpful when those districts attempt to identify which students need additional supports to be ready for a postsecondary education." Postsecondary institutions can similarly poll incoming students on how likely they think they are to complete their degree program. Both aspirations (how far a student wants to go) and chances (how far a student thinks she will go) were predictive.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Access to an existing survey administration channel such as district climate surveys

Constraints¶

• The study is not causal; the findings are consistent with, but do not prove, the rationale for aspiration-building programs

Target Learners¶

• K-12 students, especially those not obviously at risk, and incoming postsecondary students

Target Learning Goals¶

• Identifying students who need college-readiness supports before or after college begins

Related Strategies¶

• Use a voluntary statewide climate survey to track climate and identify schools needing support

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• James Soland. (2017). Combining Academic, Noncognitive, and College Knowledge Measures to Identify Students Not on Track For College: A Data-Driven Approach. Research & Practice in Assessment, Volume Twelve, Summer 2017. https://www.nwea.org/research/publication/combining-academic-noncognitive-and-college-knowledge-measures-to-identify-students-not-on-track-for-college-a-data-driven-approach/