Measuring Middle School Achievement Trajectories for College Readiness. Issue 7 (November 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Johnson, Angela; Kuhfeld, Megan; King, Gregory
• Is Part Of: Educational policy. Volume 36:Issue 7(2022)
• Page Start: 1702
• Page End: 1730
• Publication Date: 2022-11
• Subjects: achievement -- college access -- educational policy; Education and state -- United States -- Periodicals; Education -- Periodicals; 379.2
• DOI: 10.1177/08959048211006833
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0895-9048

Abstract

This study identifies students' academic trajectories in the middle grades relative to a set of college readiness benchmarks. We apply math and reading college readiness benchmarks to rich longitudinal data for more than 360, 000 students across the nation. Student-level and school-level demographic characteristics significantly predict academic trajectories. Compared to White and Asian students, higher proportions of Black and Hispanic student are always off-track throughout middle school. Among students who started 6th grade on track, being male, Black, Hispanic, and attending schools with a higher percentage of low-income students are positively associated with falling off track.