ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Digging Deeper: An Analysis of Student Loan Debt in Texas. A Report to the 82nd Regular Session of the Texas Legislature
Author: Shook, Melissa
Date: 2010-11-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Academic Achievement,Enrollment,Colleges,Money Management,Student Loan Programs,Career Counseling,High School Graduates,Paying for College,Debt (Financial),Student Financial Aid,Community Colleges,Student Employment,Part Time Students,Barriers,Learner Engagement,Loan Repayment,Grants

In 2006, TG estimated that 47,000 bachelor's degrees would be lost in Texas due to financial barriers experienced by college-qualified high school graduates from the class of 2004. With more current data, TG now estimates that the number will be 52,800. &quot;Digging Deeper&quot; explores how students who enroll in college continue to experience barriers to degree attainment. The paper focuses on how debt, and the fear of borrowing, influence student decisions that, in turn, alter students' odds of graduating. Financial obstacles prompt many students in Texas to employ strategies such as delaying enrollment, attending school part time, and working long hours off campus. While lowering out-of-pocket expenses, these strategies erode the quality of student life, imposing distractions that impede academic progress and degree attainment. Key findings include: (1) Due to high community college enrollment in Texas, borrower rates--the percentage of students who borrow federal loans--in the state are lower than those found nationally: 33 percent vs. 39 percent; (2) Borrower rates tend to be higher at four-year colleges, where loans may facilitate full-time enrollment and reduce the need to work full time while in school; (3) Student loans are likely to remain a prominent instrument for paying for college in Texas; and (4) The risk associated with borrowing (e.g., default, harmful credit rating, potential wage garnishment) can be mitigated by (1) providing students in school with sound loan counseling which emphasizes the importance of attending full time; (2) improving student financial literacy (including modules on frugal living, career counseling, and sound financial management); and (3) keeping student borrowers aware of their repayment options and responsibilities after they leave school. A bibliography is included. (Contains 13 figures, 2 tables, 34 endnotes.) [For related report, &quot;Digging Deeper: Making Sense of Student Loan Debt in Texas. Research Report,&quot; see ED542011.]
Development and Validation of ENGAGE[TM] Grades 6-9. ACT Research Report Series, 2011-1
Author: Casillas, Alex
Date: 2011-08-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Measures (Individuals),Middle School Students,Grade 6,Grade 7,Grade 8,Grade 9,Academic Achievement,Risk Assessment,Prediction,Grade Point Average,Educational Experience,Prior Learning,Grades (Scholastic),Standardized Tests,Achievement Tests,Scores,Secondary Education,Identification,Intervention

This report details the development and validation of the ENGAGE Grades 6-9, a measure of academic behavior designed to determine students' levels of academic risk. The work presented in this report is part of a comprehensive research program of educational risk assessment based on key academic behavior predictors (also known in the literature as socioemotional or psychosocial factors) of academic success and persistence. ACT researchers modeled early high school GPA based on a prospective sample of 4,660 middle school students from 24 schools and 13 districts. The findings show that (a) prior grades and standardized achievement scores are the strongest predictors of high school academic success, and (b) academic behavior (e.g., motivation, social engagement, and self-regulation) adds substantial incremental validity to the prediction of success. These findings highlight the importance of effective risk assessment based on a combination of achievement and behavior factors amenable to intervention. The discussion focuses on how educators can use such information to identify at-risk students early, assess their strengths and needs, and provide them with interventions designed to facilitate academic success. (Contains 9 tables, 2 figures and 2 footnotes.)
Balancing Passion and Practicality: The Role of Debt and Major on Students' Financial Outcomes. Research Report
Author: Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation
Date: 2012-08-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: College Students,Majors (Students),Debt (Financial),Student Loan Programs,Education Work Relationship,Income,Occupations,Educational Attainment,High School Graduates,College Graduates,Associate Degrees,Bachelors Degrees,Doctoral Degrees,Masters Degrees,Unemployment

As the importance of a college degree climbs and federal and state grant funding remains inadequate, millions of students in the U.S. continue to take out student loans each year to help pay for their rising education costs. In October 2011, the total amount of outstanding student loan debt in the U.S. exceeded $1 trillion (Chopra, 2012), resulting in Americans owing more on student loans than they do on credit cards. This translates to 37 million U.S. borrowers and counting. Although a college education typically provides long-term financial benefits, in the short term, the student loans used to finance the degree may burden the borrower. Considering the potential costs and benefits of a college degree, are there certain undergraduate majors that are more likely to lead to occupations that yield sufficient income to repay student loans? With a focus on Texas where data allow, this brief highlights the relationships between undergraduate major, student debt level, and post-graduation earnings. [For the full report, &quot;Balancing Passion and Practicality: The Role of Debt and Major on Students' Financial Outcomes. A Report to the 83rd Regular Session of the Texas Legislature, see ED542013.]
Readiness Matters: The Impact of College Readiness on College Persistence and Degree Completion. Policy Report
Author: ACT, Inc.
Date: 2013-02-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: College Readiness,Academic Persistence,Colleges,High School Graduates,High Schools,Family Income,Career Readiness,Graduation Rate,Achievement Gap,Correlation,College Preparation,Measures (Individuals),Racial Differences,Ethnicity,Academic Achievement,Progress Monitoring

Today, a majority of high school graduates aspire to earn a college degree, and yet only 68% of them immediately enroll in a two-or four-year postsecondary institution after completing high school. Even among students who do enroll in college many of them fail to complete a degree--only about 60% of students at four-year institutions complete a bachelor's degree within six years of initially enrolling, and degree completion rates at two-year institutions are even worse. States, districts, and schools are looking for solutions to help improve the college and career readiness of their high school graduates. In this report, the authors examine the impact of college readiness on students' likelihood of persisting in college and completing a degree. This issue is examined from the following four angles: (1) The effects that high school academic preparation has on students' chances of long-term college success; (2) The benefits of using multiple measures of readiness to inform the likelihood of students persisting and succeeding in college; (3) The extent to which college readiness reduces gaps in college success rates among racial/ethnic and family income groups; and (4) The positive role that early monitoring of college and career readiness plays in increasing the likelihood that students will persist in college and complete a degree. (Contains 27 endnotes.)
ACT National Curriculum Survey[R] 2012: Policy Implications on Preparing for Higher Standards
Author: ACT, Inc.
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: College Readiness,State Standards,National Curriculum,National Surveys,Teacher Surveys,Academic Standards,Teacher Attitudes,Secondary School Teachers,Middle School Teachers,Elementary School Teachers,High Schools,College Entrance Examinations,Developmental Studies Programs,Remedial Instruction,Elementary Secondary Education,College Faculty,Access to Computers

Every three to five years, the ACT National Curriculum Survey[R] asks educators about what they teach (or don't teach) in their courses and how important they feel various topics in their discipline are for students to know to be successful in these courses and in future coursework. The survey also asks educators for their opinions on educational topics of current interest, such as the college readiness of their students or the implementation of improved standards, such as ACT's College Readiness Standards or the Common Core State Standards. The National Curriculum Survey is a critical step in the process used to build and regularly update a valid suite of ACT assessments that is empirically aligned to college readiness standards. The survey helps to inform the test blueprint for the assessments. This policy report highlights the findings of the survey, describes in detail the findings leading to the implications, and offers policy recommendations suggested by the findings and the implications. Description of Survey Sample and Process is appended. (Contains 10 figures, 1 table, and 4 footnotes.)
College and Career Readiness: The Importance of Early Learning. Policy Report
Author: ACT, Inc.
Date: 2013-02-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Economically Disadvantaged,Academic Achievement,Early Childhood Education,Student Interests,Needs Assessment,Reading Skills,Decoding (Reading),Elementary School Mathematics,Difficulty Level,Student Development,Social Development,College Readiness,Career Readiness,Education Work Relationship

As the nation strives to have all students graduate from high school ready for college and other postsecondary learning opportunities, Americans have to confront the reality that they are far from achieving this goal. The problem is most severe with economically disadvantaged students. For many students, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, learning gaps appear in early childhood. That learning gaps emerge early, particularly among disadvantaged students, is one of the better-documented facts in education. Students who do not have a good start usually do not thrive later on. Getting students off to a good start in preschool and the elementary grades is vitally important for several reasons: (1) Learning takes time; (2) Learning is cumulative; (3) Student interests often develop at an early age; and (4) Empirical evidence shows the difficulty of catching students up in middle and high school. What kinds of learning are important to emphasize in the early years? The following are components of a strong preschool and elementary school education; (1) A strong start in reading (decoding) and mathematics; (2) A content-rich curriculum; and (3) Activities that develop students' academic and social behaviors. (Contains 40 endnotes.)
Statistical Considerations in Choosing a Test Reliability Coefficient. ACT Research Report Series, 2012 (10)
Author: Woodruff, David
Date: 2012-12-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Sampling,Test Reliability,Item Response Theory,Statistical Inference,Statistical Significance,Factor Analysis

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate alpha's robustness and usefulness, using actual and simulated educational test data. The sampling properties of alpha are compared with the sampling properties of several other reliability coefficients: Guttman's lambda[subscript 2], lambda[subscript 4], and lambda[subscript 6]; test-retest reliability; as well as congeneric reliability. The comparisons are based on different sample sizes and test models comprising dichotomous item and polytomous item tests. It is concluded that alpha is indeed a lower bound to reliability except under the assumption of essential-tau-equivalence; however, it is robust to violations of this condition, and its values are competitive with other coefficients' values based on splitting a test into parallel halves or repeating a test to estimate test-retest reliability. Because it is not always possible to construct parallel half-tests or obtain test-retest data, it is very useful to have reliability coefficients, such as alpha, which are free of these constraints. Tables and figures are appended. (Contains 8 tables and 6 figures.)
Getting Students on Track to College and Career Readiness: How Many Catch up from Far behind? ACT Research Report Series, 2012 (9)
Author: Dougherty, Chrys
Date: 2012-11-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Academic Achievement,College Readiness,Poverty,Educational Practices,Grade 4,Grade 8,Grade 12,Career Readiness,Cohort Analysis,Low Achievement,Accountability,Benchmarking,State Standards

This report focused on the extent to which students who are academically far off track in preparing for college can catch up in four years. We studied multiple cohorts of students in eighth grade whose EXPLORE[R] scores were more than one standard deviation below the EXPLORE benchmark scores associated with being on track. We found that 10 percent or fewer of the students who were far off track in eighth grade attained the ACT College Readiness Benchmarks[R] by twelfth grade. We did a similar analysis for two cohorts of students beginning in fourth grade, using scores on state-developed tests in grade four and EXPLORE scores in grade eight, and obtained similar results. For both the fourth grade and the eighth grade cohorts, the overall percentage of students catching up was lower in higher poverty schools. At some higher poverty schools, however, the percentage of students catching up exceeded the average for lower poverty schools. These findings will help inform policymakers who set accountability expectations for schools. For example, reasonable growth goals might be set based on student performance in the more successful schools. Furthermore, goals for percentages of students reaching college and career readiness achievement targets should take into account the students' starting points and the number of years that schools have available to catch them up. In addition, research can be conducted to identify educational practices that distinguish schools and school systems that are more successful at working with off-track students and getting students on track starting in preschool and the early grades. (Contains 11 tables, 13 figures and 17 footnotes.)
Relationships of Examinee Pair Characteristics and Item Response Similarity. ACT Research Report Series, 2012 (8)
Author: Allen, Jeff
Date: 2012-10-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: College Entrance Examinations,Language Tests,English,Mathematics Tests,Reading Tests,Science Tests,Multiple Choice Tests,Item Response Theory,Raw Scores,Statistical Significance,Twins,Sampling,Response Style (Tests)

Detecting unusual similarity in the item responses of a pair of examinees usually conditions on the pair's overall test performance (e.g., raw scores). Doing this, however, often requires assumptions about the invariance of other examinee pair characteristics. In this study, we examined the appropriateness of such assumptions about selected examinee pair characteristics using item response data from the ACT Assessment[R]. We found that the number of identical incorrect responses on multiple choice tests were slightly higher for same high school, female, and twin pairs. Pairs who took the same mathematics courses and received the same grades had slightly higher levels of identical incorrect responses on the ACT Mathematics test. Across the four ACT tests, twin pairs were about twice as likely to have a similarity level described as a one-in-a-thousand event, all other shared characteristics held constant. The results for twin pairs can be used to set an upper bound for the level of similarity in identical incorrect responses that is due to examinee's shared environment and academic experiences. Tables are appended. (Contains 16 tables, 2 figures, and 3 footnotes.)
Implications of Educational Attainment Trends for Labor Market Outcomes. ACT Research Report Series, 2012 (7)
Author: Buddin, Richard
Date: 2012-10-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Outcomes of Education,Educational Attainment,Education Work Relationship,Employment Patterns,Labor Market,Unemployment,Enrollment,Graduation,Graduation Rate,Grade 8,Cohort Analysis

Well-educated workers have higher wages, higher wage growth, and lower unemployment rates than workers with lower levels of educational attainment. While earnings have traditionally grown with educational attainment, the gaps have become more pronounced in recent years. While returns to education have increased, this research shows that educational attainment has been stagnant or declining over the past decade. High school graduation rates have fallen from historic highs in the 1970's, college enrollment rates have leveled off, and college graduation rates are stable or declining. The research also examined patterns in educational attainment by race/ethnicity, gender, and 8th grade test scores. At risk minorities, males, and students with low 8th grade test scores had much less secondary and postsecondary success than other students. The achievement gaps persisted over the decade. Low educational attainment will leave many young workers with high unemployment rates, chronically low wages, and low wage growth. (Contains 18 figures and 23 footnotes.)
Lessons Learned Implementing Online Teacher Professional Development within a School Improvement Initiative. ACT Research Report Series, 2011-2
Author: Allen, Jeff
Date: 2011-12-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Teacher Attitudes,Faculty Development,School District Size,Online Courses,Blended Learning,Educational Improvement,Teacher Collaboration,Teamwork,Meetings,Mathematics Curriculum,Educational Change,Grade 9,Algebra

This study examined teacher perceptions of online and face-to-face professional development (PD) in four large school districts implementing an integrated school improvement initiative. The online PD component of this study was designed to support core 9th grade mathematics curriculum, and aligned safety net programs in literacy and mathematics. Study groups, a training format that provides materials to facilitate face-to-face teacher team meetings, supported collaboration within teacher teams in middle and high schools. Survey and interview data on 101 individuals--including 51 teachers who participated in online PD or study groups--are used in this report. The study guided recommendations for practitioners implementing blended PD models tied to a conceptual map of factors affecting successful delivery of the PD. Lessons learned from the study include lessons relating specifically to online PD and others related to PD in general. Appended are: (1) Survey and Interview Results; and (2) Coding System for Interviews. (Contains 3 figures, 76 tables and 1 footnote.)
Multistage Adaptive Testing for a Large-Scale Classification Test: Design, Heuristic Assembly, and Comparison with Other Testing Modes. ACT Research Report Series, 2012 (6)
Author: Zheng, Yi
Date: 2012-09-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Adaptive Testing,Heuristics,Accuracy,Item Banks,Automation,Computer Assisted Testing,Measures (Individuals),Classification,Test Format,Computer Simulation,Item Response Theory

Multistage adaptive tests (MSTs) have gained increasing popularity in recent years. MST is a balanced compromise between linear test forms (i.e., paper-and-pencil testing and computer-based testing) and traditional item-level computer-adaptive testing (CAT). It combines the advantages of both. On one hand, MST is adaptive (and therefore more efficient than linear tests). On the other hand, unlike CAT, it allows test developers to review test forms before administration, and it allows examinees to review and revise answers. Despite the advantages of MST, there is little literature on the details of heuristic automated assembly of MST and on the investigation of MST in the context of classification tests. In this study, we designed a MST for a large-scale classification test and performed the automated test assembly using a heuristic method. We then compared the performance of the MST with that of a linear test form and a CAT using computer simulation. The automated test assembly was successful. In comparing MST and CAT, we did observe a trade-off in measurement accuracy and item bank usage. For classification purposes, however, MST provided classification accuracy as good as that from CAT, with more efficient item bank usage. (Contains 5 tables, 5 figures and 2 footnotes.)
Predicting Long-Term College Success through Degree Completion Using ACT[R] Composite Score, ACT Benchmarks, and High School Grade Point Average. ACT Research Report Series, 2012 (5)
Author: Radunzel, Justine
Date: 2012-08-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: College Readiness,Institutions,Benchmarking,High School Students,College Freshmen,Grade Point Average,Path Analysis,Scores,Accuracy,Prediction,Academic Achievement,Higher Education

This study compared the effectiveness of ACT[R] Composite score and high school grade point average (HSGPA) for predicting long-term college success. Outcomes included annual progress towards a degree (based on cumulative credit-bearing hours earned), degree completion, and cumulative grade point average (GPA) at 150% of normal time to degree completion (year 6 and year 3 for four- and two-year institutions, respectively). The utility of the individual ACT College Readiness Benchmarks for predicting long-term college success was also evaluated. Data for this study included over 190,000 ACT-tested students who enrolled in college as first-time entering students in fall, 2000 through 2006. Over 100 total two- and four-year institutions were represented. Hierarchical logistic models were used to estimate institution-specific probabilities of college success based on ACT scores and HSGPA. First-year college GPA was also included as a predictor in the path analysis models. Accuracy and success rates were calculated using the distributions of ACT scores and HSGPA for each institution's approximate applicant pool; rates were then summarized across institutions. Direct and indirect effects of ACT score, HSGPA, and first-year academic performance on subsequent college outcomes were also examined. Results were disaggregated by institution type. Both ACT Composite score and HSGPA were effective for predicting long-term college success at both four- and two-year institutions. Across the outcomes, test scores increased prediction accuracy over that for HSGPA alone. ACT scores and HSGPA were primarily indirectly related to subsequent college outcomes (through first-year college GPA). The ACT Benchmarks were also found to be useful for predicting long-term college success, providing further validity evidence for using them as measures of college readiness. (Contains 20 tables, 19 figures and 15 footnotes.)