Running head: COLLEGE READINESS

Critical Issue: College Readiness as a VP for Academic Affairs

Leisha R. Cavallaro

1 Paradise Cove Statesboro, GA 30458

An essay evaluation college readiness submitted to: Dr. D. W. Calhoun of Georgia Southern University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for EDLD 7431 01F

SPRING 2012 Wednesday, April, 11th 2012 Statesboro, Georgia

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Critical Issue: College Readiness as a VP for Academic Affairs From the perspective of a Vice-President for Academic Affairs at a public four year university, I will address the issue of College Readiness in the higher education realm. There are a number of issues that affect higher education especially when it relates to being an administrator (Kretovics, 2011). One of the major issues is that of students being ready when they enter college. It is basically impossible for every student to receive the same information and be on the same intellectual level when entering college. However, there is great value in striving to provide the same opportunities and education standards to each and every student. Currently there is variation from state to state which in turn dont align with expectations of college administrators. On top of differences in curriculum across the board, there are individual differences that could be based on a multitude of different factors. As the Vice-President of Academic Affairs issue plays a large role in my decisions on admissions, policies, training, and classes (McClellan & Stringer, 2009). To my surprise 41% of community college students and 29% of all college students are not truly ready for college in one or more of the basic skills of reading, writing, and math (Byrd & MacDonald, 2005, p. 23). This has encourages the use of placement testing to determine whether or not students are prepared for the college curriculum. Many colleges, including my own, have also began developmental programs and specific classes geared toward freshmen to help ease them into the college setting and possibly indicate problematic situations early. Over the last decade there have definitely been strides amongst and between states in implementing standards for K-12 education (American Association of State Colleges and Universities, 2010, p. 5). However, as most know and as I previously stated there is variation from state to state in the rigor of the standards which in turn doesnt provide an equal alignment

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with college expectations. These differences allow students to pass tests for high school graduation but are still extremely behind and need intensive work in college to get them to the college level standards. These create obvious difficulties for me as the Vice President of Academic Affairs. As a University, we must have standards and expectations of the incoming students. Though students are paying for their own education we must hold a set expectation, and with the varying teaching methods and standards it is hard to know if students meet that expectation. Based on the knowledge obtained in high school and what a specific university deems appropriate, these college necessities and standards are created and implemented. As a Vice President of Academic Affairs I am involved in the decisions on what our expectations for students are. I also assist in deciding what classes we will offer and the standards within that classroom. This in and of itself is an entirely different issue that could be discussed at a later time. I want to focus on the difficulty in making these expectations and academic programs based on the varying readiness of students entering college from high school. More recently there has been the Common Core State Standards of educational standards that have been created to replace state standards. Forty-eight states have signed on to replace their state content standards and agreed to follow the Common Core State Standards (American Association of State Colleges and Universities, 2010, p. 5). This is a great stride for K-12 education to better equally prepare students for college. Ideally this would assist me in the creation of expectations as well as receiving adequately prepared students. However, these new widely accepted standards havent quite done the job in helping with college readiness as a whole (Conley, 2011).

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Though the success of this education movement may be too early in its lifetime to see actual progress, there are some concerns from teachers, administrators, students, and parents alike. One main concern is that these standards do not set the curriculum; it merely develops a set of common standards (Munson, 2011). In that respect local entities can designate their own curriculum which can arguably create the same issues with college readiness. Educational systems need to start focusing more on the content of education rather than just standards. Without proof of evolution of students preparedness for college from these new core standards I will not alter yet change or update my expectations, training, standards, and curriculum. Another important notion about college readiness is that how different backgrounds can create various preparedness levels. For instance first generation college students could be less prepared for college overall solely from a lack of foundation of college experience to rely on (Byrd & MacDonald, 2005). There are also gender differences in preparedness in certain subjects (Combs, Slate, Moore, Bustamante, Onwuegbuzie, & Edmonson, 2010, p. 450), as well as racial and ethnic differences. Students who receive the same instruction learn at completely different paces based on any given number of reasons; so it is important to note that it isnt just the variety of instruction that alters students college readiness. As I mentioned earlier, many colleges utilize standardized test to evaluate the knowledge and preparedness of students prior to entering college. As a Vice President of Academic Affairs I encourage the utilization of these tests as measures for assessing students admission status, however, it is important to note the issues with these tests. Many question the effective evaluative ability of placement tests. In fact there was a study conducted a few years back that didnt show a strong relationship between college performance and standardized test scores. (Byrd & MacDonald, 2005, p. 23)

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With specific standards and the widely used standardized tests, teachers have begun the trend of teaching to the test (Kontovourki & Campis, 2010, p. 243). Much of their preparation and curriculum is solely focused on the format of tests and how to take tests rather than the subject matter. These tests have also created an epidemic across the nation of removing subjects that are not tested like PE and art. Again as educators we need to revamp our thinking back to teaching the subject and content. With my position I dont particularly have the ability to alter this problem but it is something that I need to keep my eye on and remain informed on so I can make more educated decisions. I would need a little more research on this information, however, I would consider another avenue if researchers came up with another way to assess the readiness of students. With my position I would encourage some professors involved in our research department to conduct a study of assessing college readiness. I am definitely open to new tools and avenues to help evaluate incoming students. However, as a large public university that attracts students from all around it would be difficult to do anything of the nature of interviews or extensive applications like some private schools do. As previously stated, on my campus I can conduct research on our campus and by our professors to discover how to better assess students who are applying to come to college. Though standardized tests are the trend, it has shown that it may not be the tall tell sign of readiness. The utilization of college prep classes, or first year experience classes could be maximized as well as marketed to future students. Possibly getting students some of that information earlier or even having a short seminar (or webinar) prior to acceptance could possibly better prepare students for college. Obviously I cannot teach them remedial things they need to know but hopefully inform them of our expectations prior to them attending the university. Maintaining my knowledge on

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educational systems and standards across the nation is extremely important as that could alter the expectations we have for our incoming students. I have gone into some issues that can affect college preparedness and a little but about how I would address them as a Vice President of Academic Affairs, but as you can see this issue runs deep in the administrative portion of higher education. I believe that the best way to begin to solve this issue is with more research and efforts by the K-12 education system. Many other countries rank higher in national rankings of intelligence (Munson, 2011, p. 10). However, personally I am unable to truly affect and directly change the curriculum and practices outside of my community, but it will undoubtedly be a focus of many educational reforms.

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References American Association of State Colleges and Universities. (2010). Top 10 higher education state policy issues. A Higher Education Policy Brief. 1-6. Retrieved on April 3, 2012 from https://georgiasouthern.view.usg.edu/webct/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct Byrd, K. L., & MacDonald, G. (2005). Defining college readiness from the inside out: Firstgeneration college student perspectives. Community College Review, 33(1), 22-37. Retrieved on April 4, 2012 from
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=f56fc390-73dc-4f96-9c85b06a6308eca1%40sessionmgr4&vid=10&hid=9

Combs, J., Slate, J., Moore, G., Bustamante, R., Onwuegbuzie, A., & Edmonson, S. (2010). Gender differences in college preparedness: A statewide study. Urban Review, 42(5), 441-457. doi:10.1007/s11256-009-0138-x Conley, D. T. (2011). Building on the common core. Educational Leadership, 68(6), 16-20. Retrieved on April 5, 2012 from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=f56fc390-73dc-4f96-9c85b06a6308eca1%40sessionmgr4&vid=4&hid=9&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ% 3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=58688606 Gewertz, C. (2012). U.S. common-standards effort informed by ideas from abroad. Education Week, 31(16), 21-23. Retrieved on April 5, 2012 from
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=f56fc390-73dc-4f96-9c85b06a6308eca1%40sessionmgr4&vid=14&hid=9&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#d b=a9h&AN=70474695

Kontovourki, S., & Campis, C. (2010). Meaningful practice: Test prep in a third-grade public school classroom. Reading Teacher, 64(4), 236-245. doi:10.1598/RT.64.4.2

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Kretovics, M. A. (2011). Business practices in higher education: A guide for todays administrators. New York: Routledge. McClellen, G. S. & Stringer, J. (2009). The handbook of student affairs administration. (3rd Ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Munson, L. (2011). What Students Really Need to Learn. Educational Leadership, 68(6), 10-14. Retrieved April 5, 2012 from
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=f56fc390-73dc-4f96-9c85b06a6308eca1%40sessionmgr4&vid=17&hid=9&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#d b=a9h&AN=58688605

Roderick, M., Nagaoka, J., & Coca, V. (2009). College readiness for all: The challenge for urban high schools. Future Of Children, 19(1), 185-210. Retrieved on April 6, 2012 from
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=f56fc390-73dc-4f96-9c85b06a6308eca1%40sessionmgr4&vid=6&hid=9