A continuing priority in education has focused on preparing students for postacademic success. The adoption of the Common Core State Standards Initiative prompted educational leaders to focus on preparing students to be "college and career ready." Definitions, perceptions, and efforts to improve college and career readiness vary widely.…

This study explored perceptions of African American college students concerning barriers to enrolling in higher education institutions, focusing on a public comprehensive regional university in Kentucky, using interviews and focus groups. The focus of the research pertained to ACT testing requirements, home and school support systems, and the role…

1,127 U.S. high school senior and college undergraduate perceptions of teaching's prestige, status, and esteem were explored in this study. The population consisted of 302 high school seniors and 825 college undergraduates from the Midwestern region of the United States. The study included 51 statements where participants rated their perceptions…

Perceptions of prestige, status, and esteem of the teaching career were explored in this study. The population consisted of 1,127 high school seniors and college undergraduates. The study included 51 statements where participants rated their perceptions of teaching's prestige, status, and esteem on an 8 point Likert scale. The data was factor…

In recent years, schools and large-scale assessment developers across the United States have been providing English learners with language supports when they take tests to reduce construct-irrelevant variance, or errors in test scores due to factors that are extraneous to the construct being assessed (Thorndike et al., 1991). Some of these…

Social and emotional (SE) skills are interpersonal, self-regulatory, and task-related behaviors that are important for adaptation to and successful performance across all domains of life, including education and workplace settings (Casillas et al., 2015). Family engagement affects the development of these important skills (Brooks & Lambert,…

As part of a larger research study entitled "Where Do Test Scores Fit in a Test-Optional Environment," the authors surveyed students who took the ACT on June 11, 2022, in order to better understand why high school students would take a standardized test like the ACT when they knew they were applying to test-optional institutions. Among…

Social and emotional (SE) skills are related to many positive outcomes, including academic performance, degree attainment, and life satisfaction, and are often taught through social and emotional learning (SEL) programs. Furthermore, a positive school climate is important for students' social and emotional wellness and ability to learn. For…

Formally launched in September 2018, the ACT® Certified Educator™ program is a professional learning and credentialing program designed to help educators improve their teaching and tutoring strategies and skills and be fully equipped to support student learning in the core content areas of the ACT® test. In this study, participants' views of the…

To understand students' college preparation experiences, in May 2021, the authors surveyed high school seniors who took the ACT® test between September 2020 and June 2021. These students reported their intentions to attend a postsecondary institution (i.e., a four-year public college or university, a four-year private college or university, a…

Safety is essential to student well-being and success. Because of this, a large percentage of parents and children are concerned about school safety. To get a better understanding of school safety from a student's perspective, ACT-tested students were surveyed and asked about their school's climate and the types of safety measures their school…

The adoption of telepresence technology in K-12 schools potentially expands students' access to course offerings and new ways of learning, but little is known about its implementation and promise for improving student outcomes. We employ a mixed-methods analysis to examine the experiences of students and teachers in telepresence courses in a…

This quantitative study investigated whether a relationship existed between principal's instructional leadership behavior and college readiness as measured by ACT scores in Catholic and private schools in south Louisiana. The study surveyed both teacher and principal perceptions of principal instructional leadership behaviors through the Principal…

Unsafe schools can negatively impact students' wellbeing and educational success. This study focuses on one of the potential effects of unsafe schools, decreased standardized test scores. Research suggests that school climates that are positive and provide students with a place where they can feel insulated from neighborhood violence are…

We surveyed 237 first-time college students to examine the extent to which social-cognitive factors--self-efficacy, perceptions of mentorship, high school GPA, ACT scores, first-semester college GPA, and demographic characteristics-- influence freshmen's intent to persist. Standard multiple regression and MANOVA were conducted to determine the…