A critical issue facing higher education today: students entering college unprepared.  Some reports reveal that 40 percent of traditional first year students require at least one remedial course to help them prepare for college-level course work (Barnett et al., 2012). Other reports reveal that the most common remedial courses students need include math and/or English (Mattern et. al, 2013). In addition, the need for academic content remediation courses increases when students enter college without general learning strategies and coping skills necessary to navigate the college learning experience (Conley, 2007). Post-secondary and secondary education leaders must view improving the college-readiness of America’s students an issue that demands urgent attention. Click link for video that offers more information on the issue of college-readiness in the state of Texas http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2016/11/16/tea-says-texas-high-school-graduates-arent-ready-for-college/

The state of Texas provides a variety of examples of education and community leaders working together to improve college-readiness via organized programs. Cities across Texas such as Houston, Cy Fair, Dallas, Arlington, and El Paso provide either academic programs, which work to improve the academic readiness of students, or college knowledge programs, which work to increase knowledge of how to apply for college, pay for college, then navigate college life (Barnett et al., 2012). These programs share a commitment to the partnership of the local school districts, colleges and universities, and in some cases, nonprofit/for profit organizations in the community. Some of these programs provide one-time, regular events to improve college-readiness in students, while others provide multi-year programs.

Without a doubt college-readiness programs, like those in Texas, seek good intentions, but evaluating the effectiveness of these programs proves problematic because of the multi-dimensionality of the definition of college-readiness. With no single definition of college-readiness, programs often find themselves stretched in many directions to touch upon the many dimensions of college-readiness that include:  “…the level of preparation required for students to enroll and succeed without remediation in credit-bearing, entry-level, or general education course work at a post-secondary institution” (ACT, 2007; Conley, 2007). Other schools determine whether a student is college-ready based on the academic content knowledge and skills needed to pass college-level courses (McAlister & Mevs, 2012). Some universities even suggest that motivational or non-cognitive factors can be important determinants of success in college. These factors include maintaining a positive attitude toward learning and being able to persist when the going gets tough (Dweck, et al., 2011). Not one of these elements presents itself more, or less, important than the other, but one of these elements, arguably, contains the ability to impact college-readiness overall.

Perhaps the most defining college-ready characteristic rests in the ability to maintain a positive attitude and persist through the challenges of college. This characteristic fall under  Stanford University psychologist Dweck’s (2016) notion of growth mindset. “Growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts. Although people may differ in every which way – in their initial talents and aptitudes, interest, or temperaments – everyone can change and grow through application and experience” (Dweck, 2016, p. 7). Growth mindset provides the missing element in college-readiness programs. For starters, the intentional application of growth mindset into college-readiness programs that already exist (like those in Texas) stand to reap significant leaps toward improving college-readiness simply by fostering growth mindset in students that participate in these programs. Consider a multi-year program that begins when students are still in middle school or high school, and incorporates academic readiness and college knowledge components paired with growth mindset to prepare them for the mental steadfastness college requires.

Project GRAD in Houston, Texas is an example of a multi-year, multi-faceted college-readiness program that has experienced great success. Visit Project GRAD’s official website for more information http://www.projectgradhouston.org/ . It would place minimal to zero financial burden upon Project GRAD to add growth mindset as an integral element of the work it already does in the low-income communities in Houston. For example, the College Transition Conference, an annual event that students attend the summer before they begin their first year of college to learn about the transition from high school to college, offers a realistic platform for growth mindset. Introducing growth mindset during this conference would allow students to begin to foster the mental steadfastness that the challenges of college require (both academic and nonacademic). One nonacademic challenge students may face include stereotypes. Dweck’s (2016) work reveals that students who possess growth mindset demonstrate a resilience that allows them to persist and succeed in the face of academic adversity caused by stereotypes. Consider that many women drop out of math and science because they do not feel like they belong in these fields. The programs provided via Project GRAD, aware of the stereotypes female students (and other minority groups) might encounter in college, can encourage participation in content area courses typically reserved for a certain group/type of student and then go a step farther and develop a growth mindset in students to persist past the stereotypes. The College Transition Conference provides just one opportunity, but Project GRAD is a multi-year program that provides students several opportunities to develop a growth mindset that can offset the stereotypes they may encounter in college.

Improving college-readiness should stand as an urgent issue for secondary and post-secondary leaders in education. Partnerships between community organizations, school districts, and colleges and universities (i.e. Project GRAD) offers a positive step toward improving college-readiness but room for improvement still exist. Understanding the multi-dimensional definition of college-readiness can provide a starting point to create programs that address each of the dimensions. But, also understanding growth mindset as a concept that binds all the dimensions of college-readiness together will lead college-readiness programs into a new level of success. In the same way, infusing growth mindset into already existing definitions of college-readiness results in a new, more relevant definition of college-readiness for the 21^st century. College-readiness: a pragmatic, deliberate ongoing process to challenge a student’s current knowledge and experiences for the express purpose of guiding their thinking (i.e. mindset) toward personal learning and improvement. A college-ready student with growth mindset accepts academic and non-academic challenges of college as part of the overall process toward personal greatness.

Amanda Melchor McCown, M.A. English, M.A. Education Leadership

English Department Chair, Lee High School, Midland, Texas

Doctoral Student, Doctorate in Leadership Program at Hardin-Simmons University

References

ACT. (2007). ACT college readiness standards 2007. Explaining what college readiness scores

mean. Iowa City, IA: Author.

Barnett, E. A., Corrin, W., Nakanishi, A., Bork, R. H., Mitchell, C., & Sepanik, S. (2012).

Preparing high school students for college: An exploratory study of college readiness

partnership programs in Texas (Research Report).

Conley, D. T. (2007). Redefining college readiness (Research Report).

Dweck, C. S. (2016). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York, NY: Random House.

McAlister , S., & Mevs, P. (2012). College readiness: A guide to the field (Research Report).