Developing and Validating Early Assessments of College Readiness: Differential Effects for Underrepresented Groups, Optimal Timing of Assessments, and STEM-specific Indicators

三分之一的大学新生在学业上没有为大学入门课程做好准备，需要补习课程。在许多大学，这一数字要高得多。这一问题在STEM学科中更为严重，特别是在来自代表性不足的族裔群体和低社会经济地位家庭的学生中。该项目的目的是制定和验证一系列评估，重点是为高等教育做好学术准备。该小组将探索评估的相关质量，如其差异预测有效性，以确保它们适合于代表性不足的群体，开始评估准备情况的最佳评分水平，以及最适合预测STEM特定准备情况的措施。该项目将使用两个最新的、具有全国代表性的、具有互补性的大型联邦数据库：2009年高中纵向研究和2002年教育纵向研究。因子分析将被用来开发大学准备情况的复合变量，多水平回归将被用来开发一系列大学成绩的预测模型，以检验复合和个体预测变量的预测有效性。这些模型将被扩展到进行多个群体分析，以测试对来自代表性不足群体的学生的差异预测。该项目旨在促进1)更广泛地使用学术准备评估，2)使用更敏感的措施来评估代表不足的群体和STEM专业的大学准备情况，3)使用具有预测有效性的指标和模型进行更早的评估，4)通过提供如何开发和实施的详细例子来监测大学准备情况的进展情况。研究结果还将提高学生、家长、教师和其他学校人员对与学生进入大学做好准备相关的一系列因素的认识。探索研究K-12计划(DRK-12)旨在通过研究和开发创新资源、模型和工具(RMT)，显著提高K-12学龄前学生和教师在科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)方面的学习和教学。DRK-12计划中的项目建立在STEM教育的基础研究和先前的研究和开发工作的基础上，为拟议的项目提供了理论和经验上的证明。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

One third of all college freshmen are academically unprepared for entry-level college coursework and require remedial course. That figure is much higher at many colleges. The problem is more acute in STEM disciplines, particularly among students from underrepresented ethnic groups and low socioeconomic status families. This purpose of this project is to develop and validate a range of assessments with a focus on academic preparedness for higher education. The team will explore relevant qualities of assessments such as their differential predictive validity to ensure they are appropriate for underrepresented groups, the optimal grade level to begin assessing readiness, and measures that are most appropriate for predicting STEM-specific readiness. This project will use two recent and complementary large-scale, nationally representative federal databases: the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 and the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002. Factor analysis will be used to develop composite variables of college readiness and multilevel regression will be used to develop predictive models on a range of college outcomes to test the predictive validity of composite and individual predictors. The models will be extended to conduct multiple group analyses to test for differential prediction for students from underrepresented groups. The project intends to promote 1) the use of a wider range of assessments of academic preparedness, 2) the use of measures that are more sensitive for assessing college readiness from underrepresented groups and among STEM majors, 3) earlier assessment using indicators and models with predictive validity and 4) progress monitoring of college readiness by providing a detailed example of how that can be developed and implemented. Findings will also raise student, parental, teacher, and other school personnel awareness of the range of factors relevant for preparing students for college. The Discovery Research K-12 program (DRK-12) seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by preK-12 students and teachers, through research and development of innovative resources, models and tools (RMTs). Projects in the DRK-12 program build on fundamental research in STEM education and prior research and development efforts that provide theoretical and empirical justification for proposed projects.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.