University–District Partnership Research to Understand College Readiness Among Baltimore City Students

Abstract

The concept of college readiness is complex because of its many components, and its meaning is further complicated by disparate definitions applied by different postsecondary institutions. The research featured in this study attempts to measure college readiness according to traditional indicators, such as high school GPA and course taking, but also by assessed need for developmental courses upon college arrival. The analyses feature a cohort of graduating students from the Baltimore City Public Schools, which are part of an urban, high-poverty, predominantly African American school system. This research is part of a larger effort to inform the school district's efforts at improving college readiness, and was conducted by the Baltimore Education Research Consortium (BERC), a partnership of local university researchers and school district representatives. The history and current activities of this partnership with respect to college access and readiness research are described, along with descriptive findings concerning the extent to which the academic characteristics of graduates corresponded with readiness definitions at their most frequently attended postsecondary institutions.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We extend our gratitude for the invaluable work and foresight of Stephen B. Plank, without whom BERC would not exist. We also thank Martha Mac Iver for helpful comments and Erik Westlund for assistance with BERC's early college access research. Finally, we thank several anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.

Funding

We also personally thank Bonnie Legro of The Abell Foundation and Jane Sundius of Open Society Institute-Baltimore, who supported BERC's initiation and provided funding for this research.

Notes

¹ http://gradelevelreading.net/baltimore-md-2013-tell-our-story [accessed Nov. 6, 2014].

² http://www.studentclearinghouse.org/about/what_we_do.php [accessed Nov. 6, 2014].

³ The district leadership, including accountability and research officers, was different in 2009 than at the time of writing.

⁴ Analyses of two Baltimore City Schools ninth-grade cohorts also included the NSC college enrollment outcomes (see Mac Iver & Messel, 2012, 2013).

⁵ At the time of this writing, the work continues to evolve, especially as a CEO new to Baltimore City Schools in the summer of 2014 will undoubtedly have new questions, priorities, and areas where the partnership can provide additional capacity.

⁶ The full set of analyses for all Maryland colleges attended by Baltimore City graduates can be found in Connolly, Olson, Durham, and Plank (2014).

⁷ A separate analysis (not shown) suggests that levels on these indicators for the class of 2011 are not unique to this cohort. An analysis of the same data for the graduating classes of 2012 and 2013 showed that although several indicators suggest improvement, in particular Maryland School Assessment proficiency rates in grade 8, most indicators showed no change.

⁸ See https://prezi.com/dk0cwoylcdbq/the-office-of-secondary-education-services/, published by OSES/City Schools [accessed Nov. 1, 2014].