The Big Picture

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The Big Picture

• To be successful in todays economy, all students
  will need education and training that go beyond
  the high school diploma.
• How successful is your state in moving students
  successfully through the education pipeline?

NOTE All figures in this presentation are
rounded to the nearest percent. Rounding errors
may occur when figures are compared. Also please
note that all bar graphs that are empty or
labeled N/A are not available due to
non-participation or small sample size.
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Too many U.S. students drop out of the education
pipeline
Source Student Pipeline 2004, unpublished data
from the National Center for Higher Education
Management Systems, October 2006. Data are
estimates of pipeline progress rather than actual
cohort.
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How does Arkansas stack up?
Source Student Pipeline 2004, unpublished data
from the National Center for Higher Education
Management Systems, October 2006. Data are
estimates of pipeline progress rather than actual
cohort.
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How many young adults earn degrees?
Median of top five states based on sum of lower
and upper bar. Source National Information
Center for Higher Education, www.higheredinfo.org.
Data are from U.S. Census for 25 to 34 year
olds.
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Is educational attainment improving?
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5
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Elementary School - Assessments

• The National Assessment of Educational Progress
  (NAEP) is a common test taken by a sample of
  students in every state, making it a reliable
  yardstick for comparing achievement through
  elementary school.
• Comparing the percentage of 4th graders scoring
  at or above Proficient on NAEP with those deemed
  proficient on state tests reveals a much lower
  proficiency standard on most state tests.

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Are elementary school students achieving
proficiency in math?
Median of top five states in percent proficient
or advanced. Source National Assessment of
Educational Progress. Analysis of data downloaded
from www.nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde/
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Are elementary school students achieving
proficiency in reading?
Median of top five states in percent proficient
or advanced. Source National Assessment of
Educational Progress. Analysis of data downloaded
from www.nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde/
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Are there inequities in math achievement in
Arkansas?
Source National Assessment of Educational
Progress. Analysis of data downloaded from
www.nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde/
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in reading achievement in Arkansas?
Source National Assessment of Educational
Progress. Analysis of data downloaded from
www.nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde/
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Is there a gap between achievement on state
assessments and NAEP
Source National Assessment of Educational
Progress. Analysis of data downloaded from
www.nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde/ and
Arkansas Benchmark Exam Results for Literacy and
Math (CRT) taken from Arkansas 2005 State Report
card at http//normes2.uark.edu/reportcards/select
.php.
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Middle School

• Students who take challenging courses and meet
  high standards in middle school are much more
  likely to enter high school ready to succeed.
• Algebra is widely recognized as a gateway
  coursestudents who take it by the end of 8th
  grade are much more likely to take rigorous
  courses in high school that lead to a college
  degree.

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Are students taking gateway courses?
Median of top five states. Source Analysis of
data from www.nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde/
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Are students taking gateway courses in
Arkansas?
Source Analysis of data from www.nces.ed.gov/nati
onsreportcard/nde/
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Are more students taking gateway courses over
time?
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22
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Includes students taking Algebra, Algebra 2 or
Geometry. Median of top five improvers.
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Middle School Assessments

• The National Assessment of Educational Progress
  (NAEP) is a common test taken by a sample of
  students in every state, making it a reliable
  yardstick for comparing achievement through
  middle school.
• Comparing the percentage of 8th graders scoring
  at or above Proficient on NAEP with those deemed
  proficient on state tests reveals a much lower
  proficiency standard on most state tests.

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Are middle school students achieving
proficiency in math?
Median of top five states in percent proficient
or advanced. Source National Assessment of
Educational Progress. Analysis of data downloaded
from www.nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde/
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Are middle school students achieving
proficiency in reading?
Median of top five states in percent proficient
or advanced. Source National Assessment of
Educational Progress. Analysis of data downloaded
from www.nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde/
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Is math achievement improving?
12
8
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Is reading achievement improving?
3
-1
7
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Is there a gap between achievement on state
assessments and NAEP?
Source National Assessment of Educational
Progress. Analysis of data downloaded from
www.nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde/ and
Arkansas Benchmark Exam Results for Literacy and
Math (CRT) taken from Arkansas 2005 State Report
card at http//normes2.uark.edu/reportcards/select
.php.
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Middle School Achievement Gap

• In most states, there is an achievement gap that
  separates African American, Latino and Native
  American students from White and Asian students.
  
• How large is that gap in your state?
• How successful has your state been in closing it
  over time?

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Are there inequities in math achievement in
Arkansas? Have gaps narrowed?
African American
Native American
Asian
Latino
White
Source National Assessment of Educational
Progress. Analysis of data downloaded from
www.nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde/
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in reading achievement in Arkansas?
African American
Native American
Asian
Latino
White
Source National Assessment of Educational
Progress. Analysis of data downloaded from
www.nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde/
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High School

• Research has shown that a powerful predictor of
  whether high school students will graduate and
  earn a college degree is the rigor of the high
  school curriculum they complete.
• Advanced Placement (AP) exams show how many
  students are taking challenging courses and
  attempting to earn college credit while still in
  high school.

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Are students participating in AP courses?
Median of top five states. Source Analysis of
data from College Board AP Summary Reports for
2004 and NCES Common Core of Data. Includes
public school students only.
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Are there inequities in AP participation in
Arkansas?
Source Analysis of data from College Board AP
Summary Reports for 2004 and NCES Common Core of
Data. Includes public school students only.
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Are more students participating in AP over time?
5
4
8
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High School State Assessments

• All states have high school assessments that
  students take by the 10th or 11th grade. In
  almost half of the states, students must pass
  these tests in order to graduate.
• Are students who pass the high school tests
  truly prepared for success in college or work?
• Few states have designed their high school
  assessments to answer whether passing students
  are prepared for success in college and work.

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How do students perform on state math tests?
Source Arkansas End of Course Exam Results for
April 2005 taken from an Arkansas Department of
Education media update, http//arkedu.state.ar.us
/good_news/news_exams.html.
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How do students perform on state English tests?
Source Arkansas Grade 11 Literacy Exam Results
for April 2005 taken from an Arkansas Department
of Education media update, http//arkedu.state.ar
.us/good_news/news_exams.html.
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High School Graduating on Time

• Nationwide, nearly 30 of high school students
  dont graduate on time, and the figures are much
  lower for disadvantaged minority students than
  for White and Asian students.
• Without a high school diploma, students chances
  for success in college or the workplace are
  severely restricted.

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How many high school students graduate on time?
Median of top five states. Source Manhattan
Institute, April 2006, Leaving Boys Behind
Public High School Graduation Rates.
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Are graduation rates equitable in Arkansas?
Source Manhattan Institute, April 2006, Leaving
Boys Behind Public High School Graduation Rates.
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Postsecondary Attainment

• Earning a postsecondary credential has become
  increasingly important in todays economy, and
  some states have made significant gains in
  college going rates.
• College admission is only the first step. A
  quarter of college freshmen will not return for
  their sophomore year.
• Only slightly more than half of students in
  4-year colleges earn a degree within six years.

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How many high school students enroll in college
the following fall?
Median of top five states. Source Tom
Mortenson, Postsecondary Opportunity http//www.hi
gheredinfo.org/dbrowser/index.php?submeasure63ye
ar2002levelnationmodedatastate0
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Are more high school graduates enrolling
immediately in college over time?
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3
17
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How many persist to sophomore year at 4-year
colleges?
Median of top five states. Source Source
National Center for Public Policy and Higher
Education, Measuring Up 2004, http//measuringup.h
ighereducation.org/database.cfm.
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at 2-year colleges?
Median of top five states. Source Source
National Center for Public Policy and Higher
Education, Measuring Up 2004, http//measuringup.h
ighereducation.org/database.cfm.
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Are college retention rates improving over time?
1
-1
13
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How many graduate from college?
Median of top five states. Source Unpublished
data provided by National Center for Higher
Education Management Systems. Data are from
federal IPEDS survey.
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Are college graduation rates equitable in
Arkansas?
Source Unpublished data provided by National
Center for Higher Education Management Systems.
Data are from federal IPEDS survey.
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