Ready or Not: Engaging With the College Readiness Binary of Arizona Move On When Ready

• In Event: 70.065 - Roundtable Session 27
  In Roundtable Session: 70.065-1 - Issues in College and Career Readiness

Abstract

In 2010, Arizona established a performance-based diploma initiative known as Move On When Ready (MOWR), adopting a framework based on assessing if a student is capable of succeeding in the first credit bearing course in community college. This study seeks to determine: 1) Can first-year high school students articulate the implications of an initiative designed to assess their “college readiness?” and 2) How do personal perceptions of academic ability and educational aspiration affect the likelihood that students will actively engage with the initiative? Findings suggest interviewed students understand little about MOWR’s design and intent or its implications for their future educational trajectories. Moreover, what they believe is generally misinformed, regardless of aspiration or academic standing.

Author

• Michael Silver, Arizona State University