Contextual Indicators of Preparedness: Relationships to 12th-Grade NAEP Reading Performance and Racial/Ethnic Score Gaps

• In Event: Does NAEP Predict Student Postsecondary Preparedness?

Abstract

More young adults in the United States are graduating from high school and enrolling in postsecondary education, but not all of them are doing so with the knowledge and skills necessary to successfully complete these endeavors (Irwin et al., 2021; Goodman, et al., 2015). While the acquisition of knowledge and skills is important, there is growing recognition that contextual factors are also key to understanding students’ preparedness for, and success in, the postsecondary educational system (e.g., Borsato et al., 2013; Nagaoka et al., 2013).

This presentation explores how contextual indicators of postsecondary preparedness relate to twelfth-graders’ performance on the NAEP 2019 reading assessment, and furthermore, how these indicators relate to observed racial/ethnic score gaps.

First, we examine descriptive data on NAEP grade 12 reading performance in relation to students’ post-secondary preparedness activities during high school (e.g., taking advanced coursework, applying to two- or four-year colleges, applying for a full-time job), as well as noncognitive attributes (e.g., persistence, motivation, reading confidence). Results indicate that while a large proportion of students report knowledge about and participation in activities related to postsecondary education, many of them may still be academically unprepared for success in their postsecondary educational paths. For example, 60% of twelfth-graders in the nation reported that they had applied to a four-year college. Of these students, only 50% performed at or above the NAEP Proficient level reflecting solid academic performance and competency over challenging reading material. Additionally, students pursuing direct entry into the workforce after high school generally demonstrated only partial mastery of key reading skills on the NAEP assessment.

The second part of this presentation investigates how accounting for select contextual indicators of preparedness (i.e., key academic behaviors and noncognitive attributes), in addition to gender and socioeconomic status, influences observed White−Black, White−Hispanic, and Asian−White score gaps on the grade 12 NAEP reading assessment. Results from a series of regression analyses indicate that, after accounting for gender and measurable socioeconomic factors in NAEP data, the White−Black gap decreased by 40%, the White−Hispanic gap decreased by 85%, and the White−Asian score gap increased by 79%. Additional increases and decreases in these racial/ethnic score gaps were minimal after also accounting for key academic behaviors and noncognitive factors. Overall, twelfth-grade students’ gender, race, socioeconomic status, and key academic behaviors and noncognitive factors explained 39% of variation in twelfth-grade NAEP reading scores in 2019.

Authors

• Madeline Goodman, Educational Testing Service

• Jan Alegre, Scholarus Learning