Gaps in college readiness: ACT and SAT differences by ethnicity across 10 school years.

摘要

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the college-readiness rates of Black, Hispanic, White, and Asian graduates of public secondary schools in Texas using archival data from the Texas Education Agency Academic Excellence Indicator System. Data examined were the average ACT and SAT scores for the past 10 school years (i.e., 2001-2002 through 2010-2011) for Texas high school students. In addition, the percent of students who scored at or above the ACT/SAT criterion for each of the past 10 school years were analyzed.;Methodology: A nonexperimental quantitative research design was utilized as the research method for this study. Ten school years of archival data downloaded from the Texas Education Agency Academic Excellence Indicator System on Texas public high school students were analyzed. An examination of the ACT scores, SAT scores and the percent of students who scored at or above the ACT/SAT criterion across a multi-year period assisted in analyzing the extent to which college-ready graduate rates had increased or decreased, and the extent to which parity had been established in the achievement gap between Black, Hispanic, White, and Asian high school graduates.;Findings: Over the 10 years of school data analyzed, the average scores on the ACT and SAT showed only minimal improvement. Almost every analysis revealed statistically significant differences among Black, Hispanic, White and Asian students in their ACT averages, SAT averages, and in the percent of students who scored at or above the ACT/SAT criterion. Congruent with the existing research literature, White, and Asian students outperformed Black and Hispanic students when comparing ACT averages, SAT averages, and the percent of students at or above the ACT/SAT criterion scores for all years analyzed. Hispanic students outperformed Black students based on the same criterion, making Black student performance the lowest of all ethnic groups evaluated. In almost every case, the differences over the 10-year time period reflected an unchanged trend. Effect sizes for most analyses were large. Based upon the results of this investigation, the status quo in Texas schools must change for equitable educational opportunities to exist for all students.;KEY WORDS: Academic achievement, Achievement gap, Asian students, Black students, College readiness, Cultural reproduction, Hispanic students, White students.