Creating Seamless K-16 Pathways: Role of Assessment

Hillary R. Michaels, Katrice Hawthorne, Nuria M. Cuevas and Alexei G. Mateev   |    Volume Six: Winter  |   

The large number of underprepared students entering the nation’s two-and four-year colleges and universities has created what Levin and Calcagno (2008) consider a “remedia­tion crisis” (p.181). Despite the recent attainment of high school diplomas, many incoming students are academically unprepared for college-level coursework in reading, writing, and mathematics (Levin & Calcagno, 2008). The disconnect between high school competencies and college readiness poses a serious threat not only to President Obama’s ambitious goal of having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020 (President Obama, Address to Joint Session of Congress, Feb. 24, 2009), but most importantly to the academic and career goals of today’s youth. As Calcagno, Crosta, Bailey and Jenkins (2007) have not­ed, students who enter college through remedial pathways are less likely to graduate. The misalignment between K-12 and postsecondary expectations is a cause for serious concern, and educators must work together to bridge this ever-widening gap.

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