Austin-area high schools set college readiness rate record

Austin-area school districts graduated the most college-ready seniors of any cohort in the past five years, preliminary data for the class of 2019 show.

The data released this week by the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce found that graduates at the school districts hit an average college readiness of 67% — four percentage points higher than last year and 29 points higher than the state average, which was last reported in 2017.

The data is part of a yearslong partnership between the chamber and the school districts — include Austin, Hutto, Leander, Pflugerville and Round Rock — to track students’ college readiness and use the information to get more kids into higher education.

The partnership is dubbed DTC70, a nod to its goal to send directly to college 70% of high school students to match the national average. In addition to tracking students’ progress, the partnership works to provide schools with the resources to prepare kids for college.

“The business community is so pleased that our partner school districts once again significantly improved college readiness rates for high school graduates,” said Nikki Graham, the chamber's 2019 education chair. “These graduates will be better prepared to enter postsecondary instruction, significantly improving their chances to graduate on time.”

The college readiness rates are calculated by students meeting or exceeding benchmarks established by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating board on the ACT, SAT, or Texas Success Initiative, the state's college entrance exam. During the 2018-19 school year, the Austin, Leander, Pflugerville and Round Rock districts provided at least one free administration of the tests for their students.

Four of the districts showed improvement in readiness rates from 2018 to 2019. Round Rock was the only district that declined, albeit slightly — from 72% to 71% — but still maintains the highest rate overall.

Cathy Malerba, Round Rock's executive director of assessment and evaluation, dismissed the one percentage point drop, emphasizing the data is still preliminary. Once the final numbers are verified in October, Malerba said, she expects the figures will be higher.

“My thinking is we probably did just as well if not better,” she said.

Round Rock Superintendent Steve Flores attributed the district’s college readiness rate to the incorporation of SAT and ACT strategies into math classes and other curriculum, the free administration of entrance exams and the opportunities to earn credits and certifications through technical education classes.

"In Round Rock ISD, we are proud to lead the way for our region in college ready rates,” Flores said. “We are broadening our students’ horizons and helping them build the bridge to their future.”

The DTC70 program works with researchers at the Ray Marshall Center at the University of Texas to study students’ performance in high school and beyond. Greg Cumpton, the center's associate director, said college readiness in a general sense can include a host of factors, such as social and emotional capacity, financial standing and academic preparedness.

But Texas lawmakers and colleges view “readiness” in a much stricter sense: “Something along the lines of ‘Are you academically prepared to meet specific benchmarks in order to avoid having to take developmental education courses?’” Cumpton said.

At UT, for example, students who don’t meet entrance exam standards must take remedial classes to bring them up to college-level learning speed. Because students who take developmental courses in college are more likely to drop out, Cumpton said, it’s generally beneficial that all high school students meet this state definition of “college ready.”

Others disagree.

Hillary Procknow, UT's director of the Texas Success Initiative program, which provides support to students who are accepted into the university but are not considered ready for college-level work in all courses, said college readiness correlates strongly with a student’s financial situation. Those who don’t have access to supplemental test prep or enrichment activities, such as music lessons, travel, or sports, tend to be put in developmental classes. While those classes help students meet academic standards, they don’t change the students’ financial struggles, which make them more likely to drop out than just those with academic challenges, she said.

Procknow said the emphasis for college readiness goes beyond admissions tests. She pointed to a dip in college readiness scores in 2015, when the state changed its test and methodology for measuring college readiness. Scores dropped because students and instructors were unfamiliar with the new test, Procknow said. Once they familiarized themselves, scores began to improve. For Procknow, that simply means students are getting better at studying for a particular test, not necessarily learning the critical thinking skills that will make them successful after high school.

“Every student should have rich educational opportunities that are not based on test prep,” she said. “These are the things that make students college ready, not test prep. That is where we should really be investing this money.”

Celina Estrada Thomas, Hutto's school superintendent, said she’s proud of her district’s 11-point jump in its college readiness rate, but said test scores are not a total reflection of what it takes to go on to college.

“It’s work ethic and interest level of the student and the motive to actually pursue a secondary degree," Estrada Thomas said.

The increase in college readiness rates is a positive indicator for students, and it could mean more funding for the schools, thanks to a bill passed in the Legislature this year. House Bill 3, a sweeping school finance bill, will include bonuses for school districts’ college, career and military readiness outcomes.

The Texas Education Agency has yet to complete the rule-making process for the bill, but school districts are expected to be eligible for $3,000 to $5,000 bonuses for graduates who leave high school college-ready and directly enroll in higher education.

Not only will the bill provide financial incentives to schools who raise college readiness rates, but, starting in 2020, it also will provide funding so schools across Texas can offer free entrance exam testing, much as Austin-area districts already do.