EnhancingCollegeandCareerReadinessandSuccess:
TheRoleofAcademicBehaviors
Oneofthebiggestchallengesinraisingstudentachievementandreducing
dropoutisearlyidentificationofthosestudentswhowouldbenefitmost
fromintervention.Whileassessmentsofacademicachievementprovide
earlyindicationofrisk,academicbehaviorsarealsoimportantfor
persistenceandsuccess(ACT,2007a,2008a;Allen,Robbins,&Sawyer,
2010).
ThisInformationBriefdescribeshowcarefulattentiontostudents’’
developmentofstrongacademicbehaviorscanenhancestudentsuccess.
Specifically,itexaminesthe:
1. importanceofacademicbehaviorsforcollegeandcareerreadiness
andsuccess,asshowninACTresearch;
2. implicationsofthisresearchforKͲ12educators;and
3. waysthatteachers,schools,districts,andstatescanusethis
informationtoenhancestudents’’readiness.
Whatinfluencesstudentsuccessinmiddleschooland
highschool?
Standardizedachievementtestshelpidentifystudentswhoareacademically
atriskoroffͲtrackforsuccess.Prioracademicachievementandcognitive
abilitysurpassallotherfactorsintheirinfluenceonstudentperformance
andpersistence.
However,otherfactorsinfluenceacademicsuccessinschool.Forexample,
studentmotivation——theinterestanddrivetogetschoolworkdone——isone
oftheissuesteachersstrugglewithmost.Ifstudentsaretobesuccessfulin
meetingacoresetofacademicstandards,theyfirstneedtobesufficiently
motivatedandpersistenttodothework.Theacademicbehaviorsthatare
importantforstudentsuccesscanbegroupedintothreebroadareas
(Robbinsetal.,2004):
z Motivationincludespersonalcharacteristicsthathelpstudentssucceed
academicallybyfocusingandmaintainingenergiesongoalͲdirected
activities.
z SocialEngagementincludesinterpersonalfactorsthatinfluence
students’’successfulintegrationintotheirenvironment.
z SelfͲRegulationincludesthethinkingprocessesandemotional
responsesofstudentsthatgovernhowwelltheymonitor,regulate,and
controltheirbehaviorrelatedtoschoolandlearning.
Ͳ1Ͳ
ACT’’sfamilyofENGAGE™™assessmentsprovidesmeasuresoftheacademicbehaviorsthat
areassociatedwithacademicsuccess(ACT,2008b,2009,2010a).Theacademicbehaviors
assessedbyENGAGEincludeallthreeimportantareaslistedabove.
ACThastestedthousandsofstudentsusingENGAGEGrades6Ͳ9andtrackedthese
students’’progressastheymovethroughmiddleschoolandintohighschool.Resultsshow
thatENGAGEadministeredduringmiddleschoolisavalidpredictorofhighschoolgrades.
Inaddition,evenaftertakingintoaccountpreviousgradesandacademicreadiness(e.g.,
EXPLORE®scores),ENGAGEprovidesadditionalinformationthathelpsmoreaccurately
identifystudentswhoareatriskofpoorgradesandacademicfailure(Casillasetal.,2011).
Figure1showsthatameasureofmiddleschoolacademicachievement(EXPLORE)and
middleschoolgradesincombinationareclearlythebestpredictorsofearlyhighschool
GPA.Academicbehaviorsarealsosubstantialpredictors.
Figure1.RelativeStrengthofPredictorsofEarlyHighSchoolGPA.
Student
Demographics
9%
Academic
Behaviors
31%
School
Factors
3%
EXPLORE
Composite
Score
26%
MiddleSchool
Grades
31%
Toillustratewhatmeasuringacademicbehaviorsmeansforindividualstudents,Table1
highlightstheimportanceofbothacademicreadinessandacademicbehaviorsforlater
achievement.
Thistableshowshowstudentrisk(i.e.,lowscoresonacademicbehaviorandacademic
readiness)canaffectstudentoutcomes.ForexampleStudentA,whoscoredlowonboth
ENGAGE’’sAcademicSuccessIndexandEXPLORE,subsequentlyfailed6classesandhasan
extremelylowGPA.StudentBhadthesamelowEXPLOREscorebutscoredhighonthe
ENGAGEAcademicSuccessIndex.StudentBdidnotfailanyclassesandhasaGPAof
almost3.0.Incontrast,StudentCscoredhighonEXPLORE.Evenso,thisstudentscoredlow
onENGAGEandendedupwithpooracademicoutcomes(afailedclassandaGPAofonly
1.56).ThestudentwithbothahighEXPLOREscoreandahighENGAGEscore(StudentD)
hadthebestacademicoutcomeswithnofailedclassesandahighGPA.
Ͳ2Ͳ
Table1.FourExampleStudents’’AcademicBehaviorandAcademicReadinessScoresand
LaterAcademicOutcomes.
EXPLORE
Low
(Composite=9)
High
(Composite=21)
SuccessIndex=3
ENGAGE
Grades6Ͳ9
Academic
SuccessIndex
(percentilerank)
Low
High
Student
A
Student
B
HighschoolGPA=0.41
SuccessIndex=5
Student
C
HighschoolGPA=1.56
Failedhighschool
classes=6
Failedhighschool
classes=1
SuccessIndex=95
SuccessIndex=99
HighschoolGPA=2.99
Failedhighschool
classes=0
Student
D
HighschoolGPA=4.16
Failedhighschool
classes=0
Whatinfluencessuccessincollegeandwork?
Thefactorsthatareimportantforcollegeandworksuccessgobeyondcognitiveabilityand
academicreadiness.Forexample,thelowretentionanddegreeattainmentrateswe
observeatU.S.postsecondaryinstitutionsaffirmtheimportanceofpersistenceand
commitment(Carey,2004).Likewise,generalworkattitudesandconduct,suchasdiligence
onthejob,persistencetotaskcompletion,cooperation,teamwork,andrulecompliance,
arefrequentlynotedascriticalbehaviorsexpectedbyemployers(CasnerͲLotto&
Barrington,2006),andimportantforoveralljobeffectiveness(Hanson&Borman,2006).
Theacademicbehaviorsthatareimportantforsuccessinmiddleschoolandhighschool
overlapwiththosethatareimportantforsuccessincollegeandinwork(ACT,2007a).
Specifically:
z Thesamebehaviorareas(i.e.,motivation,socialengagement,andselfͲregulation)are
important.
z Thewaythesebehaviorsmanifestthemselvesvariesbyage.Conductandhomework
complianceareimportantforunderstandingacademicperformanceandmasteryas
studentstransitiontohighschool,whereasmotivationalfactors,suchasacademic
disciplineandcommitmenttocollege,areimportantforpredictingcollegesuccess.
z Therelativeimportanceofthesebehaviorschangesbasedondevelopmentalstage
andsetting.Forexample,thingslikeorderlyconductandmanagingfeelingsarelikely
tobemoreimportantpredictorsofsuccessinmiddleschoolthanintheworkforce,
becausethereismorevariabilityacrossstudents.Behaviorsrelatedtosocial
engagement,suchasworkingwithothersandinterpersonalskills,tendtobecome
moreimportantasstudentsmovethroughpostsecondaryeducationandintothe
workforce.
Ͳ3Ͳ
Table2providesafewexamplesofhowimportantacademicbehaviorsfromeachofthe
threebroadareasdevelopovertime.
Table2.ExamplesofAcademicBehaviorsatDifferentDevelopmentalStages.
MiddleSchool
HighSchool/College
Work
Š Studieshard
Š Worksproductively
Motivation
Writesdown
Organizesdeskand
assignmentsanddue
Š dates Š EffectivelymultiͲtasks
schoolsupplies
Cooperateswith
Socializesandengages
Collaborateswith
Š
Š
others
withpeers
coworkers
Social
Takespartinschool
Engagement Workswellongroup
Isagoodcorporate
organizationsand
Š
projects Š
citizen
events
Controlstemper Š Copeswhenbusy
Š Managesstress
SelfͲ
Complieswith
Regulation
Followsacademic
Obeysclassroomrules Š
organizationalrulesand
honorcode Š
policies
Completeshomework
ACTdevelopedENGAGECollege(formerlyknownastheStudentReadinessInventory[SRI])
tomeasuretheacademicbehaviorsrelatedtocollegepersistenceandsuccess.Itis
designedtohelppostsecondaryinstitutionsidentifyandintervenewithstudentswhoare
atriskofpooracademicperformanceordropout(ACT,2008b).ACTtestedover14,000
studentsat48postsecondaryinstitutionsusingENGAGECollegeandtrackedthese
studentsthroughtheircollegecareers.ResultsshowthatENGAGEisavalidpredictorof
academicperformanceandpersistence.Itprovidesadditionalinformationthatmore
accuratelyidentifiesstudentswhoareatriskofpoorgradesanddropout,beyond
measuresofacademicachievementalone(Robbins,Allen,Casillas,Peterson,&Le,2006;
Allen,Robbins,Casillas,&Oh,2008).Figure3showshowthepsychosocialfactors
measuredbyENGAGEhelpexplainacademicperformanceincollege(Robbinsetal.,2006).
Notethatthesefindingsaresimilartothefindingsformiddleschool.
Ͳ4Ͳ
Figure3.RelativeStrengthofPredictorsofCollegeGPA.
Student
Demographics
12%
Institutional
Factors
7%
Academic
Behaviors
17%
ACT
Composite
Score
30%
HighSchool
Grades
34%
Thislineofresearchunderscorestheimportanceofbuildingeffectiveacademicbehaviors
inmiddleschoolandhighschoolinordertopreparestudentsforpostsecondaryeducation
andcareers.Thesamefactorsthatareimportantforpersistenceandsuccessinhighschool
continuetobeimportantforsuccessduringcollegeandintheworkforce.
Whatdoyouthinkofwhenyouthinkofapersonwhoissuccessfulatwork?
Melissaisreliableandefficientwithtasks.SheisevenͲtemperedandcanhandle
difficult,evenstressfulsituations.Sheisanimportantandvaluedpartofthe
workplaceandisfocusedonthegoalsoftheteam.Thoughthesecharacteristics
describeworkplacesuccess,theybegintodevelopatamuchyoungerage.
Whenshewasin6thgrade,thissuccessfulworkerdidherhomework,evenwhenshe
didn’’tliketheassignmentorwouldhaveratherbeenplayingwithfriends.She
learnedtobewellͲbehavedandpolite,andtofollowclassroomrules.Shewas
friendlywithherclassmatesandcooperativewithteachersandadults.
Whenshewasinhighschoolandcollege,shelearnedtostudydiligently,andbecame
investedinhercoursework.Shewasabletomanageherstress,evenduringfinals
week,whenduedateswerenumerousandlooming.Shebecameinvolvedinher
academiccommunity,participatingincampusactivitiesandclassdiscussions,andwas
opentoothers’’ideas.Now,asanadult,shehasgrownintoanidealworker,
productive,composedandsuccessfulwithcolleaguesandsupervisors.
Ͳ5Ͳ
ACT’’sacademicbehaviorassessmentsprovideinformationfor
alloflife’’stransitions
Byprovidingmeasuresthatcanbeusedtoassessriskatimportantpointsintimein
students’’academictrajectories,ACTcanhelpeducatorsmakebetterdecisionsthat
enhancestudentsuccess.Figure4showskeypointsintimeandtherelevantENGAGE
assessments.
Figure4.AcademicBehaviorAssessmentwithENGAGEatKeyPointsacrossGrades6––16
Howcanwetrackstudentprogress?
AcademicReadiness
ScoresonACT’’sacademicachievementassessmentsfromtheCollegeandCareer
ReadinessSystem(EXPLORE,PLAN®,andtheACT®test)arereportedonthesamescale,
allowingeducatorstoassessstudents’’progresstowardcollegereadinessduringmiddle
schoolandhighschoolinameaningfulway.Planningtotakearigorouscorehighschool
curriculumthatisalignedwithcareergoalsisanotherimportantbehaviorthatcanbe
monitoredwithsaidassessments.Numerousstudieshighlighttheprogressiontocollege
successwhenstudentstakearigorouscorecurriculuminhighschool(cf.ACT,2006).
AcademicBehavior
Inordertoassessstudents’’progressovertimerelatedtoacademicbehavior,ACThas
developedasetofscalescalledENGAGETeacherEditionthatprovidesassessmentsof
specificbehaviorsthatarecriticaltoacademicsuccess(ACT,2010b).Thesescalesare
designedtoassessandmonitorstudents’’developmentinthesameacademicbehavior
areasaddressedbythestudentͲreportedversionsofENGAGE.
Thebehaviorsmeasuredbythesescalesaretangible,observable,andconnectedto
academicperformanceandotherstudentsuccessoutcomes.Byassessingstudents
multipletimesperyear,educatorscantrackstudentprogressovertime.Whenusedin
combinationwithENGAGE,thesescalesalloweducatorsto:
z identifystudentswhoareatriskearly
z diagnosestudents’’strengthsandneeds
z identifyappropriatecurriculumactivitiesandbehavioralinterventions
z assesstheeffectivenessofactivitiesandinterventions,and
z trackstudents’’progressindevelopingeffectiveacademicbehaviors
Ͳ6Ͳ
Whatarethebenefitsofassessingriskacrossmultipleareas?
Itiscriticaltohavemultipleassessmentsofstudentriskacrossdifferentareas.Students’’
academicrisk(e.g.,achievementtestscoreslikeEXPLORE)hasonlyamoderate
relationshipwiththeirpsychosocialrisk(asassessedbyENGAGEandENGAGETeacher
Edition).Eachinfluencesstudentsuccess,andbyusingtheseassessmentsincombination,
educatorswillbebetterequippedtoidentifystudentsinneedofintervention.
LookatthefirstthreecolumnsinFigure5below.Theheightofthesecolumnsshowsthe
9thͲgradeGPAsforstudentswhoscoredinthebottom25%ofEXPLOREscores.Thered
columnshowsstudentswithlowENGAGEGrades6Ͳ9scoresandtheblackcolumnshows
studentswithhighENGAGEscores.NotethatevenwithinthislowEXPLOREgroup,
studentswithhighENGAGEscoresachievedhigherhighschoolGPAs.Nowfocusonlyon
theblackcolumns.ThesethreeblackcolumnsshowstudentswithhighENGAGEscores——
fromlefttoright,youseethosewithlow,moderate,andhighEXPLOREscores.Evenwithin
thisgroupofstudentswithhighENGAGEscores,thosewithhigherEXPLOREscores
achievedsubstantiallyhigherGPAs(ACT,2009a).Thesamepatternisseenwithinthethree
redcolumnsandthethreegraycolumns.ThisgraphsshowsthatbothENGAGEand
EXPLOREareimportantpredictorsofGPAandthatstudentswhohavehighENGAGEand
highEXPLOREscoresarethemostlikelytosucceed.
Figure5.Average9thͲgradeGPAbyEXPLOREandENGAGEGrades6Ͳ9ScoreGroups.
4.0
3.66
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.64
2.53
2.0
1.5
3.17
3.10
2.08
2.56
2.05
1.71
1.0
0.5
0.0
Bottom 25%
Middle 50%
Top 25%
EXPLORE Composite Scores
Low ENGAGE Scores
Moderate ENGAGE Scores
Ͳ7Ͳ
High ENGAGE Scores
Wheneducatorsaddressbothacademicreadinessandacademicbehaviors,theirstudents
standabetterchanceofdevelopingtheskillsandacquiringtheknowledgeneededtobe
collegeandcareerready(Robbinsetal.,2009).
Usingassessmentsaspartofariskreductionsystem
Earlyassessmentofriskfactorsallowseducatorstoidentifyandintervenewiththose
studentswhomayneedextrasupporttopersistandsucceedinschool.Studentswhohave
highabsenteeismrates,havefailedoneormorecorecourses,ordonothavesufficient
creditstobeontrackforgraduationhaveasignificantlyhigherriskofdroppingoutbefore
highschoolgraduation.Balfanzandhiscolleagues(e.g.,Balfanz,Herzog,&MacIver,2007)
haveshownthatstudentswhoareatriskcanbeidentifiedasearlyasthesixthgrade.By
monitoringtheseriskindicators,educatorsareabletointervenewithstudentswhoareat
riskbeforeitistoolate.
ACT’’sassessmentsfocusdirectlyontheacademicbehaviorsthatarerelatedtostudent
success,andtheseassessmentscanbeusedinadditiontothefactorslistedaboveaspart
ofanearlywarningsystemtoprovideanevenmorepowerfulsetoftoolsforassessing
studentrisk,andidentifyingappropriateinterventionsandsupport.
Figure6showshowresultsfromENGAGEandENGAGETeacherEdition,alongwith
measuresofachievement(e.g.,EXPLORE)andothermeasures(e.g.,absenteeism,course
failures),canbebroughttogetherintoadashboardthatprovideseducatorswithan
atͲaͲglanceoverviewofeachstudent’’slevelofrisk.Bysettingcriteriaforidentifyingriskon
eachoftheelementsofthisdashboard,educatorscanquicklyscanthroughthe
informationandidentifythosestudentswhoareatrisk.Figure6showshowonestudent’’s
scoresmightlookontheseindicators.Duetohavingfailedonecourseandhavingalow
ENGAGEAcademicSuccessIndex,thisstudenthasbeenidentifiedasatriskandtheflagged
cellsarehighlightedinyellow.
Figure6.SampleDashboardofStudentRiskIndicators.
AcademicAchievementInformation
EXPLORE
Scores
(Composite)
EXPLORE
Composite
=14
AcademicBehaviorInformation
Risk
Grades
Number
ofFailed
Courses
ENGAGE
Academic
Success
Index
ENGAGE
Teacher
EditionScales
(8scores)
Absences
Numberof
Suspensions
Hasbeen
heldback?
Numberof
flags
GPA=2.1
1
25
Allscores
above4
3
0
No
2
ENGAGEandENGAGETeacherEditionalsoprovidemoretargetedinformationaboutthe
reasonsstudentsareatrisk,thatis,theirstrengthsandneeds.Byreviewingthesescores,
educatorscanbettertargetinterventionsandprovidetheparticularkindsofsupport
studentsneedmost.Thisallowseducatorstointervenebasedonstudents’’personalities,
attitudes,perceptions,andbehaviors,andprovideinterventionsdesignedtoincrease
Ͳ8Ͳ
positivebehaviorsanddecreaserisk.Table3illustrateshowthethreebroadacademic
behaviorareasmeasuredbyENGAGEandENGAGETeacherEditioncanbecrossͲwalked
withavailableinterventionstohelptailorpersonalizedsupportsthataremoreeffectivefor
addressingstudents’’needs.
Table3.ExampleCrosswalkbetweenAreasofNeedandInterventions.
Academic
GoalSetting
Behavior
&Time
AreaofNeed Management
Motivation
Social
Engagement
SelfͲ
Regulation
X
ExamplesofInterventions
Mentoring
CrossͲAge
Tutoring
Community
Service
X
X
X
X
X
GroupWork&
Communication
Skills
SelfͲ
Confidence
Workshop
X
X
X
X
Howto
Follow
Rules
X
ACThasalsobuiltabehavioralskillstoolshopforENGAGECollegethatprovidesadditional
informationandactivitieslinkedtospecificENGAGEscales.Theseinstructionalmaterials
areavailabletoENGAGEusersonlineandcanbeaccessedthroughstudentreports.
StudentprogresscanthenbetrackedovertimeusingENGAGETeacherEdition,helping
educatorsmonitorprogressanddeterminenextsteps.Byaggregatingthebehavioral
ratingsacrossstudents(e.g.,acrossthoseparticipatinginaninterventionoracrossan
entireschool)educatorscanassesstheeffectivenessofinterventions,aswellastheirown
progressinimprovingstudents’’academicbehaviors.Aggregatedbehavioralratingscanbe
viewedasaleadingindicatorofstudentprogressandcanbeexpectedtopredictfuture
studentpersistenceandacademicsuccess.
Monitoringacademicbehaviorreadinessattheschool,district,
andstatelevels
Aggregatedmeasuresofacademicbehaviorandofrisk(fromENGAGE,ENGAGETeacher
Edition,andotherindicators)canprovideschoolͲ,districtͲ,andstateͲlevelsummariesthat
areusefulforplanningpurposes.Forexample,schoolwideinterventionscanbetailoredto
studentneeds,andresourcescanbeallocatedtothosegroupsofstudentsmostinneed.
Figure7showsthedistributionofENGAGEAcademicSuccessIndexscoresforseveral
schoolsinadistrict,aswellasthedistricttotals.Theredsectionsshowtheproportionsof
studentsscoringatthe25thpercentileorbelow.Theblacksectionsshowtheproportions
ofstudentsscoringatthe76thpercentileorabove.BasedonFigure7,School3hasa
somewhatlargerpercentageofstudentsatrisk.
Ͳ9Ͳ
Figure7.ENGAGEAcademicSuccessIndexDistrictͲlevelAggregateReport.
District
32
School1
30
School2
10
13
12
9
16
54
22
0
56
32
38
School4
14
41
32
School3
53
20
30
40
50
Low(ч25%ile)
60
70
Medium(26Ͳ75%ile)
80
90
100
High(ш76th%ile)
Aggregatesummariesovertimeallowschools,districts,andstatestomonitortheir
progressinsupportinganddevelopingtheirstudents’’academicbehaviorsandreducing
risk.Longitudinalmonitoringofacademicbehaviormeasuresalsocanbeviewedas
providingaleadingindicatorofsuccess.Thatis,byimprovingstudentacademicbehavior
andreducingrisk,educatorsareprovidingthefoundationforfutureimprovementsin
academicachievement.Figure8providesanexampleofhowaggregatesummariesof
ENGAGETeacherEditionscorescanbeusedtotracktheaverageacademicbehavior
developmentandprogressforahypotheticalcohortofstudentsstartingin6thgrade.For
comparisonpurposes,thisfigurealsoincludesstudentsbeingratedatthe10thand90th
percentiles.Clearly,thosestudentswhosebehaviorfallsaroundthe10thpercentilewould
bemorelikelytobeatriskandwouldrequiremoreintensiveinterventionsinorderto
developtheacademicbehaviorsneededforcollegeandcareerreadinessby12thgrade.
Ͳ10Ͳ
Figure8.ExampleofAverageENGAGETeacherEditionScoresforaCohortofStudents
AcrossTime.
8
7.8
7
AverageScores
6
6.4
6.5
6.8
7.0
7.2
7.4
5.9
5
4
4.5
4.6
4.9
5.1
5.3
5.5
4.0
3
2
2.6
2.7
6
7
3.0
3.2
3.4
3.6
Average
10thpercentile
90thpercentile
1
8
9
10
11
12
Grade
Recommendations
Carefulattentiontostudents’’developmentofacademicbehaviorsinmiddleschooland
highschoolcansubstantiallyimprovetheirabilitytoachievecollegeandcareerreadiness
andenhancetheirsuccessincollegeandbeyond.Thefollowingrecommendationswillhelp
educatorsprovidestudentswiththesupporttheyneed.
z Assessstudentriskacrossmultipleareas,includingacademicreadinessand
academicbehavior.ACTresearchhasdemonstratedthatstudents’’overallriskfor
failureincreasesiftheyareatriskintermsofeitheracademicreadinessoracademic
behavior.Bycombininginformationfrombothareas,educatorswillobtainamore
accurateassessmentofstudentriskandamorecompleteprofileofstudents’’
strengthsandneeds.Inaddition,studentswhodonotappeartobeatriskbasedon
academicreadinessalonemaystillfailiftheyhavenotdevelopedthebehavioralskills
neededtomaintainfocus,getalongwithothers,andmonitorandmanagetheir
behavior.Byusingacombinationofacademicreadinessandacademicbehavior
information,educatorswillmoreaccuratelyidentifythosestudentswhoneed
additionalsupportearlywhilethereistimetointervene.
z Providetargetedinterventionsandsupportbasedonassessmentresults.ACThas
alsoconductedresearchdemonstratingthatwhenstudentswhoareatriskare(a)
identifiedonatimelybasis,(b)providedinterventionsdesignedtoaddresstheir
needs,and(c)makeevenmildͲtoͲmoderateuseoftheprescribedinterventions,they
derivesignificantbenefitsintermsofincreasedGPAandpersistencerates(Robbinset
al.,2009).Educatorscanavoid““oneͲsizeͲfitsͲall””solutionsbyfocusingonthose
Ͳ11Ͳ
z
z
studentswhoaremostatriskandbypersonalizinginterventionsbasedonstudents’’
profilesofstrengthsandneeds.
Monitorstudents’’academicbehaviorsusingENGAGETeacherEditionmultipletimes
eachyear,aswellasotherindicatorssuchasabsenteeism,missedhomework
assignments,anddisciplinaryactions.Academicfailureanddropoutdonothappen
overnight.Thereareavarietyofindicatorsthatcanserveaswarningsignsalongthe
way.ENGAGETeacherEdition,incombinationwithotherschoolrecords(e.g.,
attendance,disciplinaryactions),canservetwoimportantroles.First,itprovidesthe
foundationforaneffectiveearlywarningsystemtoidentifystudentswhoareatrisk.
Second,italsoallowseducatorstomonitoranddocumentstudentdevelopmentand
growth.
Useaggregatedacademicbehaviorassessmentresultsasleadingindicatorsinefforts
tomonitorprogresstowardcollegeandcareerreadiness.ENGAGETeacherEdition
canbeviewedasaleadingindicatorofstudentsuccess.Byregularlyreviewingresults
aggregatedattheclassroom,school,district,andstatelevels,educatorscanidentify
trends,assesstheeffectivenessofinterventions,monitorprogressovertime,and
documentimprovements.Asaleadingindicator,aggregateacademicbehavior
assessmentresultshelpeducatorsknowthattheirprogramsareonthepathtosuccess
longbeforeimprovementsinlaggingindicators,suchasacademicreadinessor
graduationrates,canbedocumented.
Itiscriticalthatstudentsdevelopeffectiveacademicbehaviorsduringmiddleschooland
highschool.Thiswillhelpthemcompletehighschoolacademicallypreparedforcollege
andcareers,anditwillalsoprovidethepsychosocialfoundationneededforlatersuccessin
college,atwork,andintheirpersonallives.
ForfurtherinformationaboutENGAGEassessments,goto:
www.act.org/engage/index.html
Ͳ12Ͳ
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