In the latest ACT National Curriculum Survey, 89 percent of high school teachers believe their students are prepared for college-level work. However, only 26 percent of college professors believe their students are prepared. The two professions are at odds on student preparedness:
Credit: ACT National Curriculum Survey
This stark contrast is not new, as told by ACT's graph. In the three year period, instructors who taught college developmental (or remedial) classes had the same sentiments as high school teachers. Remedial instructors were at 87 percent in 2009 and 89 percent in 2012 saying their students were prepared for college level coursework.
Alignment or articulation for the "K-13" education spectrum is the local effort to make sure coursework is consistent throughout grade levels, and is built upon with each advancement in grade level. ACT showed that most college developmental instructors did not believe the efforts were effective:
Credit: ACT National Curriculum Survey
The low percentage (16 percent) of positive response can be attributed to the fact that college developmental instructors are the ones who teach students that are behind on certain subjects.
ACT was formerly known as American College Testing, but dropped the long-form in 1996. ACT is private non-profit test developer for several levels of education.
(The entire 2013 ACT National Curriculum Survey can be downloaded here.)
