High School‐to‐College Success Report Fact Sheet What? The High School‐to‐College Success report, mandated by state law, will report the core grade point average of Illinois college freshmen in math, science, reading and English. When? The first report will be issued in June of this year. The preliminary release to schools is expected the first week of June, with the public release expected about three weeks later. Who? The report will cover only college freshmen from Illinois high schools attending Illinois public universities or community colleges beginning in 2006 and running through 2008. It will not include students attending colleges or universities outside of Illinois or students attending private or proprietary higher education institutions. Also, if fewer than 10 students from a particular Illinois high school are attending an Illinois college or university, they will not be included in the aggregate numbers being reported. Where? The information will be released to the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE), the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB), the 48 Illinois community colleges, the 11 Illinois public, four‐year universities and to the public. The Illinois Interactive Report Card will include individual high school reports. Why? The report is intended to provide data on the academic performance of students in their first year of higher education. It also will, in the aggregate, show how students at different levels of ACT score performed. The hope is that the information will lead to discussion and data‐driven strategy related to designing high school curriculum to best prepare students for higher education.
Suggested Communications Strategy Regarding the Report 1. Become familiar with the report as it relates to your school district. The preliminary release to schools is expected during the first week of June. The public release is expected about three weeks later. The IASA web site (www.iasaedu.org) includes a link to a Frequently Asked Questions Power Point document prepared by ACT that can be accessed by clicking here. Also, the ISBE, IBHE and ICCB are holding a seminar from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, June 24 at the Crowne Plaza in Springfield. The seminar will include an overview of the report, how to interpret and utilize the data, developing an action plan to help ensure student success and answering tough questions related to the report. The seminar is specifically designed for superintendents, principals, regional superintendents, guidance counselors, CTE regional staff and curriculum directors as well as leaders from higher education. 2. Review your curriculum with the purpose of developing responses to anticipated possible questions from the public or media.
3. Collect your own data to be able to show how many of your 2006‐2008 graduates went on to attend institutions of higher education vs. the numbers shown in the report. These numbers should include students attending out‐of‐state schools, private schools or schools where you have fewer than 10 of your graduates attending. 4. Develop talking points to respond to the media or public. Suggested talking points include: We intend to study the report to see if there is any data that might lead to discussion about the high school curriculum. We also intend to discuss the report with our counterparts in higher education to make certain we are providing the best possible curriculum to help our students succeed in college. Illinois is one of only six states (CO, KY, MI, TN and WY) that require all high school juniors to take the ACT test, which is one of the best indicators for college success. We already have been using those results in designing our curriculum. It is important to note that these results are only a slice of a bigger picture. Many students (your specific number would be better if you are able to collect that additional data) are not included because they are attending private colleges or universities, out‐ of‐state schools or schools where we have fewer than 10 students attending. We hope future reports will be able to include more of the Illinois high school graduates attending colleges and universities in order to give a more accurate picture.