Abstract
High school GPAs (HSGPAs) are often perceived to represent inconsistent levels of readiness for college across high schools, whereas test scores (e.g., ACT scores) are seen as comparable. This study tests those assumptions, examining variation across high schools of both HSGPAs and ACT scores as measures of academic readiness for college. We found students with the same HSGPA or the same ACT score graduate at very different rates based on which high school they attended. Yet, the relationship of HSGPAs with college graduation is strong and consistent and larger than school effects. In contrast, the relationship of ACT scores with college graduation is weak and smaller than high school effects, and the slope of the relationship varies by high school.
Highlights
High school course grades are critical indicators of academic performance for students, educators, and institutions of higher education
We directly addressed questions about the variability in high school grade point averages (HSGPAs) across high schools as predictors of college readiness, examining whether students with the same HSGPAs are systematically more likely to graduate college if they came from particular high schools and whether the slope of the relationship differs by high school
HSGPA has a strong relationship with college graduation in both the unconditional model and the model that controls for students’ backgrounds and college institutional variables, the relationship is smaller once the control variables are introduced
Summary
High school course grades are critical indicators of academic performance for students, educators, and institutions of higher education. Proponents assert that standardized admissions tests provide a neutral yardstick to assess the performance and promise of students from secondary schools whose course offerings differ widely in variety and rigor This is a salient point in an era of widespread grade inflation. The introduction of a new report by the Fordham Foundation expressed concern that teachers’ grades do not reflect state standards and wondered how to help parents put more faith in test scores as measures of their students’ readiness instead of relying so much on grades (Northern & Petrilli, 2018) These documents reflect current beliefs, which are echoed in the emphasis placed on test scores in policy and in practice recommendations, described previously, and often inferred without evidence in research studies
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