Supporting College and Career Readiness Through Social Psychological Interventions

Abstract

This session highlights five chapters from a recently published book in the NCME Book Series, Preparing Students for College and Careers: Theory, Measurement, and Educational Practice. The book synthesizes the current state of college- and career-readiness research and best practice in measurement and highlights how scientific rigor from psychometrics, measurement, and educational research can come together to support college and career readiness for all students. In this session, the first paper argues for a shift – from defining and measuring college readiness as a set of discrete knowledge and skills to a set of enduring practices and ways of thinking. The second paper details an empirical process for setting college- and career-readiness performance standards and for linking those standards down through lower grade levels. The third paper tackles the issue of fairness in college- and career-readiness assessments. The fourth paper describes social psychological interventions that are effective at improving college- and career-readiness. The fifth illustrates how changes in formative classroom assessment can enable students to take more control of their learning outcomes and better prepare for college and careers.