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How Prepared are Students for College-Level Reading? Applying a Lexile-Based Approach

Region:

Southwest

Description:

Many students graduate from high school unprepared for the rigorous reading required in entry-level college and career work. This 2006-2011 REL Southwest at Edvance Research Technical Brief, How prepared are subgroups of Texas students for college-level reading? Applying a Lexile®-based approach, builds on a recent report (Wilkins et al. 2010) that used the Lexile measure to estimate the proportion of Texas grade 11 public school students in 2009 ready for entry-level college reading in English. The previous study examined the overall grade 11 Texas student population; this brief uses the same methodology but disaggregates the data by student subgroup.

Within specific sets of subgroup comparisons, results for very well prepared (able to read 95–100 percent of entry-level college textbooks) showed:

  • Female students (55 percent) were more prepared than male students (46 percent).
  • Asian (69 percent), White (64 percent), and American Indian (56 percent) students were more prepared than Hispanic (40 percent) and Black (37 percent) students.
  • Economically disadvantaged students (37 percent) were less prepared than non–economically disadvantaged students (62 percent).
  • At-risk students (28 percent) were less prepared than those who were not at-risk (74 percent)
  • Limited English proficient (LEP) students (5 percent) were less prepared than those who were not LEP (54 percent).
  • English as a second language (ESL) students (4 percent) were less prepared than those who were not ESL (53 percent).
  • Students receiving gifted and talented services (88 percent) were more prepared than students not receiving such services (47 percent).
  • Students taking one or more career and technical education course 9 percent) were slightly less prepared than those not taking such a course (56 percent).
  • Students receiving special education services (9 percent) were less prepared than those who were not receiving such services (54 percent).
Publication Type:

Issues & Answers

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Publication Date:
December 2010
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