Better measures lead to better evidence for decision-making in education.

The College Readiness Assessment (CRA) is a learning progression-based measure of the trajectory of students’ abilities to connect representations of mathematical functions in grades 6-12. As a formative assessment building on cognitive research in mathematics learning, the CRA aims to help students transition smoothly from middle school to college-level math coursework.

The College Survival and Success Scale (CSSC) measures noncognitive college readiness. First designed in 2006 and in the 2nd edition since 2011, the subscales that CSSC assesses include:

• Commitment to education.
• Self- and resource-management skills.
• Interpersonal and social skills.
• Academic success skills.
• Career planning skills.

Items are Likert-type, with response options ranging from “a lot like me” to “not like me.”

Year developed: 2006 (2nd edition since 2011).

The Readiness and Expectations Questionnaire (REQ) is a researcher-designed instrument for measuring first-year postsecondary students’ expectations and preparedness for studying in college (Jansen et al., 2013; Jansen & van der Meer, 2007). 

In the domain of student expectations, the REQ focuses on the expectations to be inducted by teachers, be involved in research or be told about research activities, that university will be similar to high school, and that they need time-management skills. 

The College Readiness for Global Campus Survey was developed by Lee et al. (2019) to explore the college readiness of US and international undergraduate students. College readiness measures of the College Readiness for Global Campus Survey focus on two domains: academic readiness and sociocultural readiness. The academic readiness domain includes academic competencies such as critical thinking, problem-solving, computing skills, note-taking, presentation and test-taking skills, reading, writing, and mastery in subject areas.