
	Dr. Michael W. Kirst Michael W. Kirst is Professor Emeritus of Education and Business Administration at Stanford University since 1969. Dr. Kirst received his Ph.D. in political economy and government from Harvard. Before joining the Stanford University faculty, Dr. Kirst held several positions with the federal government, including Staff Director of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Manpower, Employment and Poverty. He was a former president of the California State Board of Education. His book From High School to College with Andrea Venezia was published by Jossey Bass in 2004.



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My blog discusses the important and complex subjects of college completion, college success, student risk factors (for failing), college readiness, and academic preparation. I will explore the pieces of the college puzzle that heavily influence, if not determine, college success rates.

Lack of State Data Hinders College Success

A national effort called the Data Quality Campaign encourages states to develop high quality longitudinal data systems on a p-16 basis. They have ten fundemental elements for a statewide data system and stress student level college readiness test scores, high school transcripts for each student, and the ability to match student records between k-12 and higher education systems. Unfortunately, only Florida has all ten elements. The bigest state, California, does not even have individual student records for any level of p-16. Texas is making big progress and may meet the ten elements in a few years.
We cannot understand and solve poor college completion and college preparation without solid longitudinal data. More urgency needs to be given to the existing gaps. See http://www.dataqualitycampaign.org/ to see the problem state by state.

Labels: College Completion, College Preparation, College Success