| Description |
This study examines the experiences of students transitioning from a standardized K-12 educational environment to a learner-centered post-secondary institution. Since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act, public K-12 schools have been required to use standardize assessments to measure the learning of their students. The Common Core State Standards initiative has further mandated curricula for teachers and students. Students that are just entering college have only been educated under these reforms. This study focuses on the experiences of students with regards to their preparedness for the leaner centered methods used at Westminster College. Student interviews, faculty interviews, and institutional data are the primary data collections methods for this mixed methods study. Students experiences have been analyzed to understand the how standardization policies have impacted their transition to college. The faculty interviews offer a different and historical perspective to how students have transitioned to college over the past 15 years. The institutional data collected for this study shows the broader impacts of these reforms. This study seeks to understand the experiences of students that have recently made this transition. The skills, knowledge, values, principles, and understandings that these students bring to college will ultimately serve as an evaluative measure of the efficacy of these standardization policies on preparing students for post-secondary education. |
