According to the Educational Policy Improvement Center, college readiness means that a student can enter a college classroom without remediation, and successfully complete entry-level college requirements. Students that are enrolled in remediation courses in their first year of college have only a 17-39% graduation rate (College Board 2004). In order for a student to be considered college-ready, there are skills, content knowledge and behaviors that must be acquired before leaving high school. The core areas of college readiness are:

1. Strong intellectual growth throughout the primary and secondary years was fostered by increasingly challenging content in the four core subjects and beyond.

2. The capacity to communicate effectively with individuals from a variety of cultural and professional backgrounds.

3. The advancement of reading, writing, and numeric skills to enable success in all college courses.

4. The ability to think critically and problem solve in the context of a continuously changing set of circumstances and realities.

Conway School District offers ACT and PSAT preparation sessions for high school students and ACT preparation sessions for Jr. High and 7th grade students. For additional information, you may contact the Office of Gifted and Advanced Placement or visit the Conway High School Counseling Center.