The myth is this: that a student's academic trajectory is set for college — or not — by the time he or she enters high school. The reality is this: Course performance in grade 9 is more predictive of a student's chances of graduating high school than all other factors — race, gender, socioeconomic status and prior academic achievement — combined.
Another myth is this one: ACT and SAT scores are the most important indicator of success in college. While ACT and SAT scores do matter for college access, grade point averages are much more predictive of college success. In fact, strong grades — earning As and Bs in high school — are the strongest indicator of college readiness and are much more predictive of college graduation than any test score...