Diverse Education

Contrary to popular belief, students’ high school grade point averages are five times stronger than ACT scores at predicting college graduation. That’s according to a new study published in Educational Researcher.

Conducted by the University of Chicago’s Dr. Elaine M. Allensworth and Kallie Clark, the study examined 55,083 students who graduated from the Chicago public school district between 2006 and 2009 and immediately enrolled in a four-year college. Studying students from a diverse set of schools — ranging from selective schools to those with low average test scores — Allensworth and Clark found that the predictive power of GPAs remained consistent across the board...