Community and Youth Collaborative Institute
School Experience Surveys-Technical Report
CAYCI Career and College Readiness Scale
Middle/High School Student Version
Produced By:
Dawn Anderson-Butcher, Anthony J. Amorose, Aidyn Iachini, and Annahita Ball
Community and Youth Collaborative Institute
College of Social Work
The Ohio State University
Updated: Spring 2016
Community and Youth Collaborative Institute School Experience Surveys
COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS
Middle & High School Student Version
I. Definition of Construct
The Career and College Readiness scale measures the extent to which secondary students perceive their self-
efficacy and preparedness for post-secondary education and/or future careers.
II. Relevance for Practice
Research suggests student perceptions of their opportunities after high school are impacted by the levels of
support and engagement they receive from their schools, families, teachers, and peers while in school
(Conley, 2008; Kuh, 2007). For example, in schools where teachers reported higher expectations and strong
support for college attendance, youth were more likely to apply to and enroll in college (Roderick, Coca, &
Nagaoka, 2011). In addition, a positive school climate, parental involvement, and advanced coursetaking in
high school are also predictive of college matriculation for youth (Ceja, 2006; Hoover-Dempsey, & Sandler,
1997; Jonas, Dougherty, Herrera, LaTurner, Garland, & Ware, 2012). Together, an assessment of college and
career readiness can help parents, teachers, and schools explore how students perceive their capabilities for
achieving their educational and occupational goals after high school.
III. Scale Description and Instructions
A. Items
1. What I learn in school will help me prepare for college.
2. I set goals that will help me get to college.
3. I am confident that I will go to college.
4. I am confident that I will get the job I want.
5. I am aware of careers that match my interests.
6. I am taking courses now that are needed to go to college.
7. I believe I can successfully transition to college after high school.
B. Response Options
Response options for each item include the following:
1 = Strongly disagree
2 = Disagree
3 = Neither disagree or agree
4 = Agree
5 = Strongly agree
C. Instructions for Respondents
These questions ask you about your future. Please mark how strongly you feel about each sentence.
D. Instructions for Scale Administers
For complete instructions on how to administer the survey, reference the “Student Survey Directions” that
are printed on the survey itself. Once each student has a survey, explain that the purpose of the survey is
to learn more about their experiences at school. They should mark one answer per statement, selecting the
choice that best reflects how they feel.
As students finish, look thoroughly through the surveys to make sure that they did not miss any items or
questions. Please remember that students do NOT have to answer every question, but do encourage them
to complete as much of the survey as possible. Remind students that their answers will help the school
know how to best support them.
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IV. Scoring Procedures
An average of the response scores from the 7 items should be calculated and used as an indicator of career
and college readiness, with higher scores reflecting greater levels of motivation.
V. Psychometric Properties of the Scale (Middle/High)
A. Description of Sample
Participants used to test the psychometric properties of the scale included 1973 middle school (6-8th grade;
27.3%) and high school (9th-12th grade; 67.9%) students from around the states of Ohio and Utah. The
participants included 926 males (46.9%) and 968 (49.1%) females. The students identified themselves as
White/Non-Hispanic (48.8%), African American (3.3%), Latino/Latina (25.3%), Asian (6.6%), Native
Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander (2.9%), Mixed/Multi-Racial (3.6%), American Indian/Alaskan Native
(2.0%), or other (3.7%), and 41.0% indicated they received a free or reduced lunch. Data on these students
were collected as part of a needs assessment within each school’s improvement planning process. All data
were collected using the online instrument.
B. Basic Descriptive Statistics and Relevant Group Differences
Sample Mean SD Range α
Full Sample (N = 1973) 3.87 .79 1-5 .88
Gender
Males (n =926) 3.83 .81 1-5 .89
Females (n =968) 3.92 .76 1-5 .87
Race/Ethnicity
White/Non-Hispanic (n =962) 3.92 .76 1-5 .87
Other (n =1011) 3.83 .81 1-5 .89
Grade Level
Middle School (n =539) 4.02 .73 1-5 .87
High School (n =1340) 3.83 .77 1-5 .87
Note. Group specific data omits students who did not indicate their status. The groups were significantly different
(p<.05); however, the effect sizes (η2) for these comparisons indicated that group membership accounted for less 1%
of the variance in the scores.
C. Relationship between Peer Relationship Scores and Other Student Perception Constructs
Construct a r=
Academic Motivation .65*
School Connectedness .52*
Academic Press .55*
Support for Learning .57*
Internalizing Behaviors .18*
Externalizing Behaviors .34*
Parent Involvement and Support .41*
Family and Community
.51*
Connections
Social Skills .51*
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Construct a r=
Peer Relationships .47*
Safety .48*
Diversity .40*
Notes. a Average score on the respective subscale scores from the CAYCI surveys (Anderson-Butcher, Amorose,
Iachini, & Ball, 2013). * relationship significant (p<.01).
D. Factorial Validity
A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducting using robust maximum likelihood estimation
procedures in LISREL 9.2 (Scientific Software International, Inc., Chicago). The CFA model specified
that the 7 items loaded on a single latent College and Career Readiness factor. The factor variance was
freely estimated, as was the uniqueness for each item. No covariances between uniquenesses were
modeled.
The overall fit of the model to the data was reasonably good based on commonly recommended cut off
values for evaluating model fit (see Hu & Bentler, 1999), S-B χ2 = 114.87, df = 14, p = .00; RMSEA =
.085 (90% CI = .079-.127), SRMR = .03; CFI = .97, IFI = .97. The table below presents the completely
standardized factor loadings and uniquenesses for each item. Squared multiple correlations ranged from
.39-.68. The modification indices did not suggest any major areas of local strain.
Item Loading Uniqueness
What I learn in school will help me prepare for college. .69 .52
I set goals that will help me get to college. .83 .31
I am confident that I will go to college. .82 .33
I am confident that I will get the job I want. .68 .54
I am aware of careers that match my interests. .62 .61
I am taking courses now that are needed to go to college. .63 .60
I believe I can successfully transition to college after high school. .73 .47
VI. Past and Future Scale Development
An initial version of the scale (Middle/High School Student Version) included the following additional items:
(1) “What I learn in school will help me get the job I want,” (2) “I set goals that will help me get the job I
want,” (3) “I am confident I will graduate from high school,” (4) “I am confident I will reach my career
goals,” (5) “I am motivated to get a job after high school,” (6) “I understand how to apply to college,” and (7)
“I have opportunities to explore my career interests.” Results from preliminary analyses indicated that these
items either had poor distributions or did not fit well with the other scale items. Thus the current
recommendation is to use the 7-item version of the measure as described in this report. Future scale
development work may consider modifying the items and/or response format to increase the variability in the
scores. Future work also is needed to validate the Spanish version of this scale, and to test for invariance in
the factor structure across relevant groups and time.
VII. Summary
Overall, the results of the psychometric testing indicate some initial support for the reliability and validity of
the College & Career Readiness scale with middle & high school students. The use of this measure can
provide valuable information about student confidence towards career and college aspirations, as well as their
current utilization of goal setting behaviors impacting these aspirations.
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VIII. References
Conley, D. T. (2008). Rethinking college readiness. New Directions for Higher Education, 144, 3-13.
Ceja, M. (2006). Understanding the role of parents and siblings as information sources in the college choice
process of Chicana students. Journal of College Student Development, 47, 87-103.
Hoover-Dempsey, K. V., & Sandler, H. M. (1997). Why do parents become involved in their children's
education? Review of Educational Research, 67, 3-4.
Jonas, D., Dougherty, C., Herrera, A. W., LaTurner, J., Garland, M., & Ware, A. (2012). High school
predictors of college readiness: Determinants of high school graduates' enrollment and successful
completion of first-year mathematics and English college courses in Virginia. Virginia Department of
Education, National Center for Educational Achievement.
Kuh, G. D. (2007). What student engagement data tell us about college readiness. Peer Review, 9(1), 4-8.
Roderick, M., Nagaoka, J., & Coca, V. (2009). College readiness for all: The challenge for urban high
schools. The Future of Children, 19, 185-210.
IX. Recommended Citation of Scale
When using the Career and College Readiness scale for program evaluation or research purposes, we
recommend using the following citation:
Anderson-Butcher, D., & Amorose, A. J. (2012). Community and Youth Collaborative Initiative School
Experience Surveys: Career and College Readiness Scale in Middle School and High School
Students. Columbus, OH: College of Social Work, The Ohio State University.
If this scale is used along with additional Community and Youth Collaborative Initiative School Community
Surveys, then the following citation would be appropriate to cover all scales:
Anderson-Butcher, D., & Amorose, A. J. (2012). Community and Youth Collaborative Initiative School
Experience Surveys. Columbus, OH: College of Social Work, The Ohio State University.
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