Fall 2017
Committee:
Executive Committee
WHEREAS, California Community Colleges have continued to express their concerns in regards to the effectiveness of using third-party college placement test programs, and question how equitable these programs are for routinely underserved student populations (i.e. re-entry, disabled);
WHEREAS, assessment tests continue to inappropriately place community college students who are actually college-prepared into remedial/non-transferable courses, which may or may not be amended by the departments for which these placements concern. (Scott-Clayton, 2012);
WHEREAS, several studies have shown that colleges who have drastically increased access to college-level courses (i.e. English Departments at Butte College and Long Beach City College) have seen significantly higher completion rates. (Henson, 2011); and
WHEREAS, the costs for colleges to place students into remediation is estimated at approximately $30-$44 per student per subject (Rodriguez, 2014)--which does not include the long-term expense of remediation and the repercussions of potential misplacement of the student (i.e. staying an extra year, additional textbook fees);
RESOLVED, that the Student Senate for California Community Colleges request that all colleges instead primarily assess readiness for college-level courses by markers such as high school grades, SAT/ACT scores, AP/IB/A-Levels scores, and grades from other institutions of higher learning, and use placement tests as an OPTIONAL assessment of college readiness; and
RESOLVED, that the Student Senate for California Community Colleges ask that colleges within the 114-campus system re-assess the causes for unsatisfactory completion rates in remedial courses through dedicated institutional research workgroups within their respective participatory governance structures.
Citations: https://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/media/k2/attachments/remedial-placement-testing-resources.pdf http://accelerationproject.org/Portals/0/Documents/HensonHern_Let_Them_In-corrected.pdf?ver =2016-0 9-22-122155-077 http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/publications/highstakes-placement-exams-predict.html
WHEREAS, assessment tests continue to inappropriately place community college students who are actually college-prepared into remedial/non-transferable courses, which may or may not be amended by the departments for which these placements concern. (Scott-Clayton, 2012);
WHEREAS, several studies have shown that colleges who have drastically increased access to college-level courses (i.e. English Departments at Butte College and Long Beach City College) have seen significantly higher completion rates. (Henson, 2011); and
WHEREAS, the costs for colleges to place students into remediation is estimated at approximately $30-$44 per student per subject (Rodriguez, 2014)--which does not include the long-term expense of remediation and the repercussions of potential misplacement of the student (i.e. staying an extra year, additional textbook fees);
RESOLVED, that the Student Senate for California Community Colleges request that all colleges instead primarily assess readiness for college-level courses by markers such as high school grades, SAT/ACT scores, AP/IB/A-Levels scores, and grades from other institutions of higher learning, and use placement tests as an OPTIONAL assessment of college readiness; and
RESOLVED, that the Student Senate for California Community Colleges ask that colleges within the 114-campus system re-assess the causes for unsatisfactory completion rates in remedial courses through dedicated institutional research workgroups within their respective participatory governance structures.
Citations: https://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/media/k2/attachments/remedial-placement-testing-resources.pdf http://accelerationproject.org/Portals/0/Documents/HensonHern_Let_Them_In-corrected.pdf?ver =2016-0 9-22-122155-077 http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/publications/highstakes-placement-exams-predict.html
Status
Completed with the passage of AB705 (Irwin, 2017)