Matriculation

Defining Writing Assessment Practices for California Community Colleges

Whereas, Writing assessment, from placement in appropriate courses to certifying proficiency in a single course or a series of courses, involves high stakes for students and has a profound impact on their educational journeys and success;

Whereas, Best placement practice is informed by pedagogical and curricular goals and is, therefore, continually under review and subject to change by well-informed faculty and experienced instructors or evaluators; and

Multiple Measures in Assessment: The Requirements and Challenges of Multiple Measures in the California Community Colleges

Assessing a student’s ability to be successful in courses and programs is an important and necessary aspect of student success. Two major practices exist to predict a student’s likelihood of succeeding in a course or program: 1) Successful completion of prerequisite or advisory courses (as documented on transcripts) and 2) the assessment for placement process. These two methods are presumed to be mechanisms that ensure that a student has acquired the knowledge and skills necessary for success.

Research the Impact of Offering Priority Registration to Student-Athletes

Whereas, The SMART Tool Companion Report for the California Community College Athletic Association (Institute for Evidence-Based Change, July 2011)[1] demonstrated participation in intercollegiate athletics programs closes the achievement gap for minority students, results in higher grade point averages (GPAs), and increases the rate and percentage of transfer to four-year institutions in comparison to a full-time, nonathletic cohort;

Adopt the paper Multiple Measures in Assessment: The Requirements and Challenges of Multiple Measures in the California Community Colleges

Whereas, The Board of Governors held a study session on basic skills in March 2007, and passed a motion directing the Chancellor to “begin the process of evaluating the implementation of a system-wide uniform, common assessment with multiple measures of all community college students…”;

Early Assessment Program (EAP) Funding and Implementation

Whereas, Senate Bill (SB) 946 authorized all community colleges to use the Early Assessment Program (EAP) to assess readiness for college-level English and mathematics, yet no funding was attached to the implementation, and piloting is set to begin in the 2009-2010 academic year;

Whereas, The Early Assessment Program (EAP) was developed and is used by the California State Universities (CSUs) to determine college readiness, to allow exemption from CSU placement testing for English and mathematics courses, and to inform high school students concerning their individual readiness;

Collecting Drop/Withdrawal Data

Whereas, Students drop or withdraw from courses for a variety of reasons, both academic and non-academic;

Whereas, Low retention rates are often looked upon negatively without sufficient data to indicate that the reasons students drop classes are beyond the control of the faculty or college;

Whereas, Concerns have been raised about excessive withdrawals and multiple attempts to succeed in a course or program and the potential this creates to preclude the enrollment of other students, not to mention the concomitant fiscal impacts; and

CCC ESL Assessment for Placement Test

Whereas, The need for a California community college-developed ESL assessment for placement test has been articulated by the 2007 Academic Senate for California Community College’s Consultation Council on Assessment Task Force, the 2009 Academic Senate/California Community College Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO) Action Planning Group on Assessment, and the California Community College English as a Second Language (ESL) Placement Test Development Project (sponsored by the 2009-2011 California Community College Assessment Association and CCCCO);

Support the Elimination of the Basic Skills Restriction for Tutoring Apportionment

Whereas, Current Title 5 requirements regarding eligibility for noncredit apportionment for supervised tutoring reference Education Code §84757 (a) (2) that limits apportionment to students enrolled in basic skills; and

Whereas, Current effective practice, identified in the Basic Skills as a Foundation for Student Success in California Community Colleges (2007) and elsewhere, specifies that mainstreamed, centralized tutoring programs most successfully support basic skill students enrolled in any course;

Priority Registration

Whereas, Governmental agencies, including the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), and external organizations have recommended a priority registration system to provide maximum benefit to those students whose educational goals are most closely aligned with the goals of the 1960 Master Plan (basic skills, transfer, and career and technical education);

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