The process of assessing new entering students, placing underprepared students in remedial courses and delivering instruction through non-degree credit courses is at the heart of the remedial education enterprise.
Several states have attempted to create standard policies to oversee this process by approving particular assessments and setting cut scores for placement into remedial or college-level courses. Some states have left most – if not all – of these decisions to postsecondary systems or institutions. Still, other states have tried to strike a balance between a uniform approach and providing flexibility to systems and institutions.
The vast majority of states, postsecondary systems and institutions require students to demonstrate readiness for college level work based on test scores or previous degrees or coursework. The policies, however, don’t always require underprepared students to enroll in remedial courses before they take related college classes – or perhaps not at all. And even when students do take remedial classes, the standards for demonstrating they have overcome their deficits often vary or are unclear.
Unfortunately, these different approaches have contributed to a complicated, confusing and often contradictory system for assessing and placing students into credit and non-credit (remedial/developmental) college courses.
Increasingly, states appear to be considering or adopting a more uniform approach to assessment and placement, in part, to address some of the wide variations in policies and practices. The Community College Research Center paper, Assessing Developmental Assessment in Community Colleges, notes that this strategy can help provide a common definition of college readiness, track remedial student performance across campuses, and streamline transfers. At the same time, many states want to provide postsecondary systems and institutions the latitude to set higher standards and/or use additional diagnostic exams to more precisely pinpoint students’ needs and direct them toward the most appropriate courses and instructional methods.
Regardless of whether states tip toward common assessments and cut scores, leave these decisions to institutions or fall somewhere in between, the goal should be to promote student success. To do so requires clearly communicated policies and practices; widely available support services and advisement; assessments that accurately gauge students’ skills and college readiness; cut scores that place students into appropriate courses and are regularly evaluated; and completion standards that determine if students can successfully move from remedial courses to college-level work. The stakes are too high – for all involved – to do otherwise.
Policy Questions
- Should you consider a common assessment for all institutions?
- Should you require a diagnostic assessment to pinpoint student deficiencies?
- Should you consider a cut score that fully exempts students from remedial education?
- Should you increase your cut scores?
- Should you have common cut scores for all institutions?
- Should you require all students to be assessed?
- Should you require all students who score below the cut score be placed in remedial education?
