Assessment & Placement Policy Initiative/Strategic Direction One
Original goal: An extensive review and update of developmental placement policies and procedures for
all disciplines in light of cohort data, AtD national research, and evolving state policy changes. The
review will entail much more than a simple cut-score change, but rather all actions influencing the
assessment and placement process.
Action: With assistance of an Ohio-based consultant who also serves as an AtD Data Coach, the team
produced an extensive research paper, which in turn led to committee policy recommendations
produced in early 2011. At the same time, NC State was implementing a new strategic planning model
under Carver Policy Governance. The college selected Academic Preparation for College as a strategic
focus area, and linked this to implementation of the DEI committee recommendations. The
subcommittee then implemented policy changes beginning in fall 2011. The major change areas
included:
•
New placement policy for English composition. To address concerns over gateway English
completion rates and adapt to state directives lowering COMPASS cut scores from 81 to 69, the
college developed a multi-pronged placement and instructional strategy. This included pairing
the highest developmental writing and gateway composition course, and creating a composition
“lab” course potentially for students who fall into the 11-point margin between the former and
current cut-off scores. These students take a secondary writing assessment (COMPASS eWrite),
and depending on their score are placed into either standard composition, the composition-lab
course, or even developmental writing.
•
New placement policy for Reading. In Winter 2011, the college implemented a policy that all
students testing below 60 on COMPASS (6th grade level) seek remediation through the Solutions
ABLE partnership before admission to college classes. See Solutions section for detail.
•
Policy changes and improvements in COMPASS preparation. The College initiated several
reforms to improve assessment and placement, some in connection with the Case Management
Advising strategy such as largely eliminating “cold testing” for COMPASS without a preparation
opportunity. The college implemented and publicized a variety of preparation options, including
the Guilford Tech Moodle Website, access to PLATO software, COMPASS preparation workshops
and preparation help through the Tutoring Center. To incentivize up-front test preparation, a
$25 COMPASS retest fee was implemented for fall 2013 with the exception of students who
subsequently attend a boot camp or the Solutions Transition program.
•
Free computer literacy workshops (state grant) and free tutoring to help more students and
potential students prepare for the computer literacy assessment.
Summary progress results: NC State’s placement levels have fallen dramatically, from 65.5% of
students placing into any one class for the 2010 cohort to 58.4% for the 2011 cohort. Further, the
average number of developmental courses placed (measuring disciplines and placement levels)
dropped from 1.9 to 1.0. This was most noticeable in reading and writing given policy changes
described above, including a one-year drop in writing placements from 41.2% to 26.7% of the
cohort. Of the 206 students in the 2011 cohort taking the secondary writing assessment, seven
were diverted to developmental, 94 placed into the lab course, and 105 placed full college level.
Gateway English results: The results of the cut-score change were mixed, though the overall data for
AY 2011-12 appears to have been clouded by advising by some of the academic departments to
recommend that college-ready students defer taking gateway English until semester conversion to
ensure no credit loss. This contributed to an overall cohort completion rate of only 32%. However,
the 199 students placed college-level via eWrite generally attempted English, resulting in a
completion rate nearly double that of COMPASS-placed college-level. In fact, the eWrite group’s
one-year attempt rate (74%) was higher than any college-ready referral cohort since 2002. The firstattempt pass rates for the eWrite group (61%) were lower than COMPASS college-ready (77%).
2011 Cohort Performance, First-Attempt ENG 101
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
English Lab
Course
E-write, College
Level
College-Level
on COMPASS
Developmental
Total
Attempt
72%
76%
35%
38%
48%
Complete
43%
48%
27%
18%
30%
COMPASS Prep: In spring 2011, only 30% of surveyed students on the CCSSE reported using
COMPASS prep materials. While the college will not re-administer CCSSE until, 2014, there are
indicators that potential students are using preparation tools. For example, there were 50 users of
PLATO COMPASS prep courseware in FY 2012 for 210 system hours. Further, 2011 cohort placement
in math dropped from 55% to 52% despite no discipline-specific policy changes.
Nearly 500 community residents and students have attended free computer literacy workshops, as
well as individual tutoring. The pass rate on the computer literacy test was 70% in AY 2012,
compared to 62% in AY 2011 and 55% during the benchmark year (CY 2009) of the study.
Post-DEI Plans: The college has already started the process of expanding the gateway English lab
course strategies into the lowest-level developmental courses for fall 2012. The lower-level writing
course has been fully converted into lecture/supplemental lab and a special lab/lecture section has
been created for students who miss the cut-off for second-tier math by at least 15 points.