Memo: Executive Order 1110 – Assessment of Academic Preparation and Placement in First- Year General Education Written Communication and Mathematics/Quantitative Reasoning Courses

TO: CSU Presidents

FROM: Loren J. Blanchard, Ph.D., Executive Vice Chancellor

While the CSU has made significant progress in improving college readiness over the past two decades, today nearly 40 percent of admitted freshmen are placed in developmental education courses that typically do not count toward a baccalaureate degree. Improving college readiness of all students is a cornerstone of Graduation Initiative 2025 because of its direct relationship with progress toward degree completion and closing equity gaps. This new academic preparation policy, Executive Order 1110, aims to address inequities in college readiness head-on in order to close gaps in degree attainment and afford all students the opportunity to succeed. The final executive order addresses first-year placement in written communication and mathematics/quantitative reasoning, the Early Start Program and new models of developmental education.

Through robust discussion, consultation and sharing of ideas, the final policy has been shaped by input from faculty, students and administrators. For example, concerns regarding the need for instruction in pre-baccalaureate content for those students with the greatest need for support resulted in a final policy that restructures developmental education while providing flexibility for course design and curricular innovation. Additionally, as a result of feedback received, the timeline for implementing changes to the Early Start Program has been extended to summer 2019. Further, students who require support in both mathematics/quantitative reasoning and written communication will only be required to focus on one of those disciplines during the Early Start Program.

Across the CSU, work will continue to support this evolution of approaches to assessing, addressing and supporting academic preparation. Beginning this week and continuing throughout the upcoming academic year, faculty, staff and administrators will have opportunities to examine models of developmental education and assessment and placement. Following consultation with campus constituents, a coded memorandum will be released outlining implementation and operational matters related to this executive order. Over the next year, selected campus faculty, students, advisors and administrative leaders will participate in workgroups to develop a recommended set of best practices related to advisement and course placement. Finally, as this executive order reaches beyond the needs of the California State University, a communication plan will soon be launched to share this information with PK-12 educators and community college partners across the state.

If you have questions regarding this executive order, please contact Student Academic Services at EVCASA-assists@calstate.edu or (562) 951-4744.

c: CSU Office of the Chancellor Leadership
Dr. Christine Miller, Chair, Academic Senate CSU
Provosts/Vice Presidents for Academic Affairs
Vice Presidents for Student Affairs
Associate Provosts/Associate Vice Presidents for Academic Affairs
Deans of Undergraduate Studies
Directors of Admissions and Records
Admissions Advisory Council

Memo: Common Assessment Initiative Reset

TO: Chief Executive Officers

Chief Business Officers

Chief Instructional Officers

Chief Student Services Officers

FROM: Eloy Ortiz Oakley

Dear Colleagues,

Over the last several weeks, the Chancellor’s Office team has been thoroughly reviewing the progress of the Common Assessment Initiative (CAI) to include the findings from an independent project review. In addition, the team has also considered the ramifications of recent legislation that will directly impact the assessment and placement process for all students attending a California Community College. I am writing to provide an update on the CAI and the decision I am making that will impact the initiative. Based on the recommendation from the Chancellor’s Office team, I have determined that the best course of action for students and taxpayers is to terminate the CCCAssess project, a component of the CAI that set out to design and develop a set of standardized assessment tools for the California Community College system. The project has faced repeated delays and implementation challenges, and a preponderance of evidence demonstrates that standardized assessments are no longer seen as an effective placement strategy. We will now refocus CAI in a manner that will implement recent legislation and foster effective use of multiple measures for purposes of placement.

As our understanding of the efficacy of standardized assessment tests has developed, it has become clearer that standardized assessment skills tests are not well-suited to accurately assess California’s community college students as they often result in inappropriately low placement recommendations. Early findings from colleges piloting the Multiple Measures Assessment Project (MMAP) also suggest that the use of noncognitive variables and high school transcripts can help facilitate more accurate placement and ultimately student completion of college-level coursework. These changes in our understanding of assessment effectiveness has led to calls for using multiple measures for student assessment and subsequent course placement.

In prior Chancellor’s Office memos and communications, we have advocated the use of multiple measures for student assessment to allow for greater flexibility and accuracy in assessment and placement. In conjunction with Governor Brown’s signing of Assembly Bill 705, which requires the use of high school information for assessments and placements, the Chancellor’s Office no longer advocates the use of standardized skills exams as the primary tool to place students in college courses.

The movement away from standardized assessment tests is also based on an extensive and careful review of CCCAssess by a team of independent project evaluators that examined: 1) its progress to date, 2) its likelihood of timely completion, and 3) its likelihood of developing valid and reliable standardized assessment tests that can be used across colleges and a diverse student body. After reviewing the evaluators’ findings, the Chancellor’s Office has decided to stop further work developing math, English, and English as a Second Language placement assessments.

The decision to terminate the CCCAssess project was made after several months of analysis and deliberations, and is based on evidence that the likelihood of success does not justify continued effort and funding. The evaluation of the CCCAssess development process found that the probability of validating testing efforts was in jeopardy, and the project would not meet intended deadlines and timelines while exceeding budgeted expenditures. Despite concerted and diligent efforts by the project team and a wide range of stakeholders, these factors created a situation in which success, as the project was originally conceived, was unlikely to be achieved.

The decision to stop further work on CCCAssess does not mean that the effort has not produced valuable and tangible products. In fact, several aspects of the program have been successful and will be used in future efforts, including the extensive work that has gone into designing, developing, and testing the IT platform upon which the CCCAssess tests would have resided. Additionally, valuable MMAP data resulted from these efforts, fortifying the use of high school GPA in the future. Finally, faculty developed curriculum maps that can be leveraged to support other aspects of the state and local completion work.

Next Steps

The Chancellor’s Office realizes that the decision to terminate CCCAssess may contribute to uncertainty within and across the system, especially for those colleges that have participated in pilot and field testing of the CCCAssess tools. The Chancellor’s Office is currently developing options for colleges to follow as they prepare to select assessment measures that are one part of an assessment model increasingly based on a multiple measures approach. Future Chancellor’s Office memos will specify these options in detail.

With the enactment of AB 705 and the termination of CCCAssess, California community colleges have an opportunity to re-evaluate their assessment and placement practices that fundamentally affect how students begin their educational journey. In doing so, we can accelerate efforts for the system to eliminate achievement gaps that begin when students are placed into long developmental courses sequences. To advance this work, the Chancellor’s Office will be assembling an AB 705 implementation team to assist with the guidance and practices associated with the legislation to assure that we can meaningfully engage the implications together.

The Chancellor’s Office is committed to ongoing support for colleges and keeping colleges informed about training and technical assistance available for successful multiple measures approaches, including providing information to explain how to access the training and technical assistance for upcoming assessments. For now, additional information and background resources for various aspects of multiple measures and their use can be found in the August 2, 2016, September 30, 2016 and October 4, 2016 Chancellor’s Office memos posted on the Chancellor’s Office website.

Contact Information

Comments or questions about the Common Assessment Initiative can be directed to Mia Keeley at mkeeley@cccco.edu.

Eloy Ortiz Oakley

AB 705 (Irwin) – Seymour-Campbell Student Success Act of 2012: Assessment. Chapter 745, Statutes of 2017

AB 705 requires community college districts to maximize the probability that a student will enter and complete transfer-level coursework in math and English within a one-year timeframe by utilizing assessment measures that include high school performance to achieve this goal.

What is the intent of AB 705?

The text of this bill can be read in full here. The Legislature provided a number of findings, and declarations to guide system and college implementation of this new law. Included in the findings and declarations, the Legislature noted:

  • Assessment instruments and placement policies have serious implications for equity, since students of color are more likely to be placed into remedial courses; and, students placed into remediation are much less likely to reach their educational goals.
  • Evidence suggests that community colleges are placing too many students into remediation and that many more students would complete transfer requirements in math and English if allowed to bypass remedial prerequisite courses and enroll directly in transfer-level English and math courses.
  • The goal of AB 705 is to ensure that students are not placed into remedial courses that may delay or deter their educational progress unless evidence suggests they are highly unlikely to succeed in the college-level course.
  • Community colleges are prohibited from requiring students to take a prerequisite course unless they are highly unlikely to succeed in a higher-level course without it, pursuant to Section 55003 of Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations, but this policy is not followed in practice.
  • Colleges are required to use multiple measures in determining course placement, pursuant to Section 55522 of Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations, but Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations does not provide enough guidance in the use of multiple measures to ensure that students are not excluded from courses in which they can be successful.
  • Evidence suggests that when used as the primary criterion for placement, assessment tests tend to under-place students; and, a student’s high school performance is a much stronger predictor of success in transfer-level courses than standardized placement tests.

Will the CCCCO provide guidance and definitions to colleges?

AB 705 authorizes the CCC Board of Governors to establish regulations governing the use of high school performance and other measures, instruments, and placement models to ensure college implementation meets the goals of this legislation.

To advance this work, the Chancellor’s Office will be assembling an AB 705 implementation team to assist with the guidance and practices associated with the legislation. The CCCCO is committed to ongoing support for colleges and keeping colleges informed about training and technical assistance available for successful multiple measures approaches, including providing information to explain how to access the training and technical assistance for upcoming assessments.

For now, additional information and background resources for various aspects of multiple measures and their use can be found on the Chancellor’s Office website.

When does AB 705 become effective?

AB 705 was signed by the Governor on October 13, 2017, and will take effect on January 1, 2018. While the statute becomes effective on January 1, 2018, the CCCCO will issue guidance that provides phased-in implementation. The CCCCO is committed to ongoing support for colleges and keeping colleges informed about training and technical assistance available for successful implementation of AB 705.

What is a college required to do in placing a student under the provisions of AB 705?

A college is required to maximize the probability that a student will enter and complete transferlevel coursework in English and math within a one-year timeframe, and use, in the placement of students into English and math courses in order to achieve this goal, one or more of the following measures:

(a) High school coursework

(b) High school grades

(c) High school grade point average

Is a college required to use multiple measures?

Yes, a college is required to use multiple measures, and may do so in such a manner that either of

the following occur:

(a) Low performance on one measure may be offset by high performance on another measure. (Compensatory)

(b) The student can demonstrate preparedness and thus bypass remediation based on any one measure. (Disjunctive)

Multiple measures must be used in a way that maximizes the probability that a student will enter and complete transfer-level coursework in English and math within a one-year timeframe.

What if a college is unable to obtain or otherwise use high school performance information?

When a college is unable to obtain high school transcript data, or when that data is not available or logistically problematic to use, a college may use:

(a) Self-reported high school transcript information; or,

(b) Guided placement, including self-placement for students.

Currently, CalPASS Plus has data sharing agreements that cover about 80% of California public high school students. The California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO) is working with the California Department of Education (CDE) to expand the existing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and provide access to course and grade data available in the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS).

How do these requirements apply to students who seek a goal other than transfer?

This legislation should not be interpreted to require students to take coursework that is not applicable to their goals. For students who seek a goal other than transfer, and who are in certificate or degree programs with specific requirements that are not met with transfer-level coursework, a college maximizes the probability that a student will enter and complete the required college-level coursework in English and mathematics within a one-year timeframe. If necessary, the CCCCO and Board of Governors will provide additional guidance and regulations on this matter.

How does this legislation impact remedial coursework requirements?

Pursuant to AB 705, a college shall not require students to enroll in remedial English or math coursework that lengthens their time to complete a degree unless placement research, that includes consideration of high school grade point average and coursework, shows that those students are highly unlikely to succeed in transfer-level coursework in English and mathematics.

A college may require students to enroll in additional concurrent support, including additional language support for ESL students during the same semester that they take a transfer-level English or mathematics course, but only if it is determined that the support will increase their likelihood of passing the transfer-level English or mathematics course. The college shall minimize the impact on student financial aid and unit requirements for the degree by exploring embedded support and low or noncredit support options.

The CCCCO is committed to providing support for colleges and keeping colleges informed about training and technical assistance available for successful implementation of AB 705 and will provide additional guidance and support to improve remedial education pathways.

How does this legislation affect English as a Second Language courses?

AB 705 finds that “instruction in English as a second language (ESL) is distinct from remediation in English. Students enrolled in ESL credit coursework are foreign language learners who require additional language training in English, require support to successfully complete degree and transfer requirements in English, or require both of the above.” Under the provisions of AB 705, colleges shall use evidence-based multiple measures for placing students into (ESL) coursework. For those students placed into credit ESL coursework, their placement should maximize the probability that they will complete degree and transfer requirements in English within three years. If necessary, the CCCCO and Board of Governors will provide additional guidance and regulations on this matter.

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