This resource provides data on the use of assessment instruments and uniform cut scores. The cut scores presented in this resource are the lowest scores a student can receive on an assessment to be considered college-ready. An asterisk indicates that the state uses a subject area test score for the SAT. "SAT (new)" refers to scores…

Developmental education assessment and placement policies guide how students may demonstrate college readiness and are placed into college-level courses. States and postsecondary systems use a variety of measures to determine a student's college readiness. Often, policies require that students submit scores from a national, standardized test. Some…

Multiple measures provide additional evidence a student may present, beyond an assessment score, that can indicate college readiness. This resource provides data on multiple measures that may be allowed to determine placement using the following categories: (1) other standardized and normed exams, or locally developed exams; (2) high school…

This study highlights the relationship between high school grade point average (GPA), ACT Composite score, and the likelihood of developmental course placement in college. Higher high school grade point averages (HSGPA) and ACT Composite scores were associated with lower probabilities of developmental course placement. This study also highlights…

American colleges are redesigning the ways in which they offer remedial courses, including mainstreaming students into college-level courses and making greater use of learning-technology to tailor the curriculum to students' specific academic needs. Exploiting a statewide cutoff on a remediation placement exam along with data on student outcomes…

The Achieving Collegiate Excellence and Success (ACES) program is a collaboration between MCPS, Montgomery College, and the Universities at Shady Grove to create a seamless pathway from high school to college completion; it targets students who are underrepresented in higher education, the first in their family to attend college, or both. As one…

This research examined the relationship between placement in a learning support college program and subsequent academic outcomes. The sample consisted of 275 entering freshmen students who were enrolled in the Learning Support reading courses in the fall of 2005. Data were collected from the Gordon College Office of Institutional Research. The…

In response to the "Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education" Supreme Court decision, Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) reconfigured the district's race-based student assignment and implemented a race- and socioeconomic-based student assignment plan. Using hierarchical linear multiple regression, this study examined students'…

Corequisite remediation, which mainstreams students deemed academically underprepared into college-level courses with additional learning support, is rapidly being adopted by colleges across the nation. This paper provides the first causal evidence on a system-wide corequisite reform, using data from all 13 community colleges affiliated with the…

California Assembly Bill (AB) 705 authored by Irwin and passed on October 13, 2017, requires colleges to "maximize the probability that a student will enter and complete transfer-level coursework in English and math within a one-year timeframe" and use high school background data in placement processes. To implement this new law and…

This study addresses a longstanding question among high school mathematics teachers and college mathematics professors: Which is the best preparation for college calculus-- (a) a high level of mastery of mathematics considered preparatory for calculus (algebra, geometry, precalculus) or (b) taking calculus itself in high school? We used a data set…

This brief presents a review of research and current state practices as they relate to measures that Iowa might consider for its federal accountability indicator of school quality or student success--specifically, for inclusion within a composite index of postsecondary readiness. Section 1 of this brief introduces a framework for evaluating and…

This study explores developmental education placement rates and how well high school grade point average and exam performance predicted performance in college-level courses among first-time students who enrolled in the University of Alaska system from fall 2008 to spring 2012. Like other colleges and universities, the University of Alaska, the…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe how and why Texas A&M University at Qatar (TAMUQ) has developed a system aiming to effectively place students in freshman and developmental English programs. The placement system includes: triangulating data from external test scores, with scores from a panel-marked hand-written essay (HWE),…

Research shows that students who take a certain core curriculum are better prepared for college than those students who do not; however, data indicate that taking core courses is not enough: Teachers must assign greater rigor in all courses they teach, especially courses needed for college (Schmeiser, 2007). As early as 1983 the National…