Building better students by building better college

procedures: How community colleges could better convey incentives for school effort

Prof. James E. Rosenbaum, Pam Schuetz, Ph.D. and Amy ForanNorthwestern University

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Note. From “Community college: The unfinished revolution,” by Rosenbaum, Redline & Stephan, 2007, Issues in Science and Technology, 23, p. 50.

The “Zen-question”• If colleges give a “test,” and students don’t

see any reason to do well, have students really taken a test?

• Consider Emma. Did she take a test?

• A test’s validity depends on more than merely its test items. Validity is also a function of the social context of testing.

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Community Colleges and Placement Tests

• Students placed in lowest remedial levels of reading and math have less than a 33% and 17% chance respectively of completing the remedial sequence (Bailey, Jeong, & Cho, 2010).

• About 75% of students report not preparing for a placement test, yet almost 3/4 of those students would advise others to do so (Rosenbaum, Shuetz, & Foran, 2010).

• 2/3 of community college students do not realize their remedial courses do not count for credit (Rosenbaum, Deil-Amen, & Person, 2006).

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• What do community colleges tell incoming students about placement tests?

Community Colleges and Placement Tests

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Methods and Sample

• 9 public community colleges (4 in Illinois and 5 in California)

• Websites are the major source of information

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Findings1.The Test: What is the placement test?

– Community college websites do not advertise

placement tests.

– Several colleges barely mention the test.

– Many colleges bury information deep within their

sites.

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2.Incentives: Why is the test important?

– Community college websites do not inform

students of placement tests’ impact on degree

timetables.

– Colleges often avoid giving discouraging

information and provide vague, reassuring

descriptions of the test instead.

Findings

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3.Preparation: How can students get a better

score?

– “Summer gap”

– Community colleges do not recommend preparing

for placement tests. Some discourage it.

– Preparation materials are limited.

Findings

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4.Timing and Retest: When should students

take the test?

– Advice on when to take the test and retesting is

largely unavailable.

– Advantages to testing early:

• Fresh content

• Allows time for practice and retesting

Findings

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5.Use: How to use test results?

– Provide students with information to devise

successful plans within timetable;

– Indicate student’s level of preparation;

– Forecast additional time needed for remedial;

– Advise students in choosing first career goal.

Findings

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Conclusion• Community college webpages provide little

information about existence and importance of placement tests.

• Social context undermines the test’s validity as an indicator of students’ college readiness.

• Community colleges’ lack of clarity on placement tests likely hurts remedial results, regardless of students’ achievement.

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What can community colleges do?

• Standardize and organize the community college admissions process - emulate that of selective colleges’ admissions and testing– Admissions test– “National Decision Day”– Early Registration– College Board and ACT procedures

• Improve advice given on websites - the main source of information about community colleges

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ReferencesBailey, T., Jeong, D. W., & Cho, S. (2010). Referral, enrollment, and completion in developmental education sequences in community colleges. Economics of Education Review, 29, 255-270.

Rosenbaum, J., Deil-Amen, R., & Person, A. (2006). After admission: From college access to college success. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Rosenbaum, J., Redline, J., & Stephan, J. (2007). Community college: The unfinished revolution. Issues in Science and Technology, 23(4), 49-56.

Rosenbaum, J., Schuetz, P. & Foran, A. How students make college plans and ways schools and colleges could help. (working paper, Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, July 15, 2010).

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