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 Foran Northwestern University
Mar 30, 2015
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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Findings
1.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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