BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Gloria Romero, Chair
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 2682
AUTHOR: Block
AMENDED: May 28, 2010
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: June 30, 2010
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Kathleen
Chavira
SUBJECT : Community College Student Assessment Pilot
Program
KEY POLICY ISSUE
Should the California Community Colleges be required to
establish a pilot program to work towards the development
of a centrally delivered student assessment system for
purposes of community college placement and advisement?
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Board of Governors (BOG) of the
California Community Colleges (CCC), to establish a pilot
program to develop a centrally delivered student assessment
system for purposes of community college placement and
advisement, specifies its objectives, establishes an
advisory committee for the pilot, as specified, and
requires a report on the progress of the pilot by February
28, 2011.
BACKGROUND
Current law requires that the colleges make available a
variety of "matriculation services" to students. Among
other things, these services are required to include
assessment and counseling upon enrollment which includes,
but is not limited to, all of the following (Education Code
78212):
Administration of assessment instruments to
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determine student competency in computational and
language skills.
Assistance to students in the identification
of aptitudes, interests and educational
objectives, including, but not limited to,
associate of arts degrees, transfer for
baccalaureate degrees, and vocational
certificates and licenses.
Evaluation of student study and learning
skills.
Current law also requires that assessments be used as an
advisory tool to assist students in the selection of
educational programs and prohibits their use to exclude
students from admission. (EC 78213)
ANALYSIS
This bill requires the Board of Governor's of the
California Community Colleges (CCC) to establish a pilot
program to create a centrally delivered system of student
assessment for purposes of community college placement and
advisement. More specifically it:
1) Requires the pilot program established by the bill to
include the following objectives:
a) Creation of a centrally delivered
system of student assessment that provides a
single assessment instrument for use by the CCC
in the areas of English, mathematics, and English
as a second language.
b) Creation of a secure, centrally
housed assessment test data warehouse that
collects all available assessment scores
generated by assessed students at participating
community colleges and all available K-12
assessment data and transcript information for
these students, and limits the use of this data
to its use for the placement and advising of
these students to enhance their success with and
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completion of their postsecondary education
objectives.
c) Creation of an Internet web
portal, accessible by college personnel and
students, that provides all of the following:
i) An individual student
assessment profile for purposes of
counseling, matriculation, and course
placement.
ii) A pretest application for students
to practice on and familiarize themselves
with prior to taking any assessments.
iii) An advisement tool that provides
students with information on historical
success rates of remedial courses for
students at various levels of remediation.
2) Requires the BOG to:
a) Convene an advisory committee for
the pilot that includes but is not limited to the
Office of the Chancellor, Academic Senate and the
Research and Planning Group of the CCC, the LAO,
the Department of Finance, the California
Department of Education, and the California
Community Colleges Matriculation Professionals
Association.
b) Report on the progress of the
pilot by February 28, 2011 and specifies that the
report include information on:
i) Estimated costs for
full implementation of the centralized
delivery and warehousing of assessment
instruments.
ii) The technical
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feasibility of expanding the pilot.
iii) Identification of legislative
changes needed to deliver test scores to and
from the data warehouse.
iv) The best model for
providing ongoing funding for the pilot
project.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . This bill is sponsored by the BOG
of the CCC. According to the sponsor, taking an
assessment prior to placement in a course is an
essential step in increasing student academic success.
Because of fiscal constraints, colleges recently have
had to reduce the number of assessments available for
students, falling far short of the actual need. In
addition, because colleges use a variety of test
instruments, students who take courses from multiple
colleges within a region are compelled to take a new
assessment test at each college attended. This is a
time consuming requirement for students and an
inefficient use of funds by the colleges, as each
college currently develops and purchases its own
testing program.
Through the centrally delivered system of student
assessment required by this bill, the pilot will
create an opportunity to reduce costs to the campuses,
to collect, store, and use multiple measures for the
placement of students, be easily transportable for
students who attend multiple campuses, and encourage
test preparation for the assessments so that students
can move quickly into college level work.
2) Clarification of objectives . Under current
regulations, community college districts are
prohibited from using any single assessment,
instrument, method, or procedure to exclude any person
from admission, placement, or for mandatory placement
or exclusion from any particular course or educational
program (California Code of Regulations, Title V
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55521). Essentially, these regulations ensure that
multiple measures are used for determining student
access to community college coursework and programs.
Staff recommends the bill be amended on Page 2, line 5
after assessment to delete "used" and insert "to be
used as one of multiple measures, consistent with
existing regulations" in order to clarify that the
centralized assessment is being developed to
facilitate the use of one tool available to community
colleges for student placement and advisement.
3) Consistent with LAO Report/Recommendations . In its
June 2008 report, Back to Basics: Improving College
Readiness of Community College Students, the LAO finds
that a number of systemwide policies and practices are
at odds with generally accepted strategies for
improving basic skills education. Among its findings,
the LAO noted that individual colleges often use
different assessment tests and employ different
definitions of college readiness, which sends a
confusing message to current and prospective students.
The LAO recommended, among other things, that a
statewide CCC placement test derived from K-12's math
and English standards tests be made available. The
LAO also notes that most studies agree that incoming
community college students should be assessed prior to
enrolling in class.
4) The "other" assessment program . Current law (EC
99300 and 99301) provides for the community
colleges' participation in the Early Assessment
Program (EAP). Originally implemented by the
California State University (CSU) in 2004, the EAP is
a collaborative effort between the CSU, the California
Department of Education (CDE), and the State Board of
Education to determine a high school student's
readiness to do college-level work in English language
arts and math and to provide students opportunities to
improve skills during their senior year. Under the
EAP, 11th graders taking the California Standards Test
are encouraged to take an "augmented version" of the
test that includes additional English and math
questions and a written essay. The results of the
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augmented version, once scored, indicate a student's
"readiness" for college-level English and math.
Those whose scores indicate they are not ready are
encouraged to take classes during their senior year to
improve and strengthen their skills. The goal of the
EAP is to have high school graduates enter the CSU and
the California Community Colleges fully prepared to do
college-level work. Inclusion of the Community
Colleges in the EAP enabled community colleges to work
with their local high schools and CSU, to address the
high number of students who are unprepared for
college-level course work.
Staff notes that, whereas the EAP offers an assessment
to be administered to high school students to help
them prepare for college level coursework, this bill
establishes a pilot program that implements a common
assessment for students upon enrollment at a community
college for purposes of informing appropriate course
placement and advisement.
SUPPORT
Antelope Valley Community College District
Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges
California Postsecondary Education System
Cerritos Community College District
Citrus College
College of Marin
College of the Sequoias
Community College League of California
Desert Community College District
Feather River College
Glendale Community College
Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities
Kern Community College District
Long Beach City College
Los Angeles Community College District
Los Rios Community College District
MiraCosta Community College District
Mt. San Antonio College
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Pasadena City College
Peralta Community College District
Rio Hondo College
San Bernadino Community College District
San Diego Community College District
West Kern Community College District
Yosemite Community College District
Yuba Community College District
OPPOSITION
None received.