The Value of Assessments: What does it mean for you?

Institute for the Study of Transfer StudentsFt. Worth, Texas - January 26, 2004

Our Mission

•The College Board’s mission is to connect students to college success and opportunity. We are a not-for-profit membership organization committed to excellence and equity in education.

Value of Assessment………………….Challenges:

• Increased attrition rates

• Faculty frustration=low student performance

• Student dissatisfaction

• Poor course efficiencies

• Disproportionate enrollment in courses

• Institutional quality

• Financial stability of institution decreases

• Internal and external pressures (state mandates)

• Student demand unmet

….……What does this mean for you?

• Increase enrollment through retention

• Informed placement= student success in and out of the classroom

• Ease Transition

• Enhance Persistence to degree completion

• Accountability= attainable outcomes

• Graduating students

• Institutional quality= enhanced academic environment with standards of excellence

• Equity= access and opportunity

Value of Assessment………………….

….……What does this mean for you?

National Landscape

• Public two-year institutions or community college 46%

• Public four-year institutions 26%

• Private four-year institutions 15%

• Private for-profit institutions or vocational programs of less than four years 10%

• Other institutions 3%

Camara, Wayne; The College Board: College Persistence, Graduation, Remediation; RN-19, March 2003

Enrollment in Postsecondary Education by Institutional Type: Students who entered Higher Education in 1995-1996:

American Higher Education

American Higher Education

56 percent of undergraduates are women.

33 percent of undergraduates are racial or ethnic minorities.

43 percent of undergraduates are age 24 or older.

80 percent work, and 39 percent work full-time.

National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS). 8th graders in 1988, followed up in 1994 and 2000.

• Average In-State Tuition/Fees for Public four-year: • $ 4,694, up $ 579 from 2002-2003, an increase of 14.1%

• Average Tuition/Fees for Private four-year: • $ 19,710, up $ 1,114 from 2002-2003, an increase of 6%

• Southwest Public four year averages: $ 3,576 (lowest)

• Middle States Public four-year averages: $ 6,350 (highest)

• New England Private four-year averages: $ 25, 093 (highest in nation)

• In constant 2003 dollars from 1994-2004:

• Public four-year: average tuition/fees rose: 47% ($ 1,506)

• Private four-year: average tuition/fees rose: 42% ($ 5,866)

Cost of Education

The College Board: Trends in College Pricing 2003.

Who can afford an education?

• Of the published charges at a public four-year institution in 2003, the share of income required to cover the cost:

• Highest Income: ($ 99,000 +): 5 % of their income

• Middle Income: 19% of their income

• Lowest Income: 71% of their income

The College Board: Trends in College Pricing 2003.

Community Colleges

Community College Survey of Student Engagement; 2004

Who are the students…..

• 50% of all undergraduates in a public post-secondary institution is in a community college

• 64% of those students are Part-Time

• Average age of students in community colleges: 29 years old

• 33% have children living at home

• 47% work more than 20 hours per week

Enrollment Growth during the 1990’s • Community College: 14%

• All of Higher Education: 9%

Community CollegesAspirations….

• 59% of students primary goal is to obtain an Associates Degree

• 53% of students primary goal is to transfer to a four-year institution

• 21% of students list transferring to a four-year institution as second goal

• 45% report lack of finances would be a likely reason for dropping out

Satisfaction….

• 95% would recommend their college to a friend or family

• 86% rate experience as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’

• 69% feel college provides the support they need to succeed

• 42% feel they get the financial support they need to afford college

Community College Survey of Student Engagement; 2004

Community Colleges: The Student’s Reality….• 50% of students do not make it to 2nd year of study

• 50% of all first-time students in community colleges are assessed as under-prepared (remediation) • 1/3rd of all students in higher education require remedial education

• 1998 remediation costs $ 2 billion annually in public higher education

• 53% of students cite transferring as a primary goal• 25% of students actually do transfer from their school

• 36% of students report that they rarely or never use academic advising/planning services

• 49% report that they rarely or never use career counseling services

• 25% of students that entered a public-two year college in 1995-1996 had attained a credential by 2001.

Community College Survey of Student Engagement; 2004

Four year institutions…• 83% of all freshman in 1995-1996 were ‘traditional college students’ (high school

graduates who enroll college full-time immediately after high school) tending a four year institution.

• 64% attained a bachelor’s in six year or less versus 55% of all freshman

• First generation students are less likely to enroll in a four-year college than students with at least one parent who has a bachelor’s degree; if they enroll they are less likely to persist to a degree three years later

• 40% of all seniors who completed the NSSE survey attended college at one or more different institutions before enrolling in the school from which they were about to graduate in 2004. Amongst the senior transfer students, they were more likely to:

• Enroll part-time

• drive to campus

• spend time caring for dependents

• first-generation (neither parent graduated from college

• be a student of color

• work at a job off campus

National Survey of Student Engagement, 2002

Four year institutions…

37

33

32

26

18

9

2

60

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Financially independent

Delayed entry

Attended part-time

Worked full time

Had dependents

Single parent

No HS diploma

Any characteristic

Percentage

Percentage of Undergraduates at Four-year Institutions with Nontraditional Characteristics: 1999-2000

National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS). 8th graders in 1988, followed up in 1994 and 2000

Knocking At The College Door

• 3.2 million high school graduates, forecast for 2008-2009---8% higher than today.

• Most significant growth in the number of public high school graduates is the South.

• 1990-91: 779,040

• 2001-02: 904,294 (16% increase)

• 2009-10: over 1 million

• High School Graduation Growth Rates by State• 2008-2009: Nevada--35.93%; Arizona--21.26%; Florida--21.02%

• 2013-2014: Nevada—62.225; Arizona—32.25%; Florida--21.96%

• More minority students than ever - almost 43% of enrollment by 2007-2008 (a 23% increase in five years.)

Who is Knocking on the College Door. Dec. 2003; WICHE; College Board; ACT

Knocking At The College Door: The New Minority • The West is projected to be a minority majority

region for the class of 2010

• The South will follow suit in 2015

• 11 states and the District of Columbia will be minority majority by the class of 2014: Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Texas

• What’s driving the trend: A surge in Hispanic and Asian/Pacific Islander student enrollment

Who is Knocking on the College Door. Dec. 2003; WICHE; College Board; ACT

Knocking At The College Door:Family Income Data• The South is expected to have the highest

proportion of graduates in the lowest income group (under $ 20,000); nearly 1 in every 5 graduates in the class of 2007

• About 17 percent of graduates in the West will be from this income group

• The Midwest and Northeast will see about 13 percent each

Who is Knocking on the College Door. Dec. 2003; WICHE; College Board; ACT

The Challenges We Face Today….• Today’s high school freshman class will be the

biggest graduating class ever.

• The next two classes: Even bigger

• The challenges:

• How can we prepare them for a competitive college environment?

• How can higher education prepare itself for their arrival?

connect to college success

SAT ACCUPLACER CLEP

SAT Changes for the Class of 2006Verbal Change name to critical reading;

Eliminate analogies;Add short paragraph reading passages.

Math Expand math content to include topics from third-year college-preparatory math(which most people know as Algebra II);Eliminate quantitative comparisons.

Writing Multiple-choice grammar and usageStudent-written essay (SAT only).

Time frame New SAT in March 2005

Diagnostics Working toward addition of diagnostics to the SAT.

Current SAT New SAT3 hours 3 hours 45 minutes

Critical Reading

75 minutes

Two 30-minute sections and one 15-minute section

70 minutes

Two 25-minute sections and one 20-minute section

Math75 minutes

Two 30-minute sections and one 15-minute section

70 minutes

Two 25-minute sections and one 20-minute section

Writing

60 minutes

35-minute multiple choice (one 25-minute section and one 10-minute section) and one 25 minute essay

Variable Section

30 minutes 25 minutes

Time Specifications

Test ScoresMaintain Equivalence, Comparability, and Trend Data…

• Between the old verbal and new critical reading sections.

• Between the old and new math sections.

Current SAT New SAT

Critical Reading

V 200–800 CR 200–800

Math M 200–800 M 200–800

Writing(Subscores)

W 200–800

(Essay 2–12 )

(Multiple-choice 20–80)

Summary:Survey of Admissions Directors

Reasons for Reading Candidates’ New SAT Essays

Reason for Use Percent

To provide additional information about a candidate’s writing skills

78%

To compare and verify an application essay 46

To use as an additional placement essay 32

To replace an application essay(s) 19

To replace an essay currently used for placement 16

Other 7

CLEP Age Breakdown of CLEP Candidates (03-04)

10%

25%

20%12%

23%

10% Under 19

19-22

23-29

30-35

36 and older

Not reported

CLEP Education Level of CLEP Candidates (03-04)

13%

11%

12%

15%12%

28%

9%

HS Student

HS Graduate

College Freshman

CollegeSophomoreCollege J unior

College Senior

College Graduate

Highest Volume CLEP Exams (03-04)

23,033

9,6188,488 8,133 7,850 6,755

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000Spanish Language

Analyzing &Interpreting Lit

Freshman CollegeComposition

EnglishComposition withEssayCollege Algebra

Sociology

, 2004

CLEP Research Says:

• Students who earn credit via CLEP during orientation programs persist to 2nd semester of first year 15% higher than students who did not take CLEP; 19% higher to 2nd year of study

• Students who earn credit via CLEP are more likely to than their peers to complete a bachelor’s degree in four years

• Students who earn credit via CLEP perform as well or better in subsequent courses than students who completed the introductory course

• Exempted CLEP students have a higher cumulative GPA than students who did not take CLEP

How Can CLEP Help Transfer Students?

• Establishes standardization for coursework at all institutions

• Allows military and transient students to complete degree programs

• Helps alleviate overcrowded introductory level courses

• Provides alternative to returning students who have taken coursework that has expired

• By helping students accelerate their college degree and advance to more challenging courses more quickly

• By providing a cost-effective means of earning college credit at time when college tuition is rising at unprecedented rate

ACCUPLACER Reading, Sentence Skills

Arithmetic, Elem. Algebra, College Level Math

WritePlacer Plus

ACCUPLACER ESLReading Skills, Sentence Meaning,

Language Use, Listening, WritePlacer ESL

Who do we serve……

• Over 1000 institutions of higher education and secondary education

• 60% 2 year

• 35% 4 year

• 5% high schools

• Over 5.2 million exams administered in 03-04

Why ACCUPLACER……

• Computer Adaptive Testing

• Internet based; 24/7

• Reliable System performance (5 years on internet)

• Immediate System enhancements

• Ability to test at off-site locations

• ATB approved

• Cost Effective

How Can ACCUPLACER Help Transfer Students?

• One-Stop-Shop

• Placement; Advisement; Registration

• Immediate Results

• Transfer with scores: reduce testing

• Early awareness of remediation needs.

• Measure of a student’s “Ability to Benefit”

WE connect students to college success