The report found that there is a mismatch between students’ self-assessment of their academic abilities and the results they get on placement exams. According to the report’s findings, 86 percent of students believe they are “ready for college,” but a full 67 percent test into developmental coursework.
Developmental, or remedial education, are courses intended to bring students up to speed, and they are not credit bearing. Some developmental sequences are three courses long, meaning that students can spend a year or more studying before they can start earning college credits.
“We know that very few students made it to a gatekeeper course, if they started [at the] lowest level of developmental education,” said Evelyn Waiwaiole, CCCSE center director.
High school performance is typically taken as an indication of college potential, but the report found that 40 percent of the students who reported an A average in high school also tested into developmental education.
“If we’re going to be serious about completion, we have to rethink and redesign how we get students ready for college-level work,” Waiwaiole said. “There isn’t a silver bullet because what we’ve been doing traditionally hasn’t worked.”
The report’s findings suggest that placement exams may not be a wholly accurate indicator of college preparedness. Only 41 percent of the students responding to the report prepared for their placement exam. Those students who do prepare for the placement exam tend to perform better.
