September 2013
The first day of school can be exhilarating with its blend of anticipation and anxiety. Recent high school graduates entering a California community college for the first time often confront an additional burden—assessment results that tell them they have to repeat an English or math class already completed at the secondary level. As John Hetts, Director of Institutional Research for Long Beach City College often notes in his presentations, telling incoming students just out of high school that “you’re not ready for college” can be discouraging. Of particular concern is the fact that while our community colleges place the “remedial” label on these students, it may be our own placement processes that are in need of remediation.
When critically examining California community college placement systems and K-12 curricula, we may ask how aligned are California community college English and math courses to California K-12 standards? To what extent do the K-12 standards prepare students for the core English composition and college-level math courses that are articulated among California public community colleges and universities? How effective are our assessments in informing us about students’ readiness for college-level work? Of course, some students do need remediation. Some did not have a successful high school experience. Others graduated long ago and their academic skills have faded with time. However, when we consider the academic preparation of recent high school graduates from California who earned passing grades or higher in their high school courses, we may be underestimating their ability to succeed in college-level work—in part due to the underutilization of their high school course and test data for advising and placement.
In the context of these questions, a group of colleges, foundations, a system office and researchers have come together to explore responses and strategies to improve student progression through our educational systems through the Student Transcript-Enhanced Placement Study (STEPS). This report documents the process and current state of STEPS, findings and implications discovered to date, and planned continuing efforts and will inform a companion practitioner brief for the field. This document begins with historical background and related efforts before turning to detailed and technical descriptions of the work in which colleges engaged. The technical sections are useful for researchers wishing to replicate or extend the work described but can be skipped by readers more interested in the final section with findings, implications, and future activities.