{"id":3588,"date":"2020-10-30T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-30T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postsecondaryreadiness.org\/dev\/?p=3588"},"modified":"2021-01-15T15:52:50","modified_gmt":"2021-01-15T20:52:50","slug":"suny-multiple-measures-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postsecondaryreadiness.org\/dev\/suny-multiple-measures-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"SUNY Colleges Are Using Homegrown Multiple Measures Systems to Place Students During the Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

SUNY Colleges Are Using Homegrown Multiple Measures Systems to Place Students During the Pandemic<\/h1>\n

By Elisabeth Barnett<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

It\u2019s becoming increasingly apparent that traditional placement tests do a poor job of determining which students should be allowed to enroll in college-level courses and that multiple measures assessment and placement systems do much better. In particular, the high school GPA has been found to better predict success in college courses, possibly because it captures not only content knowledge but also the ability to be a competent student. Now that colleges have moved most of their operations online in response to the pandemic, there is extra motivation to find alternatives to in-person placement tests.<\/p>\n

New research findings<\/h2>\n

Our new CAPR report, entitled Who Should Take College-Level Courses? Impact Findings From an Evaluation of a Multiple Measures Assessment Strategy<\/em><\/a>, shares findings of a multi-year experimental study of a data analytics, multiple measures assessment and placement system. Though they\u2019re still not perfect, we found that multiple measures systems do a better job of placing students than standardized tests alone.<\/p>\n

Beginning in 2015, CAPR obtained historical student data\u2014such as high school GPAs, ACCUPLACER scores, and time since high school graduation\u2014from each college in the study and used it to develop an algorithm that would predict success in college-level math and English courses. Students entering in fall 2016, spring 2017, and fall 2017 were randomly assigned to be placed using either traditional methods (usually scores on placement tests) or the new algorithm. After three semesters, it was clear that the multiple measures system gave many more students a chance to take college-level courses, especially in English. And program group students had a rate of completion of a college-level English course 2.9 percentage points higher than their peers after three semesters. Improvements in college math outcomes in early semesters didn\u2019t hold up.<\/p>\n

One of the most interesting things that emerged in this research, however, was the impact on students who were \u201cbumped up\u201d or \u201cbumped down.\u201d Program group students who were bumped up into college-level courses were 8\u201310 percentage points more likely to complete a college-level math or English course within three terms. Students who were bumped down into developmental courses were 8\u201310 percentage points less likely to complete a college-level math or English course within three terms.<\/p>\n

Our takeaway? When in doubt, give students the opportunity to enroll in college-level courses.<\/p>\n

What colleges are doing now<\/h2>\n

Our multiple measures research was conducted during the \u201cbefore times,\u201d and things have changed. While many colleges were already moving toward the use of multiple measures placement systems, COVID-19 greatly accelerated the transition.\u00a0 It is more difficult to administer placement tests when students are not on campus and are unable to access testing labs, and this rapid shift to multiple measures makes the lessons from our research all the more important for colleges.<\/p>\n

Colleges in the SUNY System have responded to COVID-19 by streamlining and redeploying many of their operations, including placement, to support students during this crisis. Beginning in the spring of 2020 and spurred by the shift to remote learning, colleges involved in SUNY\u2019s Strong Start to Finish<\/a> initiative began to rethink placement systems. In a remarkably short period of time, almost all of them have developed systems that do not rely on single placement tests, and some are planning to forego placement tests altogether going forward. Here are examples of approaches that were developed for students entering college in the fall of 2020:<\/p>\n