CAPR Publications
College Course Placement Based on Multiple Measures Assessment: A Synthesis of Two Experimental Evaluations
By Sophie Litschwartz, Dan Cullinan, and Colin Hill | December 2024
Using data from twelve community colleges in three states, this report synthesizes findings from two evaluations that compare the effects of traditional test-only course placement to MMA course placement. The findings suggest that MMA is a cost-effective strategy for improving college progress.
Lessons on Scaling Corequisites: The City University of New York’s Transition From Prerequisite to Corequisite Academic Support
Maggie P. Fay, Julia Raufman, Andrea Lopez Salazar, Selena Cho, Farzana Matin, and Elizabeth Kopko | November 2024
This report draws on interview data with faculty and staff to examine how seven City University of New York colleges transitioned to fully scaled corequisite courses in English and math and the implications of their choices for early implementation.
Access to Success: Insights for Implementing a Multiple Measures Assessment System
Elizabeth Kopko, Hollie Daniels, Dan Cullinan, Hanna Nichols, Ellen Wasserman, and Sarahi Hernandez | March 2024
This report highlights the roles of key actors and of state context and policy in the implementation of multiple measures assessment (MMA) at 12 two- and four-year colleges in Arkansas and Texas. It also discusses costs and describes challenges, such as obtaining staff buy-in, managing student data, and ensuring sufficient staffing.
Impact Findings From the Dana Center Mathematics Pathways Long-Term Follow-Up Study
Susan Sepanik | December 2023
This brief highlights findings from a rigorous long-term follow-up study of an early version of the DCMP model that found a sustained impact on students’ successful completion of their first college-level math course of 5.6 percentage points after five years.
Multiple Measures Assessment and Corequisite Courses: Alternate Ways to Place and Prepare New College Students
Sophie Litschwartz, Dan Cullinan, and Vivianna Plancarte | November 2023
This brief describes evidence showing that multiple measures assessment and corequisite remediation can improve outcomes for students assessed as needing remedial education, explains both practices, discusses surveys showing they are increasing nationally, and introduces a study on how they can work together.
Dana Center Mathematics Pathways Long-Term Follow-Up Cost Analysis
Dan Cullinan | November 2023
This brief is part of a follow-up study that reports on longer-term student outcomes and provides additional cost data analysis from the five years of follow-up research. It also compares costs to cumulative academic outcomes, providing estimates of cost effectiveness. A supplement to the brief breaks down the costs into categories.
The Long-Term Effects of Multiple Measures Assessment at SUNY Community Colleges
Elizabeth Kopko and Hollie Daniels | October 2023
This brief describes findings and implications of an evaluation study of multiple measures assessment (MMA); it focuses on results among students whose placements changed (or would have changed) under MMA.
The Long-Term Effectiveness of Multiple Measures Assessment: Evidence From a Randomized Controlled Trial
Elizabeth Kopko, Hollie Daniels, and Dan Cullinan | October 2023
Using nine terms of outcomes data, this working paper presents findings from an impact study on multiple measures assessment at seven State University of New York (SUNY) community colleges.
Long-Term Effects of the Dana Center Math Pathways Model: Evidence From a Randomized Trial
Susan Sepanik and Sukanya Barman | October 2023
This working paper reports on longer term impacts on students’ math completion, academic progress, and academic attainment from a randomized controlled trial of an early model of Dana Center Math Pathways (DCMP).
Lessons from the Dana Center’s Corequisite Research Design Collaborative Study
By Oscar Cerna, Vivianna Plancarte, Julia Raufman, Jorge Mahecha-Rodriguez, and Ellen Wasserman | September 2023
This research brief and supplement highlight findings on the design and implementation of corequisite courses at four colleges, as well as findings from a survey administered to students who were enrolled in these courses in fall 2021 and spring 2022.