Added Indication of College-Readiness Beginning Fall 2019

To:	Montgomery College Community
From:	Dr. Monica Brown, Senior Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Sanjay Rai, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
Subject:	Added Indication of College-Readiness Beginning Fall 2019
Date:	July 10, 2019

In August 2018, the Maryland Association of Community Colleges and the Public-School Superintendents Association of Maryland revised their Memorandum of Understanding to expand the criteria used to determine college-readiness to include high school grade point average (GPA). This change was a recommendation of the Maryland Council of Community College Chief Academic Officers (M4CAOs), who studied the use of high school GPA as an alternative measure of college-readiness with the assistance of a statewide committee. The recommendation aligns with research findings, which demonstrate that high school GPAs are useful predictors of students’ college performance (Belfield and Crosta 2012).  The revised Memorandum of Understanding indicates that in addition to PARCC, SAT, ACT, AP, IB, ACCUPLACER scores, and dual enrollment, Maryland community colleges will accept: •    The verified, cumulative, unweighted high school GPA of 3.0 or better to signify the college-readiness of the applicant; the GPA will have an expiration date of no less than 5 years, regarding its utility as a metric for college-readiness. As such, the applicant would not have to take the ACCUPLACER exam, or otherwise, be restricted from registering for credit classes. •    This measure does not apply to grades earned in English as a Second Language (ESL) courses. •    The use of the recommended 3.0 or higher high school GPA as an alternative measure for college-readiness at all Maryland community colleges will be in place by Fall 2019. ·         This measure applies only to Maryland public high school students beginning with Spring 2019 graduates. •    A review of the metric will occur within three years of the implementation of the new alternative measure. It is important to note that from a faculty perspective, these changes will not affect educational practices. This new criterion will appear in Banner in the same way that the Alternative Placement Program information does, permitting registration accordingly. We would sincerely like to thank the following members of the implementation team who worked diligently to seamlessly integrate this new assessment. 3.0 GPA Implementation Team Elena Saenz Akima Rogers Ernest Cartledge Guillermo Laya Jamin Bartolomeo John Hamman Joshua Messite Katie Mount Kimberly Kelley Kimberly McNair Mohamed El Muwaqqat Patricia Cooper Phong Banh Rodney Redmond Tonya Mason Usha Venkatesh Veronica Banh Reference Belfield, C.R. & Crosta, P.M. (2012). Predicting success in college: The importance of placement tests and high school transcripts. (Community College Research Center Working Paper No. 42.) Retrieved from https://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/publications/predicting-success- placement-tests-transcripts.html

Classic & Next Gen Accuplacer - No Combined Scores for Placement

Per Dean Redmond: Students cannot mix Classic Accuplacer and Next Generation Accuplacer scores for reading and English. Students would need to have both their reading and English scores come from the same test source to count. If they only have one score from each test, they will need to retest for that particular section using Next Generation Accuplacer.  

-Example A: Classic Accuplacer: Reading 53; Next Gen Accuplacer: English 238- Student would need to retest in reading using Next Gen Accuplacer. Scores incomplete.

-Example B: Classic Accuplacer: Reading 66; Classic Accuplacer: English 88- Student can use these scores for placement.

Please let me know if you have any questions. Banner is currently programmed to not accept a mix of Classic and Next Gen Accuplacer scores.

APP Placement - Alternative Placement is not listed in Banner, what should I do?

Counselor Informed Potential APP Students

Counseling and advising is reporting conversations with students who claim to be eligible for APPE or APPM. In the instances where there is no APP code in Banner to confirm the students’ eligibility for APP, the counselor or advising cadre member has been sending a request to Elizabeth Benton, indicating the students’ potential APP eligibility, for confirmation. The process that has been engaged is as follows:

1. Counselor sends email with student name and M# to Elizabeth Benton, indicating student may be eligible for APPE or APPM;

2. Elizabeth Benton compiles list of names and M# from counselors;

3. Elizabeth Benton sends list to Josh Messite each Thursday morning;

4. Josh confirms APP status with MCPS, adding APP score when applicable;

5. Josh replies to Elizabeth Benton with status of the list after confirmation from MCPS

Students on Campus with Transcripts

In the event that a student brings an unofficial transcript to campus for an advising session, the transcript may be used for advising purpose. Students eligible for APPE must have earned a final grade of “B” or higher in AP Language and Composition, Honors English 12 or Modern World History. APPM students must have earned a final grade of “B” or higher in Algebra 2.

1. Counselor or cadre member should advise the student of his/her eligibility for APPE or APPM, based on the transcript;

2. Counselor should place an override into Banner, allowing the student to register for the appropriate course;

3. Counselor adds comment in Banner “Student APP (E or M, as appropriate) eligible via transcript”, indicating that the student presented a copy of the transcript to the counselor for advising purpose;

4. Counselor sends an email with the student’s name and M# to Elizabeth Benton, indicating the course and grade on transcript that qualifies the student for APPE or APPM (crucial for tracking/evaluating the students’ success)

5. Elizabeth Benton will compile list and send to Josh each Thursday morning, indicating which APP code should be added to each student’s record;

6. Josh will add the appropriate APP code to the student’s record.

Lifting WDCE Bridge Hold for APP Process

1. Counselor meets with a student who has a WDCE Bridge Hold on his/her record. Student cannot register for either APPE course (ENGL 101A) or the APPM course (either MATH 110 or MATH 117).

2. Counselor sends request to lift the hold along with the student’s name and M#, APP E or APPM indicator to Deborah Crutchfield in WDCE with a copy to Rodney.

3. Deborah removes the hold and replies to all that the hold has been removed, so the student can register.

4. Rodney send the student’s name and M# to Christine Hunt to add to her list so that the student’s progress can be tracked.

5. Counselor notifies the student that the hold has been lifted and s/he can now register for the appropriate APPE or APPM.

Placement Testing Deadline - Fall 2019

Assessment centers will have ACCU ESL appointments from Monday through Friday, starting August 5 and including Saturday, August 10. 

The last day for ACCU ESL is scheduled to be Wed, August 21. For NextGen and ALEKS, the last day of testing will be Saturday, August 24.