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