Building a Bridge to Improve Student Success: A Collaborative Project between Western Connecticut State University and Area High Schools

Research & Teaching in Developmental Education, Spring 2006 by Maida, Paula, Zink, Abbey

Regarding demographics, the schools involved in this project are the two largest feeder high schools to WestConn. The actual names of the high schools are omitted and simply referenced as High School #1 (HSl) and High School #2 (HS2). HSl is part of a diverse urban "priority one" school district and HS2 is part of a middle-class suburban school district. In Fall 2004, WestConn had 4,559 full-time students, 3,995 of whom were undergraduates.3

Mathematics Component of Bridge Project

Choice of Test

The mathematics placement test that is typically administered at WestConn to entering students is the online version of the The College Board's Accuplacer exam. However, this online placement exam was not the ideal instrument to be administered in the high schools for two main reasons. First, this test has no time limit, and it was difficult to permit an unbounded timeframe in the high school schedule. second, this test requires each student to have access to a computer that is connected to the Internet. This too was a difficult feat due to the volume of students taking the test. Therefore, the math team (two math faculty from WestConn and three each from HSl and HS2) agreed to substitute the Accuplacer Online math placement exam with its timed, paper/pencil counterpart, Companion. The College Board's Companion is a 35-question standardized test having a 45-minute time limit. The use of calculators was not allowed for the Companion test (nor is it allowed for the Accuplacer Online test).

Scheduling and Administration of Test

Sixty minutes were required for the distribution of testing materials (i.e., exam booklets, scantron sheets, scratch paper and pencils), completion of scantron sheet information, and test-taking. In Phase I of this project, 529 and 174 juniors took the mathematics placement test in February 2004 at HS1 and HS2, respectively.

Grading

The students' scantron sheets were scored at WestConn and each student earned WestConn mathematics placement based on the number of questions answered correctly:

The fact that over 75% of the students at each high school placed into remedial math courses (i.e., Elementary and Intermediate Algebra courses) was no surprise to the two WestConn math professors since this percentage trend has been occurring not only regionally but also nationally. However, the high school teachers and coordinators were surprised that the majority of students placed into remedial courses, particularly because they were aware firsthand that this material had been taught in the high school classes. The students received this elementary algebra material early in their high school years and probably would have performed better if they had taken the exam directly after their algebra course(s). Connecticut high school students, however, are not required to take four years of mathematics. This placement exam experience provided juniors with the opportunity to recognize how important it is to take math in their senior year (as well as to capitalize on all math courses throughout high school). Otherwise, low placement results equate to spending extra money and extra time with remediation upon college entrance.