Assessment & Placement:
Minefield Or Mirror of Students' True Abilities?
At many community colleges, the initial assessment process often relies heavily on standardized tests like the Accuplacer test for class placement. These tests are rarely the best way to gauge the readiness of foreign-educated immigrants for college in the U.S. Many of these students have been out of school for a while, may not be used to taking standardized, multiple-choice tests, and are unfamiliar with the U.S. college admissions and placement process.
What’s the alternative? Mindful of how unreliable standardized test scores can be for immigrants who have never taken one, some colleges have begun to implement more “holistic” assessment tools, using structured, personal interviews to delve into the student’s prior education and professional experience and to assemble a more complete picture of the students’ needs and strengths.
Best PracticePlacing Immigrant Students in Appropriate Training Programs
At Alamo Colleges in Texas, the Workbased English Solutions program welcomes immigrants living in the San Antonio area into training programs that provide access to high-demand, career-building jobs. Alamo uses bilingual personal interviews to discuss the students’ educational and career aspirations and to gauge the students’ work-related skills. After the personal interview, students choose a desired course of study and take an in-depth assessment in English of their writing, listening, reading and mathematics skills. Spanish language tests are administered to Spanish-speaking students to better understand students’ level of educational preparation. A four-person committee reviews the interviews and test results, makes placement decisions and provides direction to an educational case manager who meets with students to discuss next steps.
Increasingly, colleges are recognizing that knowledge gained outside of the classroom is valuable and deserves college credit.
Best PracticePrior Learning Assessments
In a section of their website entitled “Applying to College As An Immigrant Student,” colleges in Ontario, Canada provide links for a “Prior Learning and Assessment Recognition Process. This process allows students to get academic credit for skills and knowledge they have acquired through work, training, independent study, volunteering, travel, hobbies or family experiences.
These kinds of “Prior Learning Assessments” are becoming more and more common at community colleges in the U.S.
Best PracticePrior Learning Assessments
At Montgomery County Community College (MCCC) in Pennsylvania, individual prior learning assessments are an option for all students. Faculty members knowledgeable in specific subject areas evaluate non-traditional learning experiences to see how they compare to the objectives of existing academic credit courses and help decide whether they can be considered for college credit. As the college’s website explains, if a student has experience as a supervisor in an industrial manufacturing firm, they will be asked to demonstrate what they have learned about production problem-solving, cost-effectiveness, supervision and labor problems, and how that learning can be related to the objectives of a course at MCCC.
Best PracticePrior Learning Assessments
Similarly, at Alamo Colleges, students can earn academic credit for knowledge and skills gained in job training, corporate training, military service, independent study and volunteer services. Alamo helps students create an electronic portfolio to showcase their knowledge and prior learning experience. Alamo faculty assess the portfolio and recommend the college credit to be awarded – up to 6 credit hours toward certain certificate programs and 12 credit hours toward certain A.A.S degrees.
If your college has a prior learning assessment system, do you extend it to your foreign-educated students? If so, how do you publicize your prior learning assessment option? If your college lacks the resources to conduct in-person interviews and hasn’t yet adopted a system of prior learning assessment, there’s still an important, concrete step you can take to improve the reliability of your existing placement process.
Best PracticePreparing Students for Placement
At Westchester Community College, the international and immigrant student advisor partners with the college’s Academic Support Center to help ensure that immigrant students don’t rush into taking the college’s Accuplacer test. She refers prospective students to the Academic Support Center to make sure that they get plenty of practice and time to prepare before they take the test.
Does your college offer immigrant students the option of using their prior education and experience for placement in relevant courses or programs? Take this quiz to find out:
Do you assess students' true abilities?
Take this quiz to see if your college fairly assesses foreign-educated students in its placement process.
Previous
