Early College Placement Testing and Summer College Prep

The Medical Education Campus (MEC) is a collaboration among Northern Virginia Community College, George Mason University, Virginia Commonwealth University, and regional secondary schools. Part of the College and Career Transitions Initiative (CCTI), the MEC is the first stand-alone industry-focused health care education services facility in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The MEC offers associate degree and certificate programs for a wide range of students in the areas of Dental Hygiene, Emergency Medical Services Technology, Health Information Technology, Medical Laboratory Technology, Nursing, Physical Therapist Assistant, Radiography-Diagnostic Imaging, Respiratory Therapist, and others.

Under the leadership of Provost Charlene Connolly, the MEC identified three schools in the Fairfax County Public School system that provide health science programs to participate in the pilot program: Falls Church High School, Chantilly Academy, and West Potomac Academy. All three schools' curricula contain Medical Health Technologies, an introduction to health care with anatomy, physiology, and medical terminology components. Each school offers health sciences programs particular to its campus, in addition to the Medical Health Technology program. For example, Falls Church High School offers Practical Nursing and Fire and Emergency Medical Services, Chantilly Academy offers Dental Careers, and West Potomac Academy offers Dental Careers and Occupational Physical Therapy programs.

Fairfax County's Professional Technical Studies (PTS), of which health science is a component, are conducted outside the normal high school arena. Students from across Fairfax County who demonstrate interest in and have been accepted to participate in PTS programs are transported to West Potomac Academy, Chantilly Academy, or Falls Church High School from schools as far as 21 miles away.

The schools chosen are the only schools within Fairfax County that provide health sciences classes, and Fairfax County was chosen out of all the counties in northern Virginia because of MEC's location there. PTS classes are 90 minutes in length, and students may have to travel up to 26 miles to attend one of the programs. This travel time influenced decisions the College and Career Transitions Initiative (CCTI) made in collaboration with Fairfax County and the MEC in regard to early college placement testing.

Counselors from each of the participating schools, the Fairfax County Public School Health and Medical Sciences Coordinator, MEC Provost, MEC Acting Dean for Student Services, Director of Continuing Education and Workforce Development, Nursing and Allied Health Deans, Associate Vice President of the Office of Institutional Research, health industry partners, and the author formed the CCTI Committee to discuss the project and its impact on students and the community.

The Testing Process

The project caught the attention of the committee, because it involved reducing the need for remediation of students entering postsecondary education. Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC) was provided with pre-entrance tests to Health Academy campuses, which allows students to be tested in their environment and removes possible barriers in transportation. This was followed by using pencil-and-paper tests to

• Eliminate or reduce transportation issues to attend a campus to test;
• Eliminate the need for students to enroll at NVCC before being allowed to test, thus providing an excellent assessment tool; and
• Empower the secondary faculty.

It is important to note that NVCC is an open-enrollment institution. However, to ensure academic success for the student, a placement test focusing on English and math skills is given upon enrolling in the college. A student scoring below college level on the college placement test in English would be placed into a developmental English course, whereas a student testing at college level would be placed directly into the entry-level English course.

The Fairfax County Public Schools Health and Medical Sciences coordinator and Health Sciences faculty from West Potomac Academy, Falls Church High School, and Chantilly Academy requested that tests be given in their classrooms, recognizing that testing in the classroom eliminated the need to transport students to either the MEC or another nearby campus.

Planning was conducted to ensure that all students within health sciences had the opportunity to take the college placement test. Each health sciences program offers two levels, one in the 11^th grade and one in the 12^th grade. The only exception is Practical Nursing, in which the first level is offered in the 12^th grade and the second level the first year following graduation.

Classes are offered in 90-minute blocks, with each school holding up to three classes. Three issues concerning the establishment of testing protocol were considered: (1) students had to be transported in from other schools, raising the possibility that not all students would be present at the beginning of testing; (2) teachers did not want to give up their entire class period for testing; and (3) testing personnel needed to be present in order to capture all students attending the health science classes.

In light of these issues, Suzanne Hintz, Dean of Communication-Humanities Department at the NVCC Woodbridge campus, made the decision to use the ASSET Test Form D2 as the placement test of choice, because it was recognized by NVCC as an alternative to the computer-based examination already in use. Additionally, the ASSET test was preferred over a computer-based version because not all the participating schools had easy computer access on their campuses.

Students were given parental consent forms, along with an explanation of the testing and post-test instructions, four weeks prior to testing. Communication-Humanities Department personnel proctored the tests, with assistance from counselors and health sciences teachers at each location. The test was broken down into individual sections and administered over a three-day period.

Three hundred eighty-four 11^th and 12^th grade students enrolled in the health sciences programs at Falls Church High School, West Potomac, and Chantilly Academies were tested in December 2004. Test results and counseling were provided by the Communication-Humanities Department at Woodbridge campus in March 2005. This department was exclusively designated for test grading, analysis, data collection, and handling enrollments for eligible students.

Initial test results revealed that students tested in reading at 50 percent, compared with the national average of 37 percent; writing at 17 percent, on par with the national average; and mathematics at 0 percent, compared with a 67 percent national average. Because of the very low scores in writing and math, the tests were rescored three more times. However, the results remained the same.

Reasons for the results were hypothesized: (1) Students were finishing the semester and heading for winter vacation, thus had more interest in finishing the test than in trying their best; (2) Students knew they would be going to a four-year university, therefore they didn't do their best; or (3) Test scoring was faulty. Further scrutiny revealed that the test answer key sent by ACT was the wrong answer key for the mathematics test. The math tests were rescored using the correct answer key, and the scores went from 0 percent to 66 percent, near the national average. Although the incorrect answer key explained the errant math scores, the reading and writing test results were correct.

The second year of early college placement testing was limited to Falls Church High School because of the numbers of students, logistics, and other factors that were present when testing all three participating schools. Results showed student testing at 59 percent in reading, 2 percent in writing, and 75 percent in math. Transportation issues caused students to arrive late or leave early, so that fewer than 155 students participated in the reading and writing portion of the test. However, the percentage of students testing at or above college level remains relatively consistent with testing data from 2003.

The amount of data being reported about students being underprepared led to a proposal that placement testing followed by remediation take place before the student enters college. Identifying the problem is not enough; being ready to offer assistance or a solution is essential as well. The CCTI project was designed with the community college taking the leadership role. Thus, the community college accepted the responsibility of assisting high school students in their transition to postsecondary education.

Students were given the opportunity to attend a summer college prep (remediation) program offered at the MEC through CCTI. The college prep program was a two-week, 35-hour program focusing on reading, writing and mathematic skills. Instructors consisted of NVCC English and mathematics adjunct faculty. Twelve students attended the college prep program. Each student demonstrated improved skills, as noted with pre- and post-achievement tests. One student retested and scored at the college level on the college placement test, so was able to begin taking classes.

Lessons Learned and Actions Taken  

1. Teachers voiced that in-class testing took valuable instruction time away from the students. In addition, some students were unable to complete the entire test because of transportation issues.
   1. The Testing Center at the MEC is now available for participating CCTI students after school and on weekends.
   2. Students who test at the college level can have their scores immediately placed into the college database.
2. The individual scheduled to conduct the ACCUPLACER was not available, so ESL students were not able to take the English portion of the placement test.
   1. Handwritten versions of the college placement testing have been replaced with computer-based testing.
   2. Students who identify themselves as ESL students will be directed to take the ACCUPLACER at the Testing Center.
3. There was up to a three-month delay in returning test scores to students.
   1. Handwritten versions of the college placement testing have been replaced with computer-based testing.
   2. Scores are given to the students immediately following testing.
4. Test results were handled by only one of the six campuses; therefore, students had to travel to the Woodbridge campus to have test scores entered into the college database and enroll for classes.
   1. Handwritten versions of the college placement testing have been replaced with computer-based testing.
   2. After test scores are entered into the Northern Virginia Community College database, enrollment using the test scores at any campus will not be an issue.
5. Testing and counseling was being conducted only at the Woodbridge campus; no other student services departments were directly involved with the testing and enrollment process of CCTI students.

Early college placement testing captured within the CCTI Improvement Plans identified that the need still exists to ready students for the rigors of postsecondary education. Although weak areas were discovered during the pilot stage, the fact remains that secondary students are underprepared for college-level course work.

Through early college placement testing, students, parents, and school officials can see the students' level of academic performance and seek or provide assistance in preparing them for college. One avenue of preparation is the summer college prep program that assists students in reaching the next level of academic training, whether it is the next grade in high school, the community college, or a four-year institution.

The importance and success of the early college placement testing and summer college prep program will be more clearly defined as more data are collected in the remaining two years of the CCTI project.

For more information, contact
Charles Whitehead, Project Manager
Medical Education Campus
Northern Virginia Community College
(703) 822-6533