Glendale Community College

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Glendale Community College

• Student Academic Achievement Assessment Pilot

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GLENDALE COMMUNITY COLLEGE COLLEGE-WIDE ACADEMIC
ACHIEVEMENT COMMITTEE GOAL To develop a macro
level assessment process designed to directly
measure student learning across the curriculum
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Assessment and Goals

• GCC Student Outcomes
• Reading
• Writing
• Speaking
• Listening
• Thinking
• Liberal Studies
• Mathematics
• Information and technology literacy
• Personal Skills

• Governing Board Goals
• Reading
• Writing
• Speaking
• Listening
• Critical thinking
• Problem solving
• Mathematical literacy
• Humanities
• Science
• Computer lit.

• Academic Profile Tests
• Reading
• Writing
• Critical thinking
• Mathematical literacy

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GLENDALE COMMUNITY COLLEGECOLLEGE-WIDE ACADEMIC
ACHIEVEMENT COMMITTEESELECTED OUTCOMES

• Critical Reading WritingCritical Reasoning

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Academic Profile

• This assessment, co-sponsored by ETS and the
  College Board, helps institutions answer the
  question, "To what extent are the general
  education requirements being met?" The Academic
  Profile provides reliable information about the
  skills gained through general education courses.
  In the context of material from the humanities,
  social and natural sciences.
• Intended for use by colleges and universities in
  assessing the outcome of the general education
  programs to improve the quality of instruction
  and learning.
• Assumes students have completed most or all of
  the general education, or core curriculum,
  requirements at their institution.

• Test focuses on academic skills developed through
  general education courses rather than the
  knowledge acquired about the subjects taught in
  these courses
• College level reading, writing, critical thinking
  and mathematics are tested in the context of
  humanities,social sciences and natural sciences.
• Questions focus on issues, themes, and ideas
  rather than on the recall of specific
  information.
• Long and short forms are available, and
  institutions can add up to 50 questions tailored
  to specific needs.

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Score ReportingGCC has multiple needs when
using any assessment instrument. With the
Academic Profile two types of scores are
reported criterion referenced and norm
referenced.

• Criterion Referenced
• The skills necessary for successfully performing
  each level are defined and measured.
• Precise performance definitions of each level
  give the scores meaning in and of themselves.
  Comparative data is not needed.
• Proficiency level data allow GCC to understand
  what its students can and cannot do.
• Proficiency level data can be used to measure
  growth.

• Norm Referenced
• Useful for comparison to other students/national
  norms. National comparative data are provided by
  class level and Carnegie classification.
• Are most helpful in getting a broad comparative
  view of skill outcomes.

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Criterion Referenced Proficiency Levels

• Descriptions

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WritingLevel 1--Basic understanding of
appropriate writing. A student recognizes
agreement among basis elements (nouns, verbs,
pronouns) in the same clause or phrase. Avoids
gross errors in short or simple structures and
can logically select and order main ideas or
divisions in a sustained paragraph using
appropriate transition words. Level
2--Intermediate recognition and use of the
elements of good writing. In addition to Level 1
ability, a student who is proficient at Level 2
also recognizes appropriate agreement among basic
elements when they are complicated by intervening
words or phrases, avoids errors in relatively
long and complicated constructions, and is able
to recast several simple clauses using a single,
more complex combination. Level 3--Mature
writing styles. In addition to Level 1 and Level
2 skills, a student at Level 3 also can make
logical statements and comparisons and is able to
solve difficult or subtle writing problems such
as appropriate use of parallelism. These
students can make fine distinctions among closely
related root words and grammatical structures of
a mature writing style.
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Reading and Critical ThinkingLevel 1--At Level
1 a student recognizes and comprehends discrete
pieces of information, (e.g., a single detail,
information presented in a single sentence) as
well as relationships or connects explicitly
stated in a passage and understands words and
phrases in context.Level 2--In addition to
performing successfully at Level 1, students who
are proficient at Level 2 can also gather
information from different sections of a passage
and recombine it. These students recognize
relationships that can be inferred but are not
explicit they can recognize summaries and
alternative ways of stating information,
interpret figurative language, and recognize the
point or purpose of a passage as a whole or
significant portions of a passage.Level 3--In
addition to performing Level 1 and Level 2 skills
successfully, students at Level 3 can also
evaluate and analyze arguments and, within an
academic field, handle interpretation, inductive
generalizations, or causal explanations.Level 3
skills are differentiated within those areas as
followsHumanities Evaluate views and
interpretationsSocial Sciences Evaluate claims,
disputes, and inductive generalizationsNatural
Sciences Evaluate explanatory hypotheses and draw
conclusions
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MathematicsLevel 1--A student at Level 1
demonstrates basic number sense and skills in
arithmetic operations and relationships and in
elementary geometry and measurement. A student
at this level can read and interpret information
from simple graphs or charts, solve simple
equations or evaluate expressions, and solve
simple and routine word problems.Level 2--In
addition to performing successfully at Level 1, a
student who is proficient at Level 2, also
understands number systems, including order,
magnitude, and relationship of integers,
fractions, and decimals. A student at this level
can solve moderately difficult equations and
inequalities, evaluate complex formulas, compare
and apply information from more complex charts,
and graphs, and apply reasoning, geometry, and
measure skills in solving moderately complex
problems including word problems.Level 3--In
addition to performing Level 1 and Level 2 skills
successfully, a student at Level 3 also can
generalize and apply mathematically knowledge and
skills in non-routine situations, and
demonstrates real comprehension of exponents,
variables, geometry, and measurement. A student
at this level can solve multi-step and
non-routine problems involving a range of
reasoning skills.
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Dear ___________________Congratulations on
your upcoming graduation. You have been selected
to participate in an important effort to assess
the academic achievement of our graduates. The
time that you provide will greatly assist us to
improve our curriculum.If you choose to
schedule the assessment during class time, your
instructor will be notified that you will be
taking the evaluation. The missed class will be
counted as an excused absence, and you will be
allowed to make-up all work.The evaluation will
not affect your GPA, transcripts, degree or
diploma. It is purely to assist us in improving
our curriculum. The results of the evaluation
are confidential. The evaluation will be scored
by an external testing service, and the college
will not receive individual scores.This
assessment will be administered on April 26, 27,
28, and 29 on the GCC campus. The evaluation
will take approximately 50 minutes at times and
locations noted on the enclosed chart. You will
only need to attend one session. Please call
Brenda at 845-3878 to set up a convenient time.
You may leave a message on her voicemail if she
is not in.To show my appreciation for you
efforts, I have enclosed coupons for lunch at
Palms Café located in the Student Union and 25
off clothing at the on-campus bookstore. Bring
the coupons with you for validation after you
have completed the evaluation. This assessment
is an important endeavor for the college in which
I urge your participation. I thank you for
choosing GCC and for helping us to make it better
for others who will follow you.Tessa Martinez
Pollack, President
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Thank you for participating4 Off on lunch at
the Palms Café(GCCs food services in the
Student Union)Bring this coupon to testing site
on April 26, 27, 28, or 29 to be
validated(Expires 5/30/99)_____________________
__________________________________________________
________________________________Thank you for
participating25 Off Glendale Community College
clothing at the GCC Campus BookstoreBring this
coupon to testing site on April 26, 27, 28, or 29
to be validated(Expires 5/30/99)
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Norm Referenced Scores GCC Student Scores (as
compared to Associate Arts college sophomores)

• College level reading--73 percentile
• College level writing--62 percentile
• Critical thinking-46 percentile
• Total Score--85 percentile

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Norm Referenced Scores of GCC Graduates as
Compared to Associate Arts Colleges Sophomores
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Criterion Referenced Proficiency
Reading/ Critical Thinking
Level 1 not reached Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
Math
Level 1 not reached Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
Writing
Level 1 not reached Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
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Assessment Group Demographics
Asian
other
Hispanic
other
Nat. Am.
2.0- 3.5

• Demographic Profile of Students in 1998 Spring
  Assessment Group.
• 5 of all students were ESL.

male
Part time
Black
40-49
Jr.
female
30-39
3.5- 4.0
White
Full time
20-29
Soph
Class
Age
Sex
Race
Status
GPA
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Student Sample

• Class 72 Junior 19 sophomore
• Age 37 between 20-29 y.o. 19 between 30-39
  y.o. 28 between 40-49
• Sex 65 female, 35 male
• 70 White, 9 Black, 7 Native American, 5
  Hispanic, 2 Asian
• 95 had English as their predominant language
• 42 part-time 58 full-time
• Cumulative GPA 60 above 3.50

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Assessment Group Comparisons

• Average Group
• Comparison
• Full time students scored higher than part-time
  students.
• Males scored higher than females.
• Students with high GPAs scored higher on
  assessment test.
• Younger students scored higher than older
  students.

20- 29
Full time
male
3.5- 4.0
female
40- 49
2.0- 3.5
Part time
Status
Sex
GPA
Age
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Planned Improvements

• Improved Logistics
• Fewer test dates and times.
• Directional signs on campus.
• Assess earlier in semester.
• Communicate plans.
• Testing Center
• Learning Assistance Center.
• Relate results to other assessment measures.

• Larger Cohort
• Invite greater of graduates.
• Faculty sponsored invitations.
• New incentives
• Discount on cap and gown.
• Discounts at cafeteria.
• Front row seats at graduation.