Board of Regents Policy Suspension of Placement Policy

Public Act 12-40 An Act Concerning College Readiness and Completion requires use of multiple commonly accepted measures of skill level to evaluate college readiness and to place students into college-level courses as well as those below the college-level. A single Accuplacer cutoff score is insufficient to meet this requirement, and institutions have begun experimentation with alternative means of placement. This resolution suspends the policy of the former Community College Board of Trustees requiring placement using Accuplacer in order to authorize and encourage institutional experimentation with additional placement methods that will optimize student success.

The Community College Policy 3.19 Policy for Assessment of Skills and Competencies of Entering Students requires use of the Accuplacer and sets specific cut scores for placement.

The Board of Regents for Higher Education suspended Community College Policy 3.19 Policy for Assessment of Skills and Competencies of Entering Students, to allow institutions to develop, test, and refine a range of placement methods that will allow for compliance with Public Act 12-40.

Institutions shall determine readiness for coursework using commonly accepted measures of skill level, which may include but are not limited to administration of the Accuplacer computerized adaptive test.

Institutions using commonly accepted measures of skill level other than the Accuplacer computerized adaptive test shall also administer the Accuplacer to a sample sufficient in size and scope to determine the statistical relationship between the alternative measure(s) and the Accuplacer.

The Chancellor or his/her designee will conduct a study of placement methods and outcomes to identify guidelines for a placement policy that uses multiple measures and may provide for consistent placements across institutions. The Chancellor will report on the findings of this study no later than December 2015.