Academic Affairs
Board of Trustees Policy
SUBJECT:
Placement Testing
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NUMBER:
3.4
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DATE:
June 2004
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SUPERSEDES:
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Purpose
Montgomery County Community College offers a wide array of testing services to meet the needs of students, faculty, and staff in promoting student learning and success. Incoming students receive placement testing in basic reading, writing, and mathematics skills to determine their readiness for college-level courses or need for pre-college developmental coursework. Students taking distance-learning classes, taking classroom make-up tests, or taking tests for certain certifications receive proctored testing in a quiet, secure environment. Students with disabilities receive testing in a distraction-free environment with special accommodations or adaptive technology available as needed.
Policy
Upon acceptance to the College, new students take a series of basic skills tests in reading, writing, and mathematics. Results of basic skills testing determine students' placement into either college-level or one of the developmental levels of coursework offered in these subject areas. Students receive both scores and course placement information immediately upon completion of the tests.
Unless they meet one of the exemptions listed below, placement testing is required for all new students enrolling full time (12 or more credits), for all part time students by the time they have completed nine (9) credits at the College, and for any students registering for a mathematics, English, ESL or reading course.
Exemptions from Placement Testing
Students are exempt from Placement Testing based on previous college coursework or Advanced Placement (AP) scores as detailed below. Students need to bring a copy of a transcript or grade report to the Testing Center to complete the exemption. The following students are eligible for exemption from placement testing:
- Students who earned a “C” or better in a college level English or mathematics course will be exempt from the respective test.
- Students who have taken a college level reading/study skills course or have completed three reading-intensive courses (e.g. history, sociology, economics, etc.) and earned a “C” or better in each will be exempt from the reading test.
- Students who have an AP score of 3 or better in English or mathematics will be exempt from the English or mathematics test.
- Students who have an associate, bachelor, or graduate degree will be exempt from all three tests with the following exceptions:
- Students who have an associate, bachelor, or graduate degree but have never taken a college credit mathematics course must take the mathematics placement test before registering for a mathematics course.
- Students who have an associate, bachelor, or graduate degree from a country in which English is not the first language must take the ESL and reading tests.
- Students who are enrolling in the nursing program must take the mathematics test.
Testing Options
The Testing Center at Central and Student Success Center at West offer both computerized and pencil/paper versions of all placement tests. Students are encouraged to take all tests initially untimed on the computer, but they may request the timed pencil/paper versions if they prefer. If they place within a specified range in the computerized tests or wish to attempt to improve their placement, they will be offered the option to complete a writing sample for English, the Nelson-Denny test for reading, or the placement test designed by the College’s mathematics faculty in order to confirm or improve their initial placement.
Testing Results
All computerized tests have cutoff scores recommended by the respective College disciplines for each developmental and college-level placement. Two English faculty read English writing samples and two English as a Second Language (ESL) faculty read ESL samples and independently assign scores. The combination of the two scores determine placement. The Nelson-Denny, Second Language English Proficiency (SLEP), and faculty designed mathematics tests are hand scored, and placements are determined by cutoffs recommended by the respective disciplines.
Mandatory Placement
Students who place into developmental courses in any subject area are required to successfully complete the initial developmental course(s) and any required subsequent developmental level courses before enrolling in the first college-level course in the same subject area. Students placing into two (2) or more developmental level courses are required to take the College Seminar course.
Retesting
Students are eligible for one retest in each subject area. The higher score prevails. Retesting must be completed before students attend the first class meeting in the related subject unless special permission is given by the instructor.
Ability to Benefit Testing
In order to qualify for federal financial aid, students need to have earned a high school diploma, a GED, or they need to qualify under the “ability to benefit” provision of the federal financial aid guidelines. These guidelines cite Accuplacer as an acceptable testing instrument. Students must attain a specified minimum reading score set by the federal guidelines in order to qualify for financial aid under the ability to benefit provision.
