MCAS and Accuplacer

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MCAS and Accuplacer

• Lois Martin
• Professor of Mathematics
• Massasoit Community College
• June 18, 2008

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Why this Project?

• Richard Bisk study, Worcester State
• Math Alignment Task Force

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Worcester Study
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Math Alignment Task Force

• MATHEMATICS ALIGNMENT TASK FORCE
• through support of the
• University of Massachusetts Presidents Office
• July 2001
•  
• Task Force recommends that the Board of Higher
  Education not make a policy decision to accept
  achievement at specified MCAS performance levels
  for placement of students into college
  mathematics courses. 

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Task Force Observations

• Since MCAS is a 10th grade test, it might be two
  years or more before a student takes a college
  mathematics course after he/she passes the test.
  If no additional mathematics is taken, retention
  of the core knowledge and skills might change
  significantly during this period such that
  placement is no longer accurate.
•  
• Passing MCAS in 10th grade might encourage some
  students not to take a mathematics course during
  their final years of high school. Every effort
  must be made to ensure that students build on
  their mathematical abilities and not lose
  mathematical competency prior to entering higher
  education.
•  

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The Project Begins

• How to get the MCAS Scores
• Bisk Model
• Idea from Leanna Russell

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The Population

• Students who took the Accuplacer Mathematics test
  at Massasoit Community College during summer 2007
  

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The Population and The Sample

• Original list 2407
• Minus duplicates 2135
• Minus foreign schools 2060
• Minus no school listed 2009
• Minus GED 1875
• Minus privates and small 1122

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Getting the Releases

• Spent much of fall semester tracking down
  students
• Thanks to Math department for assistance

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Deciding on the Sample

• Abington
• Blue Hills Regional
• Bridgewater-Raynham
• Braintree
• Brockton
• Canton
• East Bridgewater
• Middleborough
• Randolph

• Rockland
• Southeastern Regional
• Silver Lake Regional
• South Shore Voc
• Stoughton
• Weymouth
• Whitman-Hanson

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Sample Size

• n533
• This is NOT a random sample!

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Contacting the Schools

• Letter to Superintendents
• Follow-up phone calls
• Different experiences
• Renewal of acquaintances

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Score to Score Correlations

• Placement via Arithmetic Test
• r.538
• Placement via Elementary Algebra Test
• r.514

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MCAS to Accuplacer
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Accuplacer to MCAS
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What Does It Mean?

• Do the results confirm the Bisk conclusions?
• Why do students who pass MCAS place into
  developmental courses?

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What are the Implications?

• Should Accuplacer be given in the high schools?
• Should schools require math in the senior year?
• Should the colleges change their placement test?

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DHE School to College Report

• Among students who passed the 10th grade
  Mathematics MCAS test at the needs improvement
  level, 50 percent enrolled in developmental math,
  as opposed to 20 percent of students who passed
  at the proficient level and 4 percent at the
  advanced level.

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This Sample
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More from the Report

• Students who scored needs improvement on the
  10thgrade mathematics or English language arts
  (ELA) MCAS test were more likely to enroll in a
  developmental course than students who scored
  proficient or advanced.

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This Sample
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Can We Draw Any Conclusions?

• The sample was not random, so any conclusions are
  for the sample only.
• There are clear patterns.
• Too many students who pass MCAS place into
  developmental mathematics courses.

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Thank You

• To the many colleagues who helped me with this
  project
• To the Superintendents who provided the necessary
  data
• To Eileen Lee and Shelley Tinkham who gave me the
  opportunity to share this information today.

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Contact Me

• Lois Martin
• Professor of Mathematics
• Massasoit Community College
• Lmartin_at_massasoit.mass.edu