What’s Happening with Accuplacer Diagnostics & My Foundations Lab?

1. What’s Happening withAccuplacer Diagnostics &My Foundations Lab? Summer Institute 2013

2. What is ACCUPLACER? • Placement test suite used by Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) • Reading Comprehension • Sentence Skills • Arithmetic • Elementary Algebra • Computer-based test

3. What’s the ABE Interest? • Poor performance on ACCUPLACER = Developmental Education requirements =High risk for not completing

4. Placement Tests vs. Diagnostic Tests • Placement Tests – 20 Questions, overall score used to place students • Diagnostic Tests – 40 Questions, scores in 5 content domains, each ranked: • Proficient • Limited Proficiency • Needs Improvement

6. What is My Foundations Lab? • Online learning platform • Specifically designed for older teens and adults • Content mapped specifically to ACCUPLACER • Unique learning path for each student based on ACCUPLACER Diagnostic test results

7. My Foundations Lab Reading Exercise

8. Pilot Project Overview • Funding made available through Joyce Foundation Shifting Gears Initiative for MN FastTRAC • Open to MN FastTRAC participants and ABE programs with college-prep classes • MnSCU partnership required • 23 programs applied & accepted

9. Active Testing Sites • AEOA (Arrowhead) • Austin • Brainerd • Burnsville • Central MN – St. Cloud • Duluth • Fergus Falls & Detroit Lakes • Glacial Lakes (Hutchinson/Willmar area) • Minneapolis • Robbinsdale Adult Academic Program • Rochester • Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan • Southwest • St. Paul

10. College-Bound ABE Students Who are we serving?

11. Test Sessions & Test-Takers by Age Group

12. Prior Education • High School Graduates – 59% • GED Graduates – 27% • No HS Diploma or GED – 8% • Still in High School – 2.5% • Did not answer – 3.5%

13. Gender & Employment Status • Female - 59% • Male - 40.5% • Did not answer - .5% • FT Employed – 20% • PT Employed – 30% • Unemployed – 30% • Not in labor force – 9% • Did not answer – 11%

14. Racial/Ethnic Group Self-Description • Asian, Asian American, or Pacific Islander – 13% • American Indian – 3% • Black or African American – 25% • Mexican or Mexican American – 11% • Multicultural – 1.5% • Other Hispanic, Latino, or Latin American – 8% • White – 34% • Other – 1.5% • Did not answer – 3%

15. “What language do you know best?” • English only – 51% • English and another language about the same – 25% • Another language – 22% • Did not answer – 2%

16. How are they doing? Testing Data 2012-2013

17. Mmm… Crunchy Numbers! • With a partner, review the 2012-2013 testing data. • For each of the 4 test subjects, identify the domains where students showed the greatest proficiency and the least proficiency. • Overall, in what area do our students need the most improvement? • Does anything in the data surprise you?

18. Finding Success Promising Practices

19. Classroom Plus • MFL shows best results for ABE learners in combination with classroom instruction • Greater intensity of service = faster results • More examples • More practice • On-site lab time for those without Internet at home

20. Online Learning for College-Readiness • Focus on skills required in college coursework • Develop digital literacy skills • Develop independent study skills

21. Diagnostic Testing = Individualized Learning

22. Test Score Counseling “Don’t underestimate the value of sitting down for 20 minutes with your students to discuss their test results. Have a conversation about their learning. Give them the chance to practice their metacognitive skills. It takes time but it’s absolutely worth it.”

23. Teacher – Student = Doctor – PatientTest results need explaining!

24. The big question How do we get this?

25. Become an MN ABE Accuplacer Test Site • Request by the ABE Manager • Identify $$$ - plan for purchasing units • Receive training

26. Questions?