Date of Award

2021

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Education (Ph.D)

Department

Administrative and Instructional Leadership

First Advisor

Erin Fahle

Second Advisor

Maryellen Freeley

Third Advisor

Edwin Tjoe

Abstract

This study evaluated the impact of a change to the math placement policy at a suburban New York Community College on entering students’ math grades. Before the policy change, the community college required new students to take the College Board ACCUPLACER exam and used those scores to place students into math courses. Under the new policy, students were no longer required to take a placement test, and students' New York State Algebra 1 Regents exam scores were used to determine the appropriate math course placement. Prior research suggests that high school grade point average and SAT/ACT scores are strong predictors of student success, and better predictors than third-party placement testing systems like the College Board ACCUPLACER. However, there is little information about the validity of the Algebra 1 Regents exam for collegiate math course placement. This quantitative study used: (1) a multiple linear regression to determine if students’ New York State Algebra 1 Regents exam scores predicted their math grades at a community college; and (2) an interrupted time series design to determine how the change from the ACCUPLACER to the Regents exam for course placement affected average math course grades among 2,888 entering degree-seeking students who enrolled between fall 2015 and 2019 for all students and by subgroup. The findings from this study illustrated that the New York State Algebra 1 Regents and ACCUPLACER test promoted similar academic success for students enrolled in introductory credit-bearing math courses.

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