FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 13, 2007
Kathleen McPartland
530-898-4260
Sarah Pape
Early Assessment Program
530-898-4494
University's Early Assessment Program Gearing Up
for North State's STAR Testing
For local high schools, spring brings STAR (Standardized
Reporting and Testing). One program at California State University,
Chico is especially concerned with students' testing participation.
The Early Assessment Program (EAP), a collaborative effort among the
State Board of Education, the California Department of Education and
the California State University (CSU), was established to provide opportunities
for students to measure their readiness for college-level English and
mathematics in their junior year of high school by adding an augmented
portion to the STAR test.
This year, the essay portion of the test will be administered
throughout March, a month earlier than in previous years. Students,
parents and site testing coordinators should be made aware of this change
in order to ensure student participation.
The junior who takes the extra test questions and essay and scores high
enough will earn an "exemption," which translates to bypassing
the CSU's entry-level proficiency tests: the Entry Level Mathematics
test and the English Placement Test.
The first step in earning an exemption is simply to fill in the bubble
indicating the choice to take the extra questions. This is the first
message that the EAP relays to school counselors, teachers and administrators-fill
in the bubble, take a little extra time and the outcome might save the
student from additional tests and possible remediation once at the CSU.
The English portion is offered to all juniors, and the math is offered
to those who are taking Algebra II and above.
Students who do not earn an exemption can take these results, not as
a failure, but as an indicator of the need for further college preparation
in the senior year. In English, this comes in the form of the Expository
Reading and Writing Course (ERWC), curriculum that was designed to prepare
students for college-level English and is aligned with the California
English-Language Arts Content Standards.
Mark Wilpolt, mathematics coordinator for the EAP, says, "Students
are strongly encouraged to continue studying mathematics in their senior
year. Extensive research shows that those high school students who take
a math class past Algebra II more than double their chances of succeeding
in college."
If you are a parent, teacher or administrator interested in knowing
more about the Early Assessment Program, contact Mark Wilpolt, EAP mathematics
coordinator, at 898-5063, or Sarah Pape, EAP English coordinator at
898-4494, or visit the Web site at www.csuchico.edu/eapapp/index.html.
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