Diego Santiago
Pierce College will run a self-assessment test to acquire knowledge of its current status among the nine colleges in the Los Angeles Community College District.
The announcement for this new system of self-testing was announced March 21 at the Academic Senate meeting.
Joy McCaslin, vice-president of student services and co-chair of the Student Success Committee, spoke on behalf of President Robert Garber and gave detailed information about the subject.
The pilot project will be administered by the Student Success Committee with help from other entities like the State Academic Senate and the Research and Planning Group.
A document filed by the college will review its current status in basic skills and staff support, according to Izzy Goodman, co-chairman of the Student Success Committee
Reading, writing and math will be crucial subjects on the test and it may be a determinant of how well Pierce does. “Over 80 percent of students don’t assess in college in one or more of these basic areas,” said Goodman.
With this said, the test will have four main areas of concentration.
Organization- From faculty to students, everything will be looked at closely to see how well the departments are organized.
Program Component- Programs like counseling and financial aid will be tested to see if students are being helped with their basic needs.
Staff Development- The professional training that the faculty has acquired will be carefully examined.
Instructional Practices- This last stage includes the review of the techniques the faculty uses when teaching basic skills.
All nine colleges in the district will run the self-assessment test. It is expected to start within weeks and should end by late April.