NOVA Participates in National Studies on Impact of Multiple Measures and Informed Self-Placement for Direct Enrollment

The Office of Academic Affairs is pleased to share the following update about multiple measures and informed self-placement activities at NOVA.

History
The VCCS, in alignment with national research on developmental education reforms, implemented Multiple Measures (circa 2016) and Direct Enrollment (circa 2019/20). NOVA was a “Wave Two” college for Direct Enrollment. Our implementation planning, which was led by MTH and ENG/ESL faculty and pathway deans and included the development of new EDE and MDE courses, coincided with the pandemic. NOVA implemented them officially in fall 2021.

The Policy and Procedures
NOVA follows VCCS Policy 6.4.0.2 “Multiple Measures for Placement,” which specifies that recent graduates from U.S. high schools are placed by their G.P.A.s (which pre-pandemic research showed were the best predictors of success in college) or by another measure (ACT, SAT, AP scores, etc.). You can see the additional measures in the Course Catalog. Recent graduates complete the Direct Enrollment Advising Survey and report their high school G.P.A. and highest level of Math classes. The survey is maintained by the VCCS and cannot be modified by individual colleges.

The policy also specifies that the default placement for U.S. high school graduates who graduated six or more years ago is college-level English and mathematics courses. These students may, after completing the Advising Survey for Informed Self-Enrollment, choose to enroll in the corequisite or prerequisite class.

This policy also allows colleges to establish their own guidelines for ESL and international students who do not have one of the existing multiple measures (i.e., SAT scores, U.S. high school GPA, etc.). NOVA has reinstated the use of the Accuplacer and created specific advising for international students for math placement.

Current Assessments/Research Studies Under Way
NOVA is participating in two national studies that are assessing the developmental reforms put in place over the last five or so years.

The VCCS is participating in a National Science Foundation grant (2023-2026) led by U.C. Irvine, which is conducting a national assessment of developmental math reforms. Dr. Zack Beamer, who is a member of the math faculty at Piedmont Virginia Community College, is the VCCS lead. NOVA has participated in the initial data collection. (Pathway Dean Alison Thimblin can provide more detail.) This study is looking at how math reforms are being implemented, including placement advising; corequisite set-up; instructional choices within sections; and subsequent quantitative impact on student outcomes (pass rates and longitudinal outcomes).

NOVA is also one of ten colleges participating in a national study on the efficacy of the corequisite model. NOVA is contributing to the English portion of this study. English faculty, under the leadership of Pathway Dean Jay Steere, designed placement questions to be used in place of G.P.A. alone. These were embedded into the application for six weeks this summer. From early July to mid-August, a subset of new-to-NOVA students who were recent high school graduates were placed using alternate measures. Data analysis has begun, and we hope to have some results by late spring 2025.

The outcomes of both studies will likely influence the ongoing national and state-level conversations on placement and developmental education. For more information, please contact Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs, Jen Daniels (JDaniels@nvcc.edu).

Submitted by:
Dr. Eun-Woo Chang, VP of Academic Affairs/CAO, EChang@nvcc.edu