College admission standards will chanae
Tiffany Smith
OttQ&n Q&fy
Proficient v-based admission standards will
change the way students got into college and will
better prepare students for college level work,
ni l ording to a i»|K>rt from the Oregon State System
of Higher Education
Hie Proficient vl vised Admission Standards Nvs
tern, known us PASS, requires students to demon
strnt«> that their knowledge and skills meet or exi i*>d
the standards for admission The new system. whi< h
gm-s into effei t in tile fall of muo ties admission
directly to a student's demonstrated profit ien< v.
not "sent time, credit hours or other indirect mea
sures of learning, an ording the report
"The current system lulls both fat ultv and stu
dents into complacent v and they get a very rude
shock w hen they get hem." said lames Rm h. dins
tor of admissions The i urrent system assumes if
you sit in a room you know something "
The change in admission standards was net os
sary for two reasons, the report said
First, school reform legislation emit ted in 1991.
known as the Oregon Educational Act for the 21st
CUtntury, requires all Oregon schools to begin offer
ing Certificates of Initial Mastery in I99f> and Cor
tificates of Advanced Mastery in 1997 A pilot pro
gram is currently in progress in tho Cottage Grove
School District
OSSHE is obligated to have admission policies
that are compatible with tho the program in the
public education system
Secondly, OSSHE officials feels tho current
admission system is not identifying students pre
pared to do college-level work as well as it might,
and the current system i annot he impri.ved v\ ilis
out a complete overhaul, according to the report
The belief is lh.il an attempt to raise the required
grade point average would load to grade inflation
and more required classes have little effect
The first challenge in overhauling admission
standards was to determine what students need
to know to do well in college
"We have identified what knowledge and skills
we think you need to know ." Buch said. “It's far
more specific than the current standard."
The proficiency-based admission standards,
whu h were adopted hv the Oregon State Board of
Higher Initiation in May 1'i'H are divided into
content proficiency aren't and process proficient y
areas
Students must prove content profit mm y in
mathemalii s. s< fence. sot tal science, foreign lan
guage. humanities and literature, arid fine and per
funning arts
The prut ess profii lent v areas include reading,
writing, (ummunit ation competent y, critical and
attalvtii thinking, problem solving, technology as
a learning tool, systems anti integrative thinking,
teamwork and quality work
More than mi national and state t urrit ulum
reports were analyzed it) determine the emerging
expectation fot Amarit an student* The edut a
tional systems of other countries were examined,
and. where possible, their standards were ana
lyzed is well, at i ording to the CXSS1IF report
1 he results were reviewed hv faculty members
from Oregon institutions of higher edut ation. edu
cators from public schools and community col
leges The analysis of reports, w ith their comments
and recommendations, served as the basis for iden
tifying what the proficient ies would entail.
Currently, officials are developing assessment
tasks and performance levels Prototypes will t*>
available in fall 1906. according to the report
1 he SA f and AITT tests will still bo used a.s
additional sources to mark demonstrated college
readiness in students Both tests are undergoing
extensive redesign to improve profit tent v assess
merit According to the report. OSS Hi staff is
working w ith representative of both national col
lege admissions test.,
After conversations with admissions officers front
other Utates. OS SHI offic ials do not foresee any
problems for students who want to attend college
out-of-state, at cording to the report OSS IIK pro
fit iem ies reported in numeric form with ar t am
paus ing explanation of the meaning of eat h level
td performance, will be acceptable and pone little
or no problem to admissions offices Plus, nunier
it scores could bo converted into grade equivalents
for Institutions demanding such a conversion
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