Failing the COMPASS

Failing the COMPASS means required classes without credit

By Daniel Bell
Editor

Each year as new students are preparing to begin their college tenure, an astounding one-third of Georgia Highlands College students discover that they will have to take classes for which they will receive Institutional credit only. That means that they are in classes that will not transfer.

These classes are termed "learning support courses," and students have to take them because of high school deficiencies or because they failed a section of the COMPASS Test.

The COMPASS is an entrance exam that incoming students who did not score high enough on the SAT or ACT must take to determine whether or not they are prepared for college level classes.

There are three portions of the COMPASS, and each one has a set score that the taker must achieve to be considered as passing. Students are tested in the areas of English, math and reading. If the taker fails to pass one section of the test, then he or she will automatically be placed into the learning support class for that section.

If a student passes two sections of the test and fails the other, he or she will be placed into the class for the failed section only.

Once a student has been entered into a learning support class, there are several things he or she must do before being moved up to the next level class.

Learning support students must pass the class with at least a "C" average and then re-take and pass the failed portion of the COMPASS. There are other qualifications specific to each course.

Dr. Tim Floyd, chair of academic support, said, "The exit test is almost exactly like the entrance test. Students may or may not get some of the same questions, but it will cover the same things as before. The questions shouldn't be any harder or any easier."

Floyd said that the format of the test has changed recently. As of last March the test was changed from the old DOS format to a newer, more efficient Windows format. The most obvious change with the new format is now students can use a calculator on the math portion.

"The calculator is helpful," said Floyd, "but students have to know how to work the equation before they can use it anyway, so it's not that big of an advantage."

With one-third of new students failing one or more parts of the COMPASS, the question remains if the test is a fair entrance exam for students who are entering their first year of college.

Dr. Kristie Kemper, professor of English, said, "I have taken the English portion, and I do not believe that it is a reliable placement test for entering students. The format makes it very difficult to take, and the test is mostly about writing style instead of the grammar deficiencies that would be expected to place someone in English 0099."

Dr. Jon Hershey, associate professor of English, agrees with Kemper. He said, "As a placement test, and I am speaking of the English test, the only part I have seen, the COMPASS bothers me in two main areas. One area is the format of the test, which seems to require substantial experience with computers."

Hershey then went on to say that he is also bothered by the content of the test in that it is mostly related to writing style and not grammar issues, which is what he said he would want to consider when placing a new student.

"I think there has got to be a more accurate method of determining a student's readiness for English 1101," said Hershey.

Elizabeth Harrison, associate professor of developmental reading, agrees with Hershey about the computer element in that students who have no computer experience might be "intimidated." She feels, however, that the instructions are "easy to understand" and the equipment is "user friendly."

Carla Patterson, English instructor, was caught off guard by some of the questions. "Having recently taken the COMPASS exam in order to learn more about it, I was surprised at some of the types of questions," she said.

Most students who have failed parts of the COMPASS say that they just rushed though it, but others blame the format itself.

One student, who wished to be unnamed, said, "I failed the math part by one point. There were several times where I had just hit the wrong key and there was no way I could go back and change it. So I failed, when really, I knew some of the answers that I got wrong."

Floyd said that the test works in such a way as to prevent one question from causing a student to fail.

He said, "If someone misses one question, then the test will give them more questions still in that section. That way, they can still earn some points. No one question carries a set number of points so no one question could cause someone to fail."

LaNelle Daniel, associate professor of English, teaches learning support English classes, and she feels that the students she teaches need the extra learning support instruction.

"Granted there are some students in learning support English who could do well in English 1101," she said. "But those students probably rushed though the test and ended up failing. However, most of my students in learning support need to be there. They are not yet ready for college level English."

Those students who believe they could have done better if they had better understood the importance of the test have often tried to get a retest. But according to Floyd, students get one chance to pass all three portions, and if they fail one, they are automatically entered into the learning support class for that area.

"Students just need to take their time and not rush though," said Floyd.

As for students who only fail by one point, Floyd said there is no way to appeal. "People have failed by one point before and tried to appeal; there is just no way for them to get the results changed," he said.

The COMPASS Test is made by the same people who make the ACT, and it is given state-wide.

"It is not a perfect system (for placement of new students)," said Amelia Billingsley, professor of developmental studies, "but it is what we have, and it is the same test used all over the state."

Billingsley, who also teaches learning support English, agrees with Daniel that most of the students in her class need to be there.

"Sometimes students just lack the confidence needed to be successful in college. This is a way for them to get extra practice before they take the harder English classes," she said.

According to Billingsley about half of the students who take the COMPASS as an entrance exam do fail at least one part of it.

A reporter for the Six Mile Post attempted to take the COMPASS test in order to better understand the testing process but was not allowed to do so. One of the reasons stated was that there was not a way someone could take the test without actually putting the name and social security number of the person into the system.

It was then suggested that an SMP editor could be allowed to watch a faculty member take the test, but this idea was also dismissed.

"I still must respond 'no' to this request. I feel that in the spirit of test security I cannot allow this even in your proposed scenario," said Floyd.