New Assessment Process Launched

April 04, 2018 - 10:47 AM

On April 2, 2018, Mt. San Antonio College launched a new assessment tool to help students get placed in English and Math courses, called the Assessment Questionnaire (AQ).

Students can now answer a brief questionnaire about their high school GPA, the English and math classes they took and the grades their earned in order to receive their English and math placement. Most students will immediately receive placement results.

“The new Assessment Questionnaire is a great benefit to our students. A single test isn’t the best method to predict student success, so the advantage here is using other measures, like the classes you took and the grades you received, to place students in the right classes,” said James Ocampo, director of assessment and matriculation. “I am grateful to the dozens of faculty and staff across campus who came together to make this happen for our students.”

While the Assessment Questionnaire impacts new students, current students may also benefit. Current students who have already taken placement tests can opt to take the Assessment Questionnaire if they believe they should be placed higher than the test results indicate. Mt. SAC will take the higher of the two placements, so current students have nothing to lose in taking the Assessment Questionnaire.

The launch of the Assessment Questionnaire is a part of a broader Mt. San Antonio College initiative called Multiple Measures, which is led by vice president of student services Audrey Yamagata-Noji and vice president of instruction Irene Malmgren. The initiative has involved  dozens of people across campus, including professors in English and math as well as Information Technology staff who developed the new online tools with feedback across campus.

For more information about the Assessment Questionnaire, visit www.mtsac.edu/aq.