In order to qualify for the Early Assessment Program (EAP) this year, all UC High juniors will take the CSTs in English Language Arts and math, along with the EAP essay test. The scores for these tests can serve as the required placement tests for all California Community (CC) Colleges and State Universities (CSU) in English and Math.
According to the EAP website, EAP provides students with an early indication of whether or not they are ready for college English or math. The EAP measures student English and math skills at the end of junior year to let students know in advance if they are ready for college-level work (collegeeap.org).
According to the EAP website, the assessment portion of the EAP is officially called the Early Assessment of Readiness for College English and for College Mathematics, but it is also commonly referred to as the EAP English Test and the EAP Math Test. EAP questions are included on the California Standards Test (CST), which high school juniors take in their second semester. The augmented CST was developed to minimize additional testing burdens on students, and consists of 15 additional multiple-choice questions in English, 15 additional multiple-choice questions in mathematics, and a 45-minute essay writing assignment. The math component is only available to students who have taken or are enrolled in Algebra II or higher-level math courses. The essay component is forty-five minutes long with a format and scoring rubric identical to CSU’s English Placement Test (collegeeap.org).
“This program was built between the state board of education and the California department of education and the CSU system to help future students (currently in the eleventh grade) know whether or not they are ready for college-level English and math. If the eleventh graders do well, they are considered “ready” and can enroll in college. If they do okay they are considered ‘conditional’ – and there are several ways they can become “ready” for college including taking an approved Sr. level English course. If they do poorly, they are required to take a summer session course – the summer before they enter college – that is lengthy and time consuming – and if they don’t take it, they will not be allowed to enroll in entry level freshman English or math,” said Counselor Sherryl Godfrey.
The EAP allows students to skip the college English and/or mathematics placement tests that are otherwise required upon entering college at a CC or CSU school, or they identify the need for additional preparation in English and math. The additional preparation could be senior-year coursework to prepare for college while still enrolled in high school, in order to prepare for the summer placement tests, in order to avoid spending time and money on college remediation courses that do not count toward a degree, according to the CSU website (calstate.edu).
Students who take the EAP math and English tests receive an EAP status at the beginning of their senior year, and it is posted on the EAP website (calstate.edu).
Starting in May of 2012, the EAP program introduced a new “Conditional” status, according to an EAP Resource Binder. Students identified as conditional must take an approved English course their senior year, such as AP English or the Expository Reading and Writing Course, and pass with a “C” or higher, or take an English Placement Test with the CSU system that costs 18 dollars, or take a summer session course with the CSU system.
Students who have been identified as conditional may be exempt from the new requirements if their SAT Verbal/Critical Reading Score is 500 or higher, their English ACT score is 22 or higher, their AP English Language score is a 3 or higher, or their AP English Literature score is a 3 higher, according to the EAP Resource Binder.
Beginning in 2014-15, the grade 11 Smarter Balanced computer adaptive assessments for ELA and mathematics will replace the augmented CSTs that are used for EAP, according to the EAP website. A determination of college readiness is built into the new standards. Therefore, the Smarter Balanced Assessments will still include an assessment of college readiness, according the EAP website (collegeeap.org).
“It [EAP] allows us to prepare for college. It will give me a good idea of what classes I should take in college,” said Senior Jake Nathanson, who has applied to several CSU schools.
According to the CSU website, the program was developed because many students were not prepared for college-level study by the time they attended college, according to the CSU website.