Commendation for the Early Assessment Project

AS-2726-05/TEKR - November 3-4, 2005

RESOLVED: That the Academic Senate of the California State University (CSU) commend the CSU Administration, the California Department of Education, the State Board of Education and all CSU faculty members involved, for their collaborative efforts that resulted in the development of the Early Assessment Project (EAP); and be it further

RESOLVED: That the Academic Senate CSU commend the developers of the EAP program for including elements of support for high schools, their junior-level students, and parents by providing an early evaluation of student preparedness for college-level work in English and mathematics; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the Academic Senate CSU commend the developers of the EAP program for their use of existing State exams, slightly augmented, to provide an assessment of college-level readiness, without significantly increasing the overall standardized testing required of California high school students; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the Academic Senate CSU commend the developers of specific EAP program elements for their collaboration with high schools that has resulted in the development of new academic literacy curricular elements; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the Academic Senate CSU commend the developers of specific EAP program elements for their collaboration with high school teachers in conjunction with newly elaborated professional development opportunities in both English and mathematics.

RATIONALE: The Early Assessment Project is one of the most important outreach activities that the CSU has undertaken and the EAP has garnered most favorable interest and comment at the national level, as states struggle to align their K-12 and higher education interests. By utilizing a shared assessment instrument, high school learning outcomes expectations in English and mathematics are directly related to the CSU's expectations for incoming freshman in an unequivocal fashion. The professional development opportunities in English and mathematics, and curriculum modules in English, have addressed a long-standing disjunction between high school and college writing and have allowed the CSU to emphasize the role that critical analysis plays in English and mathematics at the university level.