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Adult and Community Learning Services

Assessment Policy for Transition to Community College Programs

Transition to Community College programs are required to administer the Massachusetts Adult Proficiency Test (MAPT) for the following reasons:

• to understand the relationship between the MAPT and the Accuplacer test and learn from the data;
• to have a clear picture of Transitions students' skills when they exit the program; and
• to capture students' learning gains.

When enrolling students, programs should use all relevant and appropriate information1 so that the student will be ready, upon completion of the Transition program, for enrollment in credit-bearing courses or, at a minimum, the highest level of developmental education.

MAPT pre-tests in Reading and Math are required only for the purpose of enrollment.

To satisfy the pre-test requirement, Transition programs may copy over (i.e., from an ESE-funded adult education program) any student MAPT Reading and/or MAPT Math post-test score from May/June of the previous fiscal year to the current fiscal year. A student's primary assessment area (Reading or Math) may change during the year.

For Transition students with 600+ MAPT pre-test scores, a MAPT post-test is not required at the end of a fiscal year if the student remains in the Transition program. Additionally, there is no expiration date for copying over MAPT scores of 600+ from one fiscal year to the next for as long as the student remains in the Transition program. However, students with 600+ MAPT scores are required to take a MAPT post-test upon exiting the Transition Program.

If there is more than one score of less than 600 in the same MAPT assessment category (Math or Reading) for any given student, the Transition program must choose the most recent score to be copied. For Transition students with MAPT pre-test scores under 600, a MAPT post-test is required, within each fiscal year, in the student's primary assessment area.

If the student has a May/June MAPT score of less than 600 and another earlier MAPT score of 600+ for the same assessment category, then the program can and must choose only one of these scores to be copied over.

Note: For MAPT administration instructions and policy, please see the ACLS MAPT Assessment Policy at http://www.doe.mass.edu/acls/assessment/, under 2011 Assessment News.

Note: There is a feature in SMARTT for copying over student MAPT scores of 600+; the screen provides the user with a copy icon for each MAPT score that is eligible to be copied over.

1 Accuplacer test results, MAPT history, student history, and teacher recommendations.