Dive Brief:
- ACT announced plans Thursday to phase out its Compass placement test by the end of 2016.
- Education Week reports that the company is responding to a decline in use of the test in just the past few years, from 2.2 million students in 2012 to 1.7 million in 2014, as well as doubt about the test’s predictive value.
- The ACT is expected to announce alternatives to the Compass test in the coming weeks for colleges that still rely on it to decide whether students must enroll in remedial classes before taking on credit-bearing coursework, according to the article.
Dive Insight:
Community colleges are the primary users of ACT Compass, using the test to funnel nearly 70% of first-year students into remedial courses. Several reports were released earlier this month drawing attention to the problems inherent in math placement tests, specifically, as well as colleges’ over-reliance on them for placement decisions. Students who are forced to take remedial classes end up spending more on their overall education and are less likely to stick it out through graduation. Researchers, in response, have been developing new methods for making placement decisions. With an 18-month phaseout planned for the Compass test, ACT may be giving schools just enough time to pull a new strategy together.