Article 9:
Placement Testing with LASSI Improves Advising
by Barbara Brown, Faculty Counselor and Associate Professor and Evelyn Davidson, Coordinator,
Kodiak College

Students consistently cite effective academic advising as a crucial element that supports their success in college.  In fact, a recent study by the Community College Research Center at Columbia University (October 2007) cites effective academic advising as one of the major contributors to the success of underrepresented students at postsecondary institutions.  According to Vincent Tinto, "Advising should be woven into the fabric of the freshman year in ways that promote student development . . . Quite simply, good advising should not be left to chance" (1999).

However, advising is not a one size-fits-all prescription, and each student needs to be considered as an individual with unique goals and challenges.  Emerging discourse in the field of developmental education has suggested that advisors need to look at the whole student instead of relying solely on test scores for placement into English and mathematics (and other) courses (Saxon et al 2008).   Affective factors like motivation, attitude, and belief in self can dramatically affect the likelihood that a student will succeed in college. Furthermore, skills like time management and ability to concentrate are critical for college students and are not taught in most freshman level courses.   Clearly, we needed more information to target interventions to individual students that would support their success.  

Kodiak College Student Services has a mission to provide academic advising that is "an on-going, collaborative, nurturing process involving students and educators who develop trusting relationships and personal connections."  Following best practices, we require mandatory assessment and placement in math and English courses prior to registration.  In spring of 2008, we started giving each student the LASSI as well as the Accuplacer placement test.  We are calling this program "Targeted Advising" since it allows our advisors to quickly know more about the unique characteristics of each student they see and suggest appropriate interventions.  For example, if students scored in the lowest percentile on multiple scales of the LASSI, we would strongly encourage them to take a college success course.  Another specific way we have used the LASSI is to help determine placement if students are very close to a cut score in English or math.  For example, if students are slightly below the cutoff for the freshman-level composition course and most of the scores on their LASSI scales are in the top percentile, we may allow them to take the freshman-level course.  We predict that the consideration of multiple factors in addition to test scores will ensure more appropriate and effective placement and advising of students. 

The Targeted Advising program is aligned with the Kodiak College Strategic Plan 2006-2010. One of our strategic directions is to "Reflect our diverse community populations in our students, faculty and staff."  One objective under that strategic direction is to "Promote enrollment of under-represented groups through targeted academic advising, financial aid awareness, bridging, and peer support programs."  The program has already enabled advisors to better understand the needs of our diverse students by considering a variety of factors that can affect student success.   

We are currently in the initial phases of data analysis of the Targeted Advising program.  Preliminary examination of the evidence suggests that there is a significant increase in the persistence of first-time degree-seeking students since we started the program.  We will continue to track students who participated in the program to determine if they progress toward their stated academic goals more efficiently than previous cohorts.  This type of research will include some qualitative data collection including clarification of student academic goals and student feedback on the program.  We also plan to compare the spring 2008 first-time degree-seeking cohort with the spring 2009 cohort to see if there were differences in GPA and attrition rates. 

Regardless of what the data reveal, the benefits of using LASSI are already apparent.  The enhanced advising model is being used by advisors and students to prompt discussion of skills and characteristics of successful students.   LASSI results are also providing an increased institutional understanding of the Kodiak College first-time degree-seeking student population.  The additional information LASSI reveals is allowing us to better match students with well-designed learning environments that are tailored to enhance their success.

Works Cited

Saxon, D.P., Levine-Brown, P, & Boylan, H.R. (2008). Affective assessment for developmental students, Part 1, Research in Developmental Education, 20(2), 1-4.

Schwartz, W. & Jenkins, D. (October 2007). Promising practices for community college developmental education. Prepared for the Connecticut Community College System. New York: Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University.

Tinto, Vincent. (1999). Taking Retention Seriously: Rethinking the First Year of College. NACADA Journal, 19(2): 9.

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