New testing regulations to aid remedial students
by Connie Yu, Managing Editor

   In replacing the TASP guidelines, which many of its opponents say are too strict and inflexible, new state-regulated initiatives will give state colleges more leeway to design creative and student-friendly remediation procedures, TCC officials say.
   “For a long time now, we have become comfortable with TASP,” Tahita Fulkerson, dean of accreditations and instruction services, said in a staff workshop last week. “Since 1989, it’s been the absolute law of the land. And that TASP law controls [students’] lives.
   The new regulations, called the Texas Success Initiatives, will approve the same optional tests as TASP. TCC has chosen ACCUPLACER, one of the test options, for its testing.
   But some of the remediation procedures will change dramatically.
   In contrast to the TASP guidelines, the new rules will require only remedial students whose test scores fall below the standard deviation to retest.
   Students who receive grades of C or better will pass their remedial courses instead of the previously required B or better under TASP. English students will also be required to score a 5 or better on the final essay.
   Besides that, each student in remediation will have an individualized success program, and most remedial students will no longer be required to enroll in remedial classes to attend school.
   “If you need a semester off,” Fulkerson said, “we can allow that.”
   Fulkerson said the TCC Board insisted the college require students who failed all three parts of the test to enroll in developmental reading during their first semester.
   “It is a fact that students simply cannot study in college if they can’t read,” she said.
   On the other hand, it is up to each college to establish its own standards for success, and the results will need to be reported regularly to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
   While that part of the plan is still being worked out, Fulkerson said creating and enforcing consistent standards and a report system can be a challenge.
   “Even though we hated the test—the fact that it didn’t allow for individual differences—it was something that was standard. It was something that we can measure,” she said.
   Though the chancellor’s cabinet has approved the plan’s general guidelines, many details are still being decided. The administration is pushing to complete the plan before Nov. 11, the first day of spring registration.
   The rules may be subjected to further changes when officials evaluate initial results from next spring.
   The TASP regulation is expected to be repealed Oct. 30 by the THECB after it received numerous complaints from college communities across Texas.
   Richard Vela, an academic advisor on NE Campus, was not surprised.
   “There were times when we’d tell the students that there’s nothing we can do,” he said. “Write to your congressmen because it is based on the strict guidelines of the TASP.”
  Going into his fifth year as an advisor, Vela said he welcomes the changes.
   “Rather than saying you are going to do this and you are going to do that,” he said, “now we are going to be able to individualize the process. I think that’s going to benefit the students.”
   Nevertheless, Vela said he expects a tough registration process for the spring when advisors and students are faced with adapting to the changes in the new plan and the changes in the college’s new database system, Colleague.
  “My honest opinion is that the system will do us a lot of good in the long run,” he said. “But as of now, in the beginning, it’s going to be a tough ride.”