Kansas Placement/Assessment Guidelines - A Best Practices Guide for Assessing and Placing Students in Developmental Education Courses at Public Postsecondary Institutions

Sep 14, 2026

Uploaded by Dozel

Guidelines outlining standardized placement and assessment practices for students in developmental education at Kansas public postsecondary institutions. The document frames developmental education as essential for students entering college unprepared in mathematics, reading, or writing, yet highlights high failure and graduation barriers. It defines common exams, placement metrics, and noncognitive assessment approaches, emphasizing statewide consistency, shared definitions of college readiness, and improved ability to track outcomes while supporting Board of Regents’ higher-education attainment goals.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time23 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Purpose Statement

Definitions

Background

Kansas Placement/Assessment Guidelines A Best Practices Guide for Assessing and Placing Students in Developmental Education Courses at Public Postsecondary Institutions Updated by the Placement/Assessment Committee of the Developmental Education Working Group, October 2021 INTRODUCTION The Kansas Board of Regents is committed to Building a Future, a strategic agenda for the state’s public postsecondary education system. Building a Future aims to ensure that higher education remains affordable and accessible to Kansans, while continuing to help graduates achieve success. Without effective developmental education, many students would not have access to higher education, higher education would be less affordable, and many students would not be able to attain a credential. One means by which to increase the attainment of postsecondary credentials is to implement standardized procedures for the placement and assessment of students so the state has a common definition of college readiness. PURPOSE STATEMENT Developmental education is offered in recognition that some students enter college unprepared in the core areas of mathematics, reading, and writing to succeed either in college or the workplace. For the college or university, this means those students require additional preparation and fostering in some subjects to be successful at the college level. Data show that nearly a third of Kansas students who undertake developmental education fail to complete it, and of those who do successfully complete, most fail to graduate. Developmental education has always been crucial to the success of some students. Emerging research and better data have revealed, however, that many underprepared students are not well served by existing developmental education policies and practices. This is of concern to Kansas. Aside from its potential benefit to individual students, improved outcomes for students enrolled in developmental education is critical to the success of the Board of Regents’ Foresight 2020 goal of increasing higher education attainment. We must also decrease the high costs of developmental education both in terms of actual costs and opportunity costs. State guidelines provide the necessary foundation for consistency across the public postsecondary system. These guidelines establish that common exams and common requirements for placement/ assessment are essential to provide a statewide definition of college readiness. Common exams and requirements also make it more feasible for the system to track developmental education outcomes. The Kansas Board of Regents offers these guidelines to Kansas public universities and community/ technical colleges. Each public university and college in Kansas is encouraged to use the guidelines to establish, document, and regularly update policies for placement and assessment of students in developmental education. DEFINITIONS The list below is provided for convenience and is not intended to be exhaustive. Kansas institutions may consider adopting these common definitions for their own communications, policies, and internal purposes to simplify and improve the student-user experience. ACCUPLACER – a suite of tests created by the College Board to assess a person’s college readiness in reading, writing, math and computer skills. ACT – a standardized college entrance exam created by ACT, Inc. with four sections: English, Reading, Math, and Science. ACT Engage – a noncognitive assessment created by ACT, Inc. that seeks to identify students who are more likely to struggle with academics, timely graduation, and college entrance requirements. Cut Score – a score, or a score range, on the ACCUPLACER which represents sufficient knowledge and skills for placement in a credit-bearing college course. Developmental Education – courses designed to increase the likelihood of student success in entry-level college courses. The content of developmental education courses is at

FAQs

Why do Kansas institutions need standardized placement and assessment procedures for developmental education?

Standardized procedures create a common statewide definition of college readiness, help ensure consistency across the public postsecondary system, and make it more feasible to track developmental education outcomes.

What subjects are developmental education courses designed to support?

They support entry-level success by focusing on areas where some students are unprepared, specifically mathematics, reading, and writing.

What is the role of “multiple measures” in student placement decisions?

Multiple measures use at least two college readiness indicators to determine whether students are placed into developmental education or credit-bearing college courses.

Sep 14, 2026

Uploaded by Dozel