Testing Policy

The Yuba Community College District assessment/course placement activities shall adhere to the following general protocols:

1. Placement testing shall be available to all applicants to the college or enrolled students.
   
   
2. Placement testing is required of all non-exempt new students as part of the matriculation process. Exempt students who are eligible to do so are encouraged to use the placement system to determine their academic skills as appropriate.
   
   
3. Photo identification is required for placement testing and receiving test results.
   
   
4. The placement test may be taken no more than two times in any semester and not more than three times in any two-year period. The test publisher requires a 30 day wait between test. Placement results will be valid for two years or as recommended by the instrument publisher.
   
   
5. Compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other state and federal regulations related to disabilities is required by law. Yuba College will offer reasonable testing accommodations as prescribed by the test publisher and Title 5 regulations.
   
   
6. The assessment/placement system may not be used to supplant a course failed within the past five years, or to skip a course within a discipline sequence.
   
   
7. The Ability to Benefit (ATB) test shall be administered according to federal guidelines, which may or may not follow the policies described herein.
   
   
8. The district will use the approved assessment instrument, and such additional information collected within the testing process as may be appropriate, to facilitate a “multiple measures” placement system. Assessment staff will develop and maintain an automated weighting protocol to accomplish placements as established from time to time by faculty with expertise in the appropriate discipline and counselors working conjointly.
   
   
9. Yuba Community College District will accept placement scores from other colleges if it can be determined that the instrument used is approved by the Chancellor as a “second party instrument,” and if appropriate concordance tables are available. The Assessment Center will gather the appropriate other measures in a survey of the student and compute the appropriate placement (s) according to established weighing protocol.

The assessment /course placement policy will be reviewed and revised as needed. The review shall be conducted by a team appointed by the Curriculum Committee. The review may include, but shall not be limited to, course success rates, attrition rates, and placement accuracy. The team shall include representatives of Counseling, Research and Assessment, Matriculation, and faculty from the discipline affected by the placement system.

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