Each year the RP Group recognizes outstanding research and planning efforts.
The following awards were presented at the 39th Annual RP Group Conference.

May, 2002

Category One
Institutional Research

Award for Excellence
Betty Glyer-Culver, Minh La, Chue Lo and Judy Beachler
Los Rios Community College District
Follow-up Studies of Former Students:  Program-Specific Surveys

Project Summary: During Fall 2000 staff of the District Office of Institutional Research collaborated with faculty and deans at the three Los Rios colleges to develop a series of program specific follow-up surveys to be administered during Spring 2001. These surveys were designed to determine how well courses met the employment and educational needs of former Los Rios students, both those who earned degrees or certificates as well as those who did not. Questions were designed to obtain comprehensive information about: how well specific courses (or specific skills that were taught) prepared students for employment; salaries upon completion of their studies and current salaries (controlling for those who came into their programs of study with experience, reflecting artificially inflated earning potential); license and certification -- exams that were taken, successfully completed and being used on the job; preparation for upper division courses at baccalaureate-granting institutions; and plans for further education. Accounting, Automotive Technology, Computer Information Science and Electronics were the four programs selected for the Spring 2001 survey administration. The administration of these four surveys served as the pilot for this newly created research project; approximately four different programs are studied each year. 

Award of Distinction
James Barr, Richard Rasor, and Cathie Grill
American River College
The Evaluation of Present Course Placement Procedures Using the Compass Tests

Project Summary: Two years ago, American River College (ARC) switched to ACT's Compass computerized assessment tests, replacing the prior paper and pencil tests produced by ADS, MDTP and CELSA.  It became time this past year to validate these assessment instruments.  This study looks at  how well ARC's computerized placement tests (Compass) assist individuals in reaching informed decisions about enrolling in selected courses, namely English composition, reading, mathematics and ESL.  The bottom line question of the study  was:  Do Compass scores add any relevant information in the decision-making process surrounding course placement? If so, to what degree?  The findings indicate that Compass assessment scores are relatively weak at predicting student success across most courses examined.  Even when controlling for instructor grading variation,  removing all W's, etc., little improvement in the correlations occurred.  Though the Compass tests are legally validated under current guidelines (consequential validity, content validity, etc.), the lack of predictive validity raises strong concerns about the usefulness of assessment testing for placement decisions that are currently implemented at ARC.