Section
0. Effective Date
1. Purpose and Authority
2. Definitions
3. Exemptions and Exceptions
4. Assessment
5. Assessment Instruments
6. Minimum Passing Standards
7. Advisement and Plan for Academic Success
8. Determination of Readiness to Perform Freshman-level Academic Coursework
9. Evaluation and Reporting
0. Effective Date
This plan and the policies herein will apply to students entering or continuing enrollment in Spring 2004 and thereafter.
1. Purpose and Authority
Under Chapter 4, Subchapter C (Texas Success Initiative, “TSI”) of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board Rules,
2. Definitions
The following words and terms shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
(A) Assessment – the use of a Board-approved instrument to determine the academic skills of each entering undergraduate student.
(B) Board – the
(C) Developmental Coursework – non-degree credit coursework designed to address a student’s deficiencies. Tarleton offers developmental coursework in Reading (RDG 1003 - Basic Reading), Writing (ENGL 1003 -Basic Writing), and Mathematics (MATH 1003 - Basic Mathematics and MATH 1013 - Fundamentals of College Algebra).
(D) Developmental Education – developmental courses and/or tutorials that are included in a Plan for Academic Success.
(E) Exemptions - Students who are exempt from the Texas Success Initiative are not subject to the requirements in this plan. However, they are subject to university policies (as stated in the University Catalog, particularly those related to placement, enrollment, prerequisites and advisement) which apply to all TSU students.
(F) Minimum Passing Standards – Students scoring below these minimum scores will be advised, provided with a Plan for Academic Success, and subject to compliance requirements as stated in this plan.
(G) Non-Degree Credit Course – A course which may not be counted toward a degree or certificate.
3. Exemptions/Exceptions
The following students shall be exempt from the requirements of the TSI:
(A) For a period of five (5) years from the date of testing, a student who is tested and performs at or above the following standards:
(i) ACT: composite score of 23 with a minimum of 19 on both the English and Mathematics tests;
(ii) Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT): a combined Verbal and Mathematics score of 1070 with a minimum of 500 on both the verbal and the mathematics tests; or
(B) For a period of three (3) years from the date of testing, a student who is tested and performs on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) with a minimum scale score of 1770 on the writing test, a Texas Learning Index (TLI) of 86 on the mathematics test and 89 on the reading test.
(C) A student who has graduated with an associate or baccalaureate degree from an institution of higher education.
(D) A student who transfers to Tarleton from a private or independent institution of higher education or an accredited out-of-state institution of higher education and who has satisfactorily completed college-level coursework as indicated in Section 8(C).
(E) A student who has previously attended any institution of higher education and met readiness standards by that institution.
(F) A student who is serving on active duty as a member of the armed forces of the United States, the Texas National Guard, or as a member of a reserve component of the armed forces of the United States and has been serving for at least three years preceding enrollment.
(G) A student who on or after August 1, 1990, was honorably discharged, retired, or released from active duty as a member of the armed forces of the United States or the Texas National Guard or service as a member of a reserve component of the armed forces of the United States.
(H) A student who, prior to
4. Assessment
(A) Tarleton shall assess, by an instrument approved in Section 5, the academic skills of each entering undergraduate student prior to enrollment of the student. Under exceptional circumstances, the Director of General Studies may permit a student to enroll in freshman-level academic coursework without assessment but must require that the student be assessed not later than the end of the first semester of enrollment in freshman-level academic coursework and may require concurrent, appropriate developmental education.
(B) Students enrolling at
5. Assessment Instruments
The following assessment instruments will be utilized:
1. ASSET offered by ACT;
2. COMPASS offered by ACT;
3. ACCUPLACER offered by the College Board;
4. Texas Higher Education Assessment (THEA),formerly TASP Test, offered by National Evaluation Systems, Inc.
6. Minimum Passing Standards
A student who is not exempt from the TSI (see Section 3) and fails to satisfy a standard in at least one of the three skill areas (reading, writing, and mathematics) is subject to the requirements of this plan.
· 41 or higher on ASSET Reading Skills
· 81 or higher on COMPASS Reading Skills
· 78 or higher on ACCUPLACER Reading Comprehension
· 230 or higher on THEA Reading
Mathematics (one of the following standards must be satisfied)
· 38 or higher on ASSET Elementary Algebra
· 39 or higher on COMPASS Algebra
· 63 or higher on ACCUPLACER Elementary Algebra
· 230 or higher on THEA Mathematics
Writing (one of the following standards must be satisfied)
· 6 or higher on the ASSET Written Essay (or a 5 Written Essay score and a 40 or higher
on the ASSET Writing Skills).
· 6 or higher on the COMPASS Written Essay (or a 5 Written Essay Score and a 59 or higher
on the COMPASS Writing Skills).
· 6 or higher on the ACCUPLACER Written Essay (or a 5 Written Essay Score and an 80 or higher
on the ACCUPLACER Sentence Skills).
· 220 or higher on the THEA Writing.
7. Advisement and Plan for Academic Success
(A) A student who fails to meet the minimum standards in any of the three areas described in Section 6 must be jointly advised by the Division of General Studies and the student's major department. A TSI-advising hold will be placed on each student subject to these policies. The Division of General Studies will have sole authorization to remove the hold. At the time of advisement, the Division of General Studies will provide, in writing, a Plan for Academic Success which should include the following:
(i) If a student fails to meet the standard for reading (see Section 6), and has not achieved college-level
(ii) if a student fails to meet the standard for writing (see Section 6)and has not achieved college-level writing readiness (see Section 8(b)), and did not pass the English Department’s Composition Placement Test, then the student should enroll in ENGL 1003. If ENGL 1003 is not available, the student should participate in non-course-based writing remediation offered through the
(iii) if a student fails to meet the standard for mathematics (see Section 6) and has not achieved college-level mathematics readiness (see Section 8(b)), then the student should, in compliance with the mathematics placement policy, enroll in MATH 1003 or MATH 1013. If the appropriate developmental math course is not available, the student should participate in non-course-based mathematics remediation offered through the Teaching and
(B) A student who has accumulated at least 45 semester hours of college credit but has not achieved college readiness in all three areas may not enroll in upper-level coursework until college readiness is achieved.
8. Determination of Readiness to Perform Freshman-level Academic Coursework
A student subject to the TSI achieves completion when, for each area of deficiency (writing, reading, and/or mathematics), the student is determined by TSU to be “college ready”, and the student completes mandatory retesting as required by the state’s TSI policy.
(A) A student must retake a Board-approved assessment instrument, as listed in Section 5, if the student did not initially perform at or above the following scores:
(i) ASSET: Reading Skills – 35; Elementary Algebra – 30; and Writing Skills
(objective) – 35.
(ii) COMPASS: Reading Skills – 64; Algebra – 23; Writing Skills
(objective) – 44.
(iii) ACCUPLACER: Reading Comprehension – 61; Elementary Algebra – 42; Sentence Skills – 62.
(iv) THEA: Reading – 201; Mathematics – 206; Writing – 205.
(v) An essay with a score of 5 will meet these criteria if the student meets the objective writing test standard.
A student should retake the assessment when readiness is achieved in all areas. However, a student may retake an assessment instrument at any time, subject to availability, to determine the student’s readiness to perform freshman-level academic coursework. A student who, because of a “no attempt”, receives a score of 0 on an assessment portion must still retake that portion to satisfy this requirement.
(B) College readiness for each of the three skills areas is achieved at Tarleton when any of the associated criteria are satisfied:
WRITING
?Completion of ENGL 1003 with a “C” or better.
? Completion of ENGL 1113 or ENGL 1123 with a “C” or better.
MATHEMATICS
?Completion of MATH 1013 with a “C” or better; or
?Completion of MATH 1073, 1083, 1093, 1113, 1163, 1204 or 1313 with a “C” or better.
?Completion of RDG 1003 with a “C” or better;
?Completion of ENGL 2103, 2203, 2403, 2504, HIST 1013, 1023, 2013, 2023, POLS 2013, or 2023 with a “C” or better.
(C) College-level courses for which satisfactory completion (defined here as achievement of a “C” or better grade in the course) represents satisfaction of the college readiness standards in that skill area are listed below by Texas Common Course Numbers. Satisfactory completion of equivalent coursework from out-of-state, private, and independent institutions of higher education would also serve to satisfy this requirement.
MATHEMATICS
MATH 1314/1414 – College Algebra
MATH 1316 – Plane Trigonometry
MATH 1324 – Mathematics for Business & Social Sciences I
MATH 1332 – Math for Liberal Arts I
MATH 1348 – Analytical Geometry
MATH 2312/2412 – Precalculus Math
MATH 2313/2413/2513 – Calculus I
WRITING
ENGL 1301 – Composition I
ENGL 1302 – Composition II
ENGL 2321 – British Literature
ENGL 2322 – British Literature I
ENGL 2323 – British Literature II
ENGL 2326 – American Literature
ENGL 2327 – American Literature I
ENGL 2328 – American Literature II
ENGL 2331 – World Literature
ENGL 2332 – World Literature I
ENGL 2333 – World Literature II
ENGL 2341 – Forms of Literature
ENGL 2342 – Forms of Literature I
ENGL 2343 – Forms of Literature II
GOVT 2301 – American Government I (Federal & Texas constitutions)
GOVT 2302 – American Government II (Federal & Texas topics)
GOVT 2305 – Federal Government (Federal constitution & topics)\
GOVT 2306 – Texas Government (
HIST 1301 – United States History I
HIST 1302 – United States History II
HIST 2301 –
HIST 2311 – Western Civilization I
HIST 2312 – Western Civilization II
HIST 2313 – History of
HIST 2314 – History of
HIST 2321 – World Civilizations I
HIST 2322 – World Civilizations II
HIST 2323 – Eastern Civilizations
HIST 2380 – Mexican-American History
HIST 2381 – African American History
(D) Tarleton will, as soon as practicable and feasible, indicate a student’s readiness in reading, mathematics, and writing on the transcript of each student.
9. Evaluation and Reporting
At the end of each semester, Tarleton will report to the Board the following information for undergraduate students: Social Security Number (SSN), semester credit hours (SCH), grade points earned, ethnicity, gender, date of birth, Texas Success Initiative Status, initial assessment instrument, score on initial Assessment, type of developmental education received for each area (reading, mathematics, writing), grade in first related non-developmental course, and the results of any subsequent assessment. The office of General Studies and University Testing is responsible for follow-up reports to the Provost and Academic Council in early Fall 2004 and early Spring 2005.
