BILL REQ. #:  H-0788.2 

Read first time 01/23/2007.   Referred to Committee on Higher Education.

     AN ACT Relating to college readiness standards; and creating new sections.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that many students graduate from high school without a clear understanding of the level of college mathematics courses for which they are prepared. The legislature further finds that this problem is made worse by the fact that the state's institutions of higher education use different examinations for determining readiness and placement in college mathematics courses. Even when colleges use the same placement examinations, they do not necessarily use the same scores to determine a student's readiness and placement. Therefore, it is the intent of the legislature that a common examination in mathematics, with common scores for determining student qualifications for college-level mathematics courses, be developed for use by all of the state's institutions of higher education.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   The state board for community and technical colleges and the higher education coordinating board shall work in consultation with the public four-year institutions of higher education to develop a common placement examination for college mathematics courses. The boards shall also set common scores for determining student qualifications for college-level mathematics courses. All public two and four-year institutions of higher education shall use the common placement examination, with the common scores, when determining student qualifications for college mathematics courses. The test and scores shall be developed and implemented by the beginning of the 2008-09 academic year.