(Back to the meeting notes)

• At the APASC meeting on June 27 held at the MCCD District Office there was considerable concern voiced over the disparate cutoff scores and credits awarded in French, German and Spanish at the colleges and universities across the state.

• Languages ATF Chair Melissa Fitch promised APASC that she would carry out research to determine the variance of scores and then attempt to bring language chairs together at the Arizona Language Association conference in Tucson to reach an informal agreement as to common scores and credits.

• At the UA meeting held on September 22 and attended by numerous ATF members as well as chairs and language coordinators who normally do not attend the ATF meetings, all in attendance were able to discuss the various issues involved in articulating the CLEP scores across Arizona.

• Barb Eickmeyer reminded all that the CLEP examination does not test all of the skill areas covered by the Outcome statements brochure developed by the ATF.

• David William Foster of ASU and Malcolm Compitello of UA felt it would be difficult to find resources to incorporate an oral or written essay component to establish the 202 proficiency due to the vast numbers of students served at each institution.

• Vernon Smith reported that the maximum number of credits recommended by the College Board is 12 units (although they refer to it as four semesters of college language courses) as opposed to the 16 currently offered in most institutions in Arizona.

• Malcolm Compitello was concerned regarding the allotment of credit for an examination that involved no formal classroom time (as opposed to the AP).

However:

• Karen Schairer reported that in her research conducted at NAU she has not found any significant problems with students who CLEP the sixteen units and continue on to the next level of language instruction. Thus, although the exam does not cover all of the skills on the brochure, one can make the assumption based on her research that these students still have them, or there would be substantial problems.

• Melissa Fitch echoed Schairer’s experience and reiterated that the CLEP examination is designed to give credit to students for what they already know, thus when the exam is used for this intended purpose the requirement of classroom time is unnecessary. She reported that at UA the majority of the students who take the CLEP examination are students who finished their secondary schooling in a Spanish speaking country. The second largest contingent of students taking the CLEP examination is those who took the AP coursework in high school but never took the AP examination. The students taking CLEP who fit into neither of these categories are very few.

• The group informally agreed to adopt NAU’s credit and cutoff scores in French, German and Spanish and to revisit this issue in one year, at which time the CLEP will be moving into a new computerized format. In the meantime the institutions other than NAU will be able to collect solid data on the students taking the exam and their subsequent coursework in languages. This information was presented at the L ATF on September 29 at ASU Main.

• Motion One:  The universities agree to standardize CLEP scores for French, German, and Spanish in accordance with the current scores listed by Northern Arizona University for up to 16 credits with the recommendation that an oral exam at the 202 level be additionally administered.  This agreement will stand from Fall 2001 to the end of Fall 2003 semester, at which time the LATF will reconsider the motion. (motion passed by unanimous approval)
  
  Motion Two:  The Community Colleges agree to accept the CLEP scores and credits as agreed to by the Universities for the same time period with the understanding that the LATF reserves the right to modify the motion based on data collected by Fall 2002. (motion passed, 12 in favor, 1 opposed, ?? abstentions).
  
  Motion Three:  By Fall 2002, testing centers will collect data on the impact / validity of new CLEP exam scores and credits on Arizona's post secondary education population and  report them to LATF so that the LATF can revisit scores and credits prior to end fall 2003 window. G. Tipton moved, K. Collentine 2nd, motion passed with one opposed.