Incoming University of Wisconsin–Madison students who take the math placement test multiple times will now have their highest score used to determine course requisites and degree requirements — whether it’s their most recent score or not.
The change, which begins for students enrolling during Student Orientation, Advising, and Registration (SOAR) this summer, was driven by the Math Department. The Placement Testing Coordination Committee, co-chaired by Assistant Registrar for Degree Audit and Academic Programs Anne Eckenrod and Diana Maki, the director for academic affairs in the Office of Academic & Career Success, worked to implement it.
Previously, a student’s most recent score was used, even if it was lower than an earlier one. This change removes the risk that retaking the placement test hurts a student who scores lower the second time around.
“We want to support the Math Department’s desire to eliminate the potential penalty that the previous policy could impose on a student retaking a placement exam, especially when that student has previously demonstrated a higher level of proficiency,” Eckenrod says. “We believe that Math wants to encourage students to continuously strive for excellence, and removing this hurdle is one way we can support that desire.”
Multiple members of the Office of the Registrar (RO) team – plus other campus collaborators – worked to develop and implement a technical solution that supported the recommendation. Over the course of a few months, the RO team reviewed the former process to identify what factors needed to be changed, rewrote the existing technical code to align with the recommended changes, and tested the new functionality in order to minimize unintended negative impacts to students and any downstream processes.
Students are still required to get permission from the Math Department to retake the placement test. For more information, visit the department’s website.