Executive Summary

Brief History

During the past 10 years, DSU students have participated in a variety of general education assessment activities including standardized tests, on-line exams, and locally developed exams. Daytime classes are canceled one day each semester to enable students to participate in these activities. Since 1989, DSU students have completed the Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency (CAAP), composed of four standardized tests: Writing Skills, Reading, Mathematics, and Science Reasoning. The South Dakota Board of Regents initiated a statewide proficiency testing program in Spring 1996. Following a two-year pilot phase, the BOR and the faculty selected the CAAP as the proficiency exam and set minimum performance levels in each of the four areas. Beginning in March 1998, students at all regental institutions were required to meet the minimum cutoff scores. Information on the procedures for students who do not meet the required scores can be found in Appendix E. 
Because DSU students need high level computer skills, they also complete an on-line computer assessment activity. The Computer Skills Assessment Project (CSAP) is a locally developed computer skills test designed to measure students' competencies in software applications, programming, and their knowledge of computer technology. The faculty in the College of Business and Information Systems developed this assessment project in 1994. Over the past 6 years, the faculty have reviewed the test data and updated the exam on a regular basis. During fall 1999, 49 students participated in the pilot study of the Tek.Xam, a standardized computer competency exam developed by the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges. During Spring 2000, all DSU students and several faculty completed the Tek.Xam. Due to testing problems, these scores are not included in this report. 

General Education Assessment

During 1994 and 1995, the Assessment Coordinating Committee developed specific goals, outcomes, and assessment criteria to assess the general education curriculum. During 1998, the general education curriculum underwent a statewide review that resulted in a set of seven, system-wide general education goals. In addition, the universities developed institutional graduation requirements and information technology literacy requirements. (See Appendix A for a summary of these requirements.) During 1999, the Assessment Committee revised DSU’s general education assessment plan to align the outcomes and criteria with the revised goals. The general faculty approved this plan on April 14, 2000. 

Proficiency test: CAAP Scores

At DSU, the average test scores in each area have remained within one standard deviation of the user norms for the past six years. The average scores are also within one standard deviation of the South Dakota norms in all areas. All DSU students passed the math and science exams during fall 1999 and spring 2000. During spring 2000, ten DSU students did not meet the minimum required score in writing and one student failed both reading and writing. These students are eligible to retest during fall 2000 and/or spring 2001. At the system-wide level, a total of 186 students (9.4%) required remediation. Additional information on the system-wide scores and remediation numbers can be found in Appendix G. 

Computer Competency: CSAP and Tek.Xam

CSAP: The scores on the Computer Skills Assessment Project (CSAP) have remained consistently high in word processing, spreadsheet, graphics, and importing. Over 85% of the students successfully completed these sections of the test. Information on the percent passing each section for the past 4 years can be found in Table 2. The Internet section of the test was significantly revised between 1998 and 1999 and students’ success rates decreased. 

Tek.Xam: DSU students who participated in the Fall 1999 pilot test were more successful than students from around the country in four of the five sections on the exam. In addition, 35% of the DSU students were certified (passed all five sections) compared to 30% of the students nationwide. 

2000 Proficiency Test Summary

For the past five years, DSU’s average CAAP scores have remained within one standard deviation of the national user norms. In addition, the percentage of students at DSU in the upper quartiles compares favorably with the normative data. 

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