South Dakota to Use Smarter Balanced Scores for College Admissions
Monday, it was announced that South Dakota public high school seniors who earned a Level 3 or 4 on their Smarter Balanced 11th grade math and English language arts tests would receive “guaranteed general acceptance into the state’s public universities and technical institutes.” The proactive admissions initiative is a cooperative effort of the South Dakota Department of Education, the South Dakota Board of Regents, the South Dakota Board of Technical Education, and their respective institutions.
Qualifying public high school seniors began receiving college acceptance letters in the mail this week based on their Smarter Balanced scores.
“Through this proactive admissions initiative, we can show our South Dakota high school students that the Smarter Balanced test has value for them,” Shopp said. “They will be able to see that their performance on the test can benefit them directly. With one of these acceptance letters in hand, they can say at the beginning of that exciting senior year, ‘I’m in!’”
Smarter Balanced scores in math and ELA are accepted at 256 colleges and universities in 10 states to determine whether students are ready for credit-bearing courses and can be exempted from remedial, or high-school level, courses. South Dakota becomes the first state to use the Smarter Balanced test for admissions.
Paul Turman, system vice president for academic affairs for the South Dakota Board of Regents, told the South Dakota Board of Education Standards on Monday, that the “data shows our test serves as a very strong predictor of college success for South Dakota students entering South Dakota colleges on every indicator we have available. Students at a Level 3 or 4 on Smarter Balanced show success on all indicators for academic career success.”
Last year, the first cohort of students who took Smarter Balanced in 11th grade finished its first year of college. More information is available at http://sdmylife.com/. The full South Dakota press release is below.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, Sept. 18, 2017
CONTACT: Mary Stadick Smith, South Dakota Department of Education, (605) 773-7228, mary.stadicksmith@state.sd.us or Ruth Raveling, South Dakota Department of Education, (605) 773-2593, ruth.raveling@state.sd.us
Proactive admissions initiative kicks off in South Dakota
PIERRE, S.D. – Later this month, qualifying South Dakota public high school seniors will receive letters announcing their guaranteed general acceptance into the state’s public universities and technical institutes.
At its meeting earlier today, the South Dakota Board of Education Standards heard about this “proactive admissions” effort from Paul Turman, system vice president for academic affairs for the South Dakota Board of Regents.
“The proactive admissions initiative is good for students and good for South Dakota,” Turman said. “We are alerting our public high school seniors to the great opportunities available to them, with a goal of encouraging more to attend the exceptional public universities and technical institutes here in our state. This is a way to retain our best students and build a vibrant workforce firmly rooted in South Dakota.”
To be eligible, students must have earned a Level 3 or 4 on their 11th grade Smarter Balanced test in English and math or an ACT composite score of 18. By meeting these criteria, students earn guaranteed general acceptance into South Dakota’s six public universities and four technical institutes. (Note: the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology requires 18 in English and 20 in math on the ACT.)
General acceptance means a student is accepted into the university or technical institute. Some majors have additional requirements. To take advantage of guaranteed general acceptance, students must complete their application for admission, pay the application fee and submit their official high school transcript to the school(s) of their choice by Dec. 1 of their senior year. After Dec. 1, students may still apply, but their acceptance is no longer guaranteed. Students must also graduate high school the school year in which they are granted guaranteed general acceptance.
The proactive admissions initiative is a cooperative effort of the South Dakota Department of Education, the South Dakota Board of Regents, the South Dakota Board of Technical Education, and their respective institutions.
Find more information at http://sdmylife.com/accepted