Sacramento – Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks) was awarded the Vision for Success Policy Leadership Award by the California Community Colleges Board of Governors for her work reforming remedial education and removing a significant obstacle to student success.
“When crafting AB 705, the mission was to remove the barriers to a quality education for every Californian,” said Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin. “I’m very pleased to be recognized by California Community Colleges Board of Governors and I would like to commend them for their work in implementing the bill.”
Assemblymember Irwin’s AB 705 (2017) was unanimously passed by the California legislature and requires that community colleges use multiple measures to place students into courses. Research has shown that placement tests alone do not accurately predict a student’s ability to succeed in college level courses, and that they disproportionately place Latino and African American students into unnecessary remedial courses. These remedial courses force students to spend unnecessary time and money without actually progressing towards a credential or transferring to further education.
AB 705 requires that students are evaluated more holistically by using multiple measures, such as high school courses and transcripts. The bill increases the likelihood of success by encouraging campuses to support students through co-requisite classes and supervised tutoring, which enables students to earn college credits and graduate more quickly. Community colleges across the state are working to implement AB 705 for the fall semester of 2019.
“It is an honor to present the Vision for Success Policy Leadership Award to Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin,” said California Community Colleges Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley. “With student success as the driving force, Assemblymember Irwin’s leadership and commitment to AB 705 have been instrumental to the community college assessment and placement reform – a reform that will unlock student potential.”
