The Testing Office, located in C-460 (Testing@lagcc.cuny.edu, (718) 482-5146), tests students throughout their careers at LaGuardia. The office is responsible for providing CUNY Assessment Tests to new students for placement and TAP eligibility and, offering re-tests (exit exams) in areas of remediation. Testing lab facilities are located in C-445 and C-220 and are staffed by a team of proctors.
All students, unless they are exempt from placement testing through Regents or SAT scores, transfer credit, or a prior bachelor’s degree, are required to demonstrate college readiness in writing, reading, and mathematics through placement examinations (the CUNY Assessment Test). The writing test is a paper-based response exam (CATW, formerly ACT), and reading and math are computer-based (on the COMPASS system). Students’ scores in reading and math are posted to SIMS electronically following completion of the exam; writing scores are posted following grading of the exams at the Borough Reading Center at Queens College.
Failing writing exams are re-read at LaGuardia’s ELA Department, which determines placement into the appropriate English or ESL writing course in the developmental skills sequence. Students who test at another CUNY College who have failed the writing placement exam also must take Local Writing Exam, which provides a writing sample for the ELA Department to evaluate. Refer to the testing placement sheet for an explanation of the scores and placement codes. In addition, students who would like to request a review of their CATW response may do so through the Testing Office.
Students who fail a placement examination are required to take an intervention consisting of a certain number of hours for each subject. The intervention might be a course, a First-Year Institute express class, or a workshop. The Testing Office manages the exit exams for all basic skills interventions, ensuring that students’ scores are available quickly so as to help them to make decisions about registration for the next semester.
The Office administers Ability to Benefit tests for students who require themfor certification for a TAP award. Students who are New York State residents but possess a foreign high school or general equivalency diploma must prove eligibility for New York State Tuition Assistance (TAP) through their scores on a writing objective exam on COMPASS as well as the COMPASS reading and math tests.
To prove eligibility students must achieve a score of 25 on the wriitng objective, a 62 on the reading exam, and a 25 on the pre-algebra math exam. Students who otherwise are exempt from the tests based must still take them in order to be certified for TAP.
The Testing Office works closely with the Office of Student Financial Services to reach these students and coordinates preparatory workshops offered through the ELA and Communication Skills departments. All new students who could qualify based on their foreign credentials are offered the exams prior to their first semester of registration.
Academic Testing Manager
Shayla Pruitt (718) 482-5093
spruitt@lagcc.cuny.edu
College Chief Reader and Faculty Liaison
Susan Young, English Department (718) 482-5671
youngsu@lagcc.cuny.edu