Enrollment Management Electronic Newsletter

Placement scores, RAIL, and your advisees

In the busy season of pre-registration, many questions came up regarding students' placement scores--where to access them, how to interpret them, how RAIL was seeing them in terms of prerequisite restrictions into specific courses such as English Composition and Mathematics.

Advisors have access to their advisees' test scores (where reported) via RAIL:

Clicking on "View" under the "Test Scores" column will show the advisor all the entrance/placement test scores reported and recorded for the student:

In direct-access Banner for chairs/deans/directors, SOATEST is the form that carries this same information; this form has been added to the group of forms to which this group has access.

The scores will still require some interpretation, of course; the advisement information on placement scores can assist with this, and has been placed on my website, and (I believe) the Advising website as well:

http://www.shepherd.edu/register/pdf/MATH_ENGL_PLACEMENT.pdf

Each course is coded in Banner with the minimum eligible test score from the placement information; when a student requests the CRN for a course, RAIL will review that student's record for a test score equivalent to or greater than one of the eligible test scores. If the student's score meets the minimum, registration is allowed; if the score does not meet the minimum, registration is blocked.

If you see no scores reported at all (perhaps your advisee transferred in, thus was not required to report ACT/SAT scores), RAIL may also be directed by the course description to look for alternate coursework or ACCUPLACER scores. In the absence of any of those eligible markers, though, RAIL will simply block the student from registering directly for a course for which (according to academic definition) he or she is not eligible and has a low likelihood of success - and at this point an academic review and intervention (if warranted) is required.

Word to the wise: if you send your advisee to a department chair for review and override, it is often a great help to have your advisee provide a printed copy (from RAIL) of the student transcript/test score screen.

http://www.shepherd.edu/register/