CWC Student Test Scores Support Rigorous Learning Standards

Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Kathy Wells reported “evaluation of student learning data indicates CWC students are meeting rigorous standards in many academic areas, most notably at the time of graduation,” at the regular meeting of the Central Wyoming College Board of Trustees  October 18, 2017.

Wells presented data from the ETS® Proficiency Profile exam and the Standardized Assessment of Information Literacy Skills (SAILS®) exam which measures learning in categories that correlate with many of CWC’s general education areas and Student Attributes: reading, writing, mathematics, humanities, social science, natural science, and critical thinking

CWC’s Spring 2017 graduates performed exceptionally well on the ETS® academic exam. This cohort scored better than 81% of the other 70 institutions measured. These results indicate that CWC has rigorous learning standards and that those students who persisted to graduation are well prepared academically. ”

Dr. Kathy Wells, Vice President of Academic Affairs

Wells went on to present information indicating that more than 90% of students who transfer to a four year institution choose to transfer to the University of Wyoming. Of those students who transfer to UW, the data supports that they are academically well prepared based on the grade point average (GPA) of first semester grades achieved after they transfer (average 3.02 GPA).

“Students who transfer from CWC achieve a GPA above that of students who transfer from other community colleges or even slightly better than those students who have been at UW for their first two years of study,” said Wells. “This assures us that our graduates are arriving at UW well prepared to continue their education to the bachelor’s level.”

“This data confirms that our students are receiving a quality education and exiting CWC with the tools they need to perform at the next level,” said President Brad Tyndall.

“This report is certainly impressive,” said acting Board Chair Nicole Schoening. “It confirms that CWC faculty are academically preparing our students and exciting to know that they are performing so well at UW.”