REGENTS' TESTING PROGRAM

PURPOSE: The Regents' Testing Program (RTP) was instituted in all System institutions to provide System-wide information on the status of student competence in the areas of reading and writing and a uniform means of identifying those students who fail to attain the minimum levels of competence in the areas of reading and writing. Passing the test became a requirement for graduation from undergraduate degree programs (associate and baccalaureate) in 1973. In 1987 the RTP policy was changed to exempt students earning career associate degrees.

DESCRIPTION: The test consists of two parts, reading and essay, and is administered each semester at all System institutions. The reading part of the test is a 60-item, multiple choice test based on ten reading passages with five to eight questions about each passage. The questions are designed to assess vocabulary, comprehension, and analysis skills. The minimum passing score for the reading section is 61.

For the essay, students have one hour in which to choose and write on one of the four topics that are given. The completed essays are then distributed by the RTP office among six centers in the State, where three independent raters from System institutions score each essay on a four-point scale. The final score is the rating on which at least two of the three raters agree or the middle rating if there is no agreement. Thus, an essay is given a failing grade only if at least two of the three raters assign a failing grade.

REMEDIATION: Students who have earned 45 semester hours of college-level credit and have not passed both parts of the test must take non-degree credit courses in remedial reading and/or writing until they have passed both parts of the test. If a student fails only one part of the test, he or she is required to repeat only that part. There is no limit on the number of times a student may take remediation or retake the test, although some institutions have policies allowing students to retake the test only when quantifiable progress has been made.

RESULTS: Because institutions vary in their policies concerning the Regents' Test, it is unwise to use the data on the next page to compare institutions. Note that statistics for repeaters include each repeat attempt.

Historical Summary of % Passing Regents' Test

Academic Year First-TimeRepeaters*
  N % N %
1971-72 10,923 51.2 0 --
1972-73 16,261 56.1 0 --
1973-74 19,555 53.4 2,527 27.0
1974-75 21,127 64.3 5,020 37.0
1975-76 20,095 65.4 7,322 42.9
1976-77 19,616 65.5 7,101 44.0
1977-78 20,268 64.0 7,781 44.6
1978-79 26,481 63.3 10,389 45.2
1979-80 26,036 64.7 12,877 43.0
1980-81 21,552 63.7 11,782 46.9
1981-82 22,316 62.4 12,497 47.5
1982-83 23,565 63.4 13,748 45.0
1983-84 23,152 63.6 13,843 43.4
1984-85 23,982 68.1 14,310 46.7
1985-86 23,250 71.3 12,385 50.3
1986-87 25,493 74.1 10,903 49.6
1987-88 26,869 76.4 10,904 48.9
1988-89 27,922 75.4 10,762 46.6
1989-90 28,835 75.3 11,693 48.3
1990-91 30,905 73.5 12,416 46.0
1991-92 31,954 72.6 14,206 46.4
1992-93 32,537 72.3 14,718 46.5
1993-94 32,160 72.3 14,896 46.9
1994-95 32,073 73.3 14,541 45.7
1995-96 31,815 73.4 14,494 45.1
1996-97 30,644 73.6 13,760 45.1
1997-98 30,745 73.1 14,568 45.6

* Note that statistics for repeaters include each repeat attempt. A student passing on the third repeat attempt would be counted three times -- twice as failing and once as passing.

Sources: Director of Regents' Testing Program, Fall 1998 Regents' Testing Program Report of Results

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Information Digest 1998-1999
©December 1999 University System of Georgia