If you are, or have been, a student, chances are you have taken one, if not multiple, placement tests. You might have even heard of a recent assembly bill that is attempting to create a unified placement test cut score system.

Foothill and De Anza College, as sister schools, share a large amount of their student bodies, and in lieu of this, taking multiple standardized tests for the same subjects can become a tiresome annoyance, if not a hindrance.

Cut scores are cut-off points for different levels of study. Different cut scores determine different levels of class placement. For example, a math placement test could result in a placement into general math, algebra, or even calculus classes. The higher the score, the higher the class, and the cut score is the score to beat.

Now, when we consider the affinity between Foothill College and De Anza College, what happens if unified cut scores are implemented?

If you take a placement test for a subject at Foothill, you are automatically placed into the same type of classes should you choose to take any similar classes at De Anza. However, although Foothill and De Anza are sister schools, this does not mean that the level and difficulty of classes are equal.

For instance, De Anza prides itself upon having a higher and more challenging level of learning. This means that if you place into high level classes at Foothill, you might actually need to be in a lower level class at De Anza.

And if unified cut scores are implemented? One could take placement tests at Foothill, and be under-qualified at De Anza, or if taken at De Anza, be over-qualified at Foothill. So what? Unified cut scores would streamline the process of any student taking classes at more than one campus in the FHDA system, or even in the state.

However, at the same time, this could put students into a disadvantageous position, depending on where one takes the placement test.

Because of this, I feel that unified cut scores should not be implemented.

Sure, it will be more work for students, and there will be more headaches to go around, but it is necessary to not have even more issues or problems concerning class placement later down the road than we already have.

In place of unified cut scores, perhaps a unified test system should be set in place.

Instead of interpreting scores across different schools and universities, a standard test should be given, but each school should have a different cut score scaling to the level of classes offered. In this way, only one test needs to be taken, but different institutions can interpret them differently and apply them to each school’s standards.