Assessment, Social Justice, and Latinxs in the US Community College

Elena sat opposite me in the soft glow of my office lamp. Her youthful face pressed forward, her expression all earnestness and hope. She began quietly, describing her immigration from Mexico not many years earlier and her almost immediate enrollment at the local community college, her plan to pursue a degree in health professions. She had requested a meeting, she said, because I was the composition coordinator and one of the few Latinx faculty members at the college. She hoped I would understand the difficulties she was encountering in her chosen program of study. I listened, taking notes.Like all incoming students at the college, Elena had been required to take timed, multiple choice examinations part of a package of tests purchased by the college specifically for the purpose of "placing" incoming students in writing and math to determine where in the sequence she would begin her English composition courses. After placing into the college's first level of developmental writing, Elena spent two full years acing preparatory and then college level composition courses (taking three writing classes per year on the quarter system) At long last she was prepared to take her program's entrance exam another purchased test, which is also a timed, multiple choice examination intended to "place" students as well as to assess students' aptitude, though this test is specifically intended for use by health professions programs. However, after several unsuccessful attempts at the program entrance exam, Elena sought assistance from departments, programs, and deans across campus. Finally, she was referred to me.It was not that she didn't know the material, Elena explained. Her answers on the exam were always correct. She simply couldn't read the questions quickly enough to complete the exam within the time allotted. Perhaps, as a secondlanguage English speaker, she wondered if she might be allowed some additional time to complete the test. When she went to the program to inquire about the possibility, coordinators noted that the test was designed to ensure all program candidates had a "fair and equal" chance to gain admittance. Fair and equal, they made it clear, meant that everyone was treated the same. The only variation of this policy was designated for students with disabilities, so Elena was referred to the campus "disability resources" office. There, Elena was told she was bilingual; she didn't have a disability. Elena's response was, "Yes, exactly!" Policies intended to guarantee equity might be effective in an environment where everyone is, in effect, the same, or when people are different in institutionally sanctioned ways, as when a student is diagnosed with a disability. However, in the case of multilingual students like Elena, such policies can mean they are consigned to a kind of institutional purgatory. They are neither in nor out; they gain access to college but remain blocked from advancement by required courses or chosen programs of study. The mother tongue grates against the linguistic barbed wire of the institution, and it bleeds.A year later I sat at a quiet table in a small taqueria listening to Gabriel, a former student and newly minted community college graduate. Gabriel had been in the United States since the age of eleven, when his family moved from Mexico, and he started sixth grade in a typical suburban elementary school. The transition had been jarring, but he was a good student, and in high school Gabriel was a high achiever.Like Elena, upon enrollment at the local community college Gabriel was placed into the first level of developmental writing, but unlike Elena, Gabriel did not think his placement was appropriate. He had experience navigating US educational institutions by then, so he wisely approached an advisor and expressed his desire to retake the test. The second time around, Gabriel placed into the college level composition course. It was challenging, but he threw himself into the work, often carrying burdensome credit loads, working in the student government, and feeling overwhelmed at times.