AB 705 is legislation intended to support assessment and placement strategies proven to increase student completion rates and close the achievement gap by requiring colleges to consider a student's high school coursework and GPA as primary determining factors for placement. A broad group of stakeholders are working to make high school data the primary predictor of readiness for college-level coursework for all students. 

AB 705 is a bill signed by the Governor on October 13, 2017 that took effect on January 1, 2018. The bill requires that a community college district or college maximize the probability that a student will enter and complete transfer-level coursework in English and math within a one year timeframe and use, in the placement of students into English and math courses, one or more of the following: high school coursework, high school grades, and high school grade point average.

The bill also authorizes the Board of Governors to establish regulations governing the use of measures, instruments and placement models to ensure that these measures, instruments and placement models achieve the goal of maximizing the probability that a student will enter and complete transfer-level coursework in English and math.

Assembly Bill 1705 was signed into law by the Governor in September of 2022. This bill supports full and comprehensive implementation of the landmark legislation AB 705 (Irwin 2017) that transformed placement and developmental education in the California Community College system. The dedicated efforts of the system to implement AB 705 produced unprecedented increases in the number and percentage of students completing math and English milestones for transfer and a college degree. Every student group examined to date has achieved substantial gains in access to, and completion of, transfer-level math and English, but critical equity gaps remain. AB 1705 addresses issues underlying inequitable and uneven implementation of AB 705 and supports the system’s work to ensure that placement systems and curricular structures are designed to produce strong and equitable placement and completion outcomes.

From: https://www.cccco.edu/About-Us/Chancellors-Office/Divisions/Educational-Services-and-Support/equitable-placement 

The California Acceleration Project is a faculty-led network that supports California’s 115 community colleges to transform English and math programs with the goal of achieving strong and equitable student outcomes.

From: https://accelerationproject.org/ 

Math and English programs are shifting in major ways as a result of AB 705’s mandated placement and remediation reforms. Corequisite support is replacing remedial courses. Large numbers of faculty who previously taught remedial math are now teaching college-level statistics. Remedial reading courses were phased out, and English faculty are integrating reading instruction into college composition. CAP provides professional development to support faculty in making these changes with a focus on producing better and more equitable outcomes in transfer-level courses. Below is a selection of CAP’s professional development resources.

• Working Toward Equitable Outcomes

• Increasing Engagement to Improve Learning

• Integrating Reading and Writing

• Supporting English Learners in College Composition

• Teaching a High Challenge, High Support Statistics Course

• Teaching Effectively Online

From: https://accelerationproject.org/classroom/