Graduation: what you need to know.

With graduation quickly app-roaching, many students cannot help but get excited about kicking off their summer with a diploma in hand; however, before you walk across that stage you must pass two assessment tests. Many students are unaware of these FCCJ graduation requirements, but before you hit the panic button; FCCJ provides various tools to prepare students for both the CLAST (the College-Level Academic Skills Test) and the ILAS (Information Literacy Assessment). The CLAST is a statewide test of college-level communications and mathematics skills developed by the State of Florida. There are four key components in this test: math, reading, English language skills, and an essay. These sections are similar to the SAT and all of the questions, with exception to essay, are multiple choice.

Exemption is possible for the CLAST if you meet one of the following requirements: a student scores a 500 or higher on the verbal section of the SAT or they have attained a score of 21 or higher on the ACT, then you can be exempt from the CLAST.

If you have not fulfilled one of these two qualifications, then the completion of two English composition courses with a grade average of 2.5 will exempt you. The same criteria can be applied to the mathematics requirements, but courses such as MAT0024 and MAT1033 do not count as college math level courses and therefore they cannot count towards exemption.

If you do not meet any of the requirements for exemption, then you must take the CLAST. The test is administered once every semester and in order to take it you must register before the deadline. However, if you miss the deadline then there is an alternate administration date that is held every Tuesday following a regular administration of the CLAST.

According the Marie Peoples, a retention specialist and achievement coach for ILAS workshops and exit exams at downtown campus, the ILAS is a test required by FCCJ to ensure that students are information literacy literate. In other words, it is a test based solely on the need for students to display appropriate understanding of how to obtain information from a school library, whether it is through checking out books or looking through databases. This is like the CLAST because it also has multi-part test that contain six different sections:

 Identifying the Need for Information

 Select the Most Appropriate Information Retrieval System

 Acquire Pertinent Information

 Evaluate the Information Obtained

 Manipulate Information in a Usable Form

 Communicate the Information

There are 15 questions in each section of the ILAS and in order to pass you must answer 11 out of the 15 questions correctly.

Unlike the CLAST, students are welcome to take the ILAS at any point in their academic career. In order to register for an upcoming test date, students must go to their campus' respective assessment center and sign up. The amount of times a student can re-take the ILAS is unlimited, but after the second attempt there is a test fee of $22 for any additional retakes.

In order to ensure that students achieve success on their first attempt at the ILAS, FCCJ offers various choices for students who want to prepare for the test.

"There are tons of options for help," said Peoples, when asked about the different methods of study provided by the school.

One way to prepare for the test is to enroll in the LIS1002 (Information Literacy) class. This is a one-credit course that walks students step-by-step through the ILAS. This is a graded course, but it is not necessary in order to pass the test.

Another way students can prepare themselves for the test is by taking the ILAS course is through the use of Blackboard. Blackboard offers a self-paced study guide that is not graded. Students can also talk to the librarians on their campus that can help walk them through the practice test online.

In addition to these options, FCCJ campuses also offer ILAS workshops. These workshops are taught by librarians who will inform the students on what to expect as well as teach them how to register on Blackboard for the ILAS practice assessment.

There will be an ILAS workshop on April 23rd from 5pm to 6pm at the Learning Lab at Downtown Campus (building A, room 2101).

On the ILAS workshop flyer it says, "whether this is your first semester or your last one, one thing is certain: you will have to take the ILAS to complete your degree." Therefore, in order to ensure you graduate on time, make sure to check with your campus achievement coach concerning any future ILAS workshops or CLAST test dates.



Information contributed by Felicia Flaum