Discipline Expert Guide

The Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) MAP Initiative is led by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office. This initiative strengthens the connection between community colleges, UCs, CSUs, and local communities by expanding access to higher education for individuals who’ve gained college-level skills outside the traditional classroom.

Via the Mapping Articulated Pathways (MAP) interface, we’ll be joining other CCCs across the state in creating a home base for CPL courses. We’ll be using MAP as our hub for processing and showcasing CPL eligible courses at Cypress College, and their accepted CPL Types.

AP 4235 Credit for Prior Learning
Explains how CPL is obtained, student eligibility credentials for CPL, grading policy, transcription, and accepted CPL Types.

BP 4235 Credit for Prior Learning
A declaration by the Board of Trustees to adopt and publish regulations pertaining to Credit for Prior Learning in accordance with the provisions of Section 55050.

§ 55050. Credit for Prior Learning
From Barclays Official California Code of Regulations, stating that the governing board of each community college district shall adopt and publish policies pertaining to Credit for Prior Learning.

Credit by Examination (CBE) and Standardized Exams have been a part of our academic framework for some time. Our goal is to expand opportunities by accepting additional types of CPL. You can see the full breakdown of each CPL Type below:

Credit by Examination (CBE)

Students prove their skills by passing a comprehensive assessment drafted and approved by Discipline Faculty.

Military Transcript

Veteran students can submit their Joint Service Transcripts (JSTs) or Air University Transcripts and have them reviewed for eligible credit recommendations based on their military training and experience as evaluated by the American Council on Education (ACE).

Work-Based Learning

Students prove skills by submitting industry recognized credentials that align with college level-courses in the form of industry certificates, licenses, and/or proof of apprenticeship or internship.

Student Portfolio

Students submit a comprehensive portfolio showcasing their college-level knowledge for division faculty review.

Standardized Exams

Students can submit their exam scores for Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), and College-Level Examination Program (CLEP).

As a Discipline Expert, you will determine which CPL Types are applicable for your courses and develop the evaluation process that students will undergo for credit.

As we begin the process of building frameworks that best serve your division and our students, it’s important to remember:

CPL is directly linked to a course, not an instructor.

What does this mean?

• CPL assessments developed for courses in your division should be agreed upon by the division faculty as a whole.
• Rubrics and Exams created for courses in your division for CPL assessment will be created with longevity in mind and can be used by any discipline faculty administering CBE exams or reviewing credentials or portfolios for specific courses. Our ultimate goal as a campus is to create a streamlined process for CPL implementation across divisions that is straightforward in its implementation from student inquiry to credit transcription.

This exam is a college-level assessment created to test the skills of high school students taking advantage of the Advanced Placement Program.

Passing this exam could grant students CPL credits toward a corresponding introductory college course for qualifying scores, which would be a minimum score of 3 or higher for this exam.

Individual IB exams correspond with the 6 core courses of the IB program: Studies in Language and Literature, Language Acquisition, Individuals and Societies, Sciences, Mathematics, and The Arts.

The exam for each course consists of an external assessment and an internal assessment.

• External Assessment: Two to three exam sections consisting of a combination of multiple-choice, short-answer, extended-response, and data- or case-analysis questions that are graded by independent examiners.
• Internal Assessment: Can include oral presentations or written work that are facilitated by the course teacher.

These exams are graded on a scale of 1-7, with college credit awarded for scores of 5 or higher.

Students pursuing an IB Diploma will need an average score of 4 on each exam to obtain the minimum passing requirement of 24 points.

CLEP exams are multiple-choice exams developed by college professors based on the learning outcomes for lower-level college courses. This allows students to obtain college credit for knowledge gained through independent study or experience.

A qualifying CLEP score for General Education credit at Cypress college is 50 or above on an exam.

The student’s Academic Counselor leads the CPL petition process for Standardized Exams.

If the scores align with the credit qualifications, they’ll inquire if the student would like to apply their scores and submit the petition on their behalf.

The American Council on Education (ACE) is a collective of faculty evaluators that thoroughly review military curriculum and work experience and provide credit recommendations for corresponding coursework at colleges and universities.

These recommendations are presented to colleges and universities in a Department of Defense (DOD) approved transcript format known as Joint Services Transcripts (JSTs) that outline the military coursework and career of the veteran.

An ACE Faculty Evaluator…

• Is a faculty member that has been teaching college-level courses at a Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) accredited institution for at least 5 years
• Is a subject matter expert (SME) that is contracted and trained by ACE to evaluate military coursework and experience
• Reviews nontraditional learning as a member of an ACE created specialized team built based on their academic discipline alignment with the subject matter under review

Military Training Courses

These are courses developed and taught under the authority of a Military Service Training Command created to train military service personnel that have individual assessments that correspond with the course’s learning objectives.

ACE Faculty Evaluators Examine:

• Curriculum Outlines
• Student Manuals and Materials
• Instructor Materials (ex. presentations, lesson plans, etc.)
• All Course Assessments

Military On-the-Job Learning

This refers to any relevant knowledge or skills obtained in a specific role while enlisted.

ACE Faculty Evaluators Examine:

• Typical duty day expectations for role pay grade or skill level
• Percentage of field work vs. office work
• The standardized nature of the training
• Technical tools and resources used in the role
• New technical skills expected to be obtained while in the role
• Software and applications used in the role
• Management responsibilities, level of supervision, and leadership as pertains to the role

Recommendations are based on…

• Course Content
• Depth and Breadth of Material
• Level of Difficulty
• Applicability to Postsecondary Programs
• Learning Outcomes
• Evaluative and Assessment Instruments
• Length of Instruction (typically in contact hours)

Keywords to Note:

• ACE ID: Courses and occupations reviewed by ACE have an identification number.
• Credit Recommendations (CR): ACE recommendations based on the individual’s learning through military experience, exam scores, and courses completed while in service.
• Semester Hours (SH): Course “Credits”, “Hours” and “Semester Hours (SH)” are used interchangeably to refer to semester units.
• ACE CR Levels: V – Vocational | L – Lower | U – Upper | G – Graduate

All incoming veteran students are prompted to approve or deny Joint Services Transcripts (JSTs) retrieval and can opt in to having them reviewed for CPL eligibility by a Veterans Resource Center Academic Counselor.

If they move forward with CPL review, applicable credit that aligns with the student’s pre-established Education Plan is discussed with the student prior to beginning the petition process.

If the student would like to move forward with pursuing credit, the VRC Counselor will submit the CPL petition on their behalf.

If a Summative Course Exam feels like the best fit for CPL assessment for your course, it’s important to note upfront that it is not the same as a final exam.

These exams are built to determine the student’s understanding of the course material independent of specific course activities.

The focus should be on the learning outcomes and overall course competencies and should not reference readings, assignments, or secondary sources outlined in the syllabus unless they are clearly referenced in the course learning outcomes.

That said, you’re highly encouraged to use your existing final exams as a guide to build this exam!

Assessment Tips:

• Consider administering these exams in a campus Testing Center.
• Collaborate with your discipline faculty to create the most effective assessment criteria and rubrics.
• Make sure that your exam policies are clearly articulated across your division.

This form of assessment likely allows for the most freedom of expression from the student perspective but also requires the most extensive review by the evaluating Discipline Expert.

The easiest way for you and your faculty to guide submissions is by providing a clear breakdown of course outcomes and competencies to the student and allowing them to build their portfolio based on those criteria.

Portfolios typically consist of:

• Written essay component that gives a clear overview of their experience and process of learning
• Supporting documentation (i.e. resume, certificates, work samples) that provide verifiable proof of learning

Assessment Tips:

• Consider providing a simplified course syllabus, examples, or rubrics as points of reference for the petitioning student.
• The nature of learning matters just as much as the amount of overall experience; this informs the transferability of the skills to more than one setting!
• Don’t be afraid to pair this assessment with an Oral Interview as it could help solidify your faith in the student’s skills.

Likely the best option for CTE programs, this mode of assessment allows the petitioning student to do a practical demonstration of their skills in front of Discipline Experts.

As a Discipline Expert, it will be your job to observe the demonstration and assess the student’s performance based on course learning outcomes. You’ll also be responsible for:

• Setting up the demonstration
• Providing the student with clear expectations for the exercise
• Recording the results of the assessment as aligns with the institution’s quality assurance processes

Assessment Tips:

• Align the exercise(s) required for the demonstration with the specific course outcomes outlined in the syllabus.
• Create rubrics and grading scales that are comprehensive in their examination of the student’s skills.
• This mode of assessment might also be a good candidate for pairing with an Oral Interview or Portfolio review!

This assessment mode may seem the most approachable to the student and the assessor(s), but it bears the same weight as any of the other modes in regards to awarding credit.

The Oral Interview can be used in a couple of ways to evaluate learning:

• On its own, it can be approached as a traditional interview with Discipline Experts asking questions tailored to reflect the learning outcomes of the course.
• Paired with another assessment, it could be used as a way to gauge the student’s understanding of the material, perhaps even prior to pursuing the full petition process.

More than anything, it’s important to approach it as a conversation among professionals designed to provide clarity of expertise as it pertains to the learning outcomes of the course. We want to see what the student knows, not what they don’t know.

Assessment Tips:

• Both in-person and virtual interviews are applicable for evaluation.
• Multiple assessors are ideal for a balanced approach to evaluation.
• Of all other modes, this one lends itself most to being paired with other assessments. However, it can still be an effective standalone assessment.