Smarter Balanced

The goal of placement is to assess skills to ensure students are able to successfully engage with course content and have the best chances at passing the course.

About Smarter Balanced

Smarter Balanced is an 11th grade career and college readiness assessment.

Submit scores

Steps to use the Smarter Balanced Assessment for placement into courses at YVC:

  • Submit Smarter Balanced scores to YVC Admissions in Yakima or Grandview.
  • You must also submit a final high school transcript if you want to use your score for math placement.

Smarter Balanced placement

Math

For high school graduating classes of 2018 & 2019, Smarter Balanced math scores of a 3 will place students into a non-STEM college-level math course, and a score of  4 will place students into a STEM or Business-DTA college-level math course.

Starting with the class of 2020, placement into a non-STEM college-level math course will require a Smarter Balanced score or a 3 or 4 and a copy of the high school transcript showing successful completion (B average or better) of Algebra 2. If students have an earned a B or better in high school pre-calculus, and scored a 3 or 4 on the Smarter Balanced, they can place into a college-level STEM or Business-DTA math course.

Students will need to turn in their Smarter Balanced scores and a high school transcript showing the complete year of their most recent math class.

Math placements from Smarter Balanced are valid for one year following high school graduation – summer, fall, winter, and spring quarters after high school grad year.

English

Smarter Balanced scores of 3 or 4 will place students into English 101.  English placements from Smarter Balanced are valid for two years following high school graduation.