CA AB2578

Consolidates California State University (CSU) reporting on freshman proficiency into a single annual report due April 1, eliminating the previous preliminary (December 15) and final (February 1) report requirements.

Changes focus from "college readiness" assessment to "general education written communication and mathematics and quantitative reasoning placement" levels for first-time freshmen.

Requires CSU to report freshman placement data disaggregated by the two general education categories (written communication and mathematics/quantitative reasoning) and their progress in meeting requirements at four checkpoints: prior to fall, end of fall term, end of spring term, and end of fall term in second year.

Mandates analysis of the three factors in multiple measures placement assessment (course taking, grade point average, and test taking) and their predictiveness for student success indicators including persistence, units completed, and GPA.

Requires equity gap analysis by income, race, and ethnicity within and across placement levels along with CSU's plan to address identified gaps.