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=Department of Developmental Skills, BMCC, CUNY= = = == = = The BMCC Department of Developmental Skills offers courses in Critical Thinking (CRT), English as a Second Language (ESL), Linguistics (LIN), and Academic and Critical Reading (ACR). These courses help students in developing competencies and skills essential to continued academic progress.

In order to determine whether a student has a need for developmental courses, placement examinations in reading (ACT COMPASS) and writing (CATW) are administered by CUNY. The results are used for initial placement in Developmental Skills courses and for exit from the top-level developmental courses in Academic and Critical Reading and English and English as a Second Language. Students who score below 70 on the ACT COMPASS are assigned to appropriate ACR course and those scoring less than 56 on the CATW are placed in the appropriate ESL level. An ESL course is required for all students whose placement examination in writing receives a non-passing score and whose major problems with writing stem from a foreign language background.