Group items tagged

"Some of the conclusions from the review include: * Assessments appear to be more successful in placing academically prepared students than in placing academically underprepared students. * Students who narrowly miss an assessment "cutoff" score and who complete remedial courses are no more likely to complete credit coursework than students with similar scores who continue straight to credit coursework without taking remedial classes first. * Multiple measures for placement, such as high school transcripts and written essays in addition to assessments, may improve placement accuracy, as might the use of more diagnostic and affective assessments. "What we found is that assessment does not appear to be an effective means of placement for all students," said Dr. Hughes. "States may want to do more research in this area before relying too much on one measure, an assessment score in this instance, for placing community college students.""

Examines the validity of placement tests and high school information in predicting course grades and college performance. Finds that the ACCUPLACER and COMPASS placement tests do not yield strong predictions of how students will perform in college. In contrast, high school GPAs are useful for predicting many aspects of students' college performance. (Community College Research Center, February 2012)

The report is intended to help state and college leaders understand the latest research on assessments used for course placement , make sense of the contentious debate issues, and evaluate their own options for moving forward. (Jobs for the Future, August 2012)

Analyzes the predictive validity of commonly used placement assessments and finds that they are more predictive of success in math than in English, and more predictive of who is likely to do well in college-level coursework than of who is likely to fail. Also finds that using multiple measures could reduce remediation misplacements or rates. (Community College Research Center, February 2012))

Study on the implementation of directed self placement of writing students.

Examines the assessment and course placement practices across California's community colleges for incoming students and recommends strategies for overall improvement. (WestEd, September 2010)

Resource shared at the GPG Workshop on Remedial Education in Nashville, TN on October 5-7, 2010.

Information about the College Placement Test (CPT) at Mt. Hood Community College

Information about the College Placement Test (CPT) at Mt. Hood Community College

Examines the experiences of Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia in developing statewide diagnostic assessments for course placement at their community colleges. Looks at the implications for California's community colleges, which have been charged with developing diagnostic exams. (EdSource and Learning Works, June 2012)

News article references two new CCRC reports, which suggest that more than a quarter of students placed in remedial courses could pass the gateway course with a "B." The article also indicates that using high school GPA as the placement criterion would be as good of a predictor of college success as remedial assessments.

Blog post providing an overview of the new report by West Ed entitled "One Shot Deal". The report describes how confusing the assessment and placement process is at many California Community Colleges

Provides an overview of the issues to be considered as states, systems and institutions set performance standards and corresponding cut scores for placement into college-level coursework. (Deanna L. Morgan and Michalis P. Michaelides, College Board, 2005)

The author describes the experiences of three states that reviewed their placement assessment policies. The report encourages states to consider college placement policies as part of a broader vision of college readiness. (Michael Lawrence Collins, Jobs for the Future, 2008)

It's Not About the Cut Score: Redesigning Placement Assessment Policy to Improve Student Success is an Achieving the Dream Community Colleges Count and Jobs for the Future Policy Brief written by Michael Lawrence Collins, program director for Jobs for the Future's Youth Transitions Cluster, July 2008.

Resource shared at the GPG Workshop on Remedial Education in Nashville, TN on October 5-7, 2010.

Examines the tradeoffs states encounter as they make state-level developmental education placement policies. The brief encourages policies to be combined with appropriate support services and interventions that enable students to succeed. It promotes a P-16 approach with multiple assessments of students and sound data collection and analysis. (Heath Prince, Jobs for the Future, 2005)

This issue brief describes how the 15 states participating in the Achieving the Dream project have concentrated their policy efforts on four key areas: preventative strategies, assessment and placement, implementation and evaluation of program innovation,

Research done by MDRC looking at the assessment and placement process at three community colleges. It highlights several issues and challenges, including a lack of consensus about the standard for college-level work, the high-stakes nature of the assessments, and the minimal relationship between assessment for placement and diagnosis for instruction.

Include this report in the resources for the April 29 jam.

Session at AERA featuring papers on the Texas College and Career Readiness Initiative. Includes a paper on extent that placement tests accurately measure student knowledge and skills.

Policy brief from Institute for Higher Education Leadership & Policy outlining higher education policies in Florida that should be considered by California. Issues include standardized assessments and placement policies. Also comments on common course numbering/transfer policies and Florida's data system

Discusses partnership between the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, the Council of Chief State School Officers and the State Higher Education Executive Officers, which aims to to help the Common Cores Standards Initiative succeed. Will focus on: aligning the standards with college admission and placement requirements; and ensuring that colleges better prepare K-12 teachers to help students meet the standards. (Inside Higher Ed, 12/17/10)

Study by MDRC looking at the assessment and placement practices of three community colleges. Findings include tremendous variations in approaches to assess and place students in remedial education.