Placement Testing: Past, Present, and Future Angela Zippin University of Cincinnati September 11, 2013

A Placement Testing Primer Placement tests ▫ACCUPLACER (College Board) ▫COMPASS (ACT) UC’s system ▫Math Placement ▫English Placement Predictive success * Test preparation ▫*Scott-Clayton, Judith. “Do High-Stakes Placement Exams Predict College Success?” Community College Research Center. February 2012.

Specific Cases University of Wisconsin Indiana University Northwest * Ohio State University ▫*Pudar-Hozo, Stela.“A Better Placement Test Helps a Math Department in Multiple Ways” The Chronicle of Higher Education. January 2013.

Popular Opinion on Placement Tests Not so popular, actually * Criticism ▫Fairness, not everyone is skilled test-taker ** ▫Error rates *** ▫Finality of using one assessment tool ▫*Burdman, Pamela. “Where to Begin? The Evolving Role of Placement Exams for Students Starting College” Jobs for The Future. August ▫**Abdul-Alim, Jamaal. “Study on College Placement Exams Energizes Debate about Their Effectiveness” Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. August ▫***Adams, Caralee. “Research Looks at Value of Community College Placement Exam” Education Week. March 2012.

Consequences Too much emphasis from institution, not enough from students Financial Length of college career Placed too high: failing Placed too low: remediation black hole

Remediation Dangers for students ▫Many students don’t make it out * ▫Financial consequences ▫Few diagnostic options: if we don’t know what student weaknesses are, how can we help them? ▫May be better for students to over-place than under-place ** ▫*Fain, Paul. “Crash Course for Remediation” Inside Higher Ed. December ▫**Scott-Clayton, Judith. “Are College Entrants Overdiagnosed as Underprepared?” New York Times. April 2012.

Alternatives California leading the charge against placement testing * Using GPA/GED ** ▫Holistic approach ▫“We do not believe that the placement score alone should be the only factor used to decide a student’s placement into college-level classes”*** Diagnostic testing ▫Standard course placement, with support services ▫*Frey, Susan. “Report questions efficacy and fairness of college placement tests” Ed Source. August ▫** Fain, Paul. “One-Stop Shop” Inside Higher Ed. June ▫***Abdul-Alim, Jamaal. “Study on College Placement Exams Energizes Debate about Their Effectiveness” Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. August 2012.

In Defense of Placement Testing Use of in-class support services ▫Absolutely! But… GPA as unreliable ▫Access * ▫Different schools/courses, different measures ** ▫Non-traditional students *** ▫*Burdman, Pamela. “Where to Begin? The Evolving Role of Placement Exams for Students Starting College” Jobs for The Future. August ▫Markle, Ross and Steve Robbins. “A Holistic View of Course Placement Decisions-Avoiding the HS **GPA Trap” Educational Testing Service Report. March ▫***Attewell, Paul, et al. “New Evidence on College Remediation” The Journal of Higher Education. Volume 77, Number 5, September/October 2006.

In Defense of Placement Testing Fact-checking critics ▫Inaccurate measures * ▫Transparency Big picture ▫Reshaping the assessments** ▫Remediation will always be necessary Overplacement vs. Underplacement ▫*Boylan, Hunter and Alexandros Goudas. “Knee-Jerk Reforms on Remediation” Inside Higher Ed. June ▫**Burdman, Pamela. “Where to Begin? The Evolving Role of Placement Exams for Students Starting College” Jobs for The Future. August 2012.

UC Policies Who takes placement tests? ▫ACT/SAT scores Testing Services involvement ▫International Students ▫CEAS ▫Retakes

Who’s retaking the MPT?

Testing Services Involvement Issues of preparedness ▫Overwhelmed, overstimulated ▫The dreaded calculator issue Test security # of retakes

Proctoring vs. Nonproctoring What do we assume the impact will be? What should be the impact? Is placement testing low-stakes?

Campus-Wide Collaboration Math faculty Testing Services ▫Data collection Advising

Encourage test preparation ▫Not to place high, but appropriately ▫Severity of testing ▫Preparation options Direct students to support services ▫LAC and DSO as academic support ▫Various SALD offices for cultural support ▫CAPS for emotional support

What’s next What can we do to better serve our students? Where are the gaps in our work with one another? What opportunities for collaboration are we missing?

Works Cited Abdul-Alim, Jamaal. “Study on College Placement Exams Energizes Debate about Their Effectiveness” Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. August Adams, Caralee. “Research Looks at Value of Community College Placement Exam” Education Week. March Attewell, Paul, et al. “New Evidence on College Remediation” The Journal of Higher Education. Volume 77, Number 5, September/October Boylan, Hunter and Alexandros Goudas. “Knee-Jerk Reforms on Remediation” Inside Higher Ed. June Burdman, Pamela. “Where to Begin? The Evolving Role of Placement Exams for Students Starting College” Jobs for The Future. August Fain, Paul. “Crash Course for Remediation” Inside Higher Ed. December Fain, Paul. “One-Stop Shop” Inside Higher Ed. June 2012.

Works Cited Frey, Susan. “Report questions efficacy and fairness of college placement tests” Ed Source. August Markle, Ross and Steve Robbins. “A Holistic View of Course Placement Decisions-Avoiding the HS GPA Trap” Educational Testing Service Report. March Pudar-Hozo, Stela.“A Better Placement Test Helps a Math Department in Multiple Ways” The Chronicle of Higher Education. January Scott-Clayton, Judith. “Are College Entrants Overdiagnosed as Underprepared?” New York Times. April Scott-Clayton, Judith. “Do High-Stakes Placement Exams Predict College Success?” Community College Research Center. February 2012