English Assessment Validity February 2012 Michael Orkin, Jo Ann Phillips, Hui Zhang, Sheryl Queen Office of Institutional Research Peralta Community College District 1

English Assessment Test New Peralta students take assessment tests for placement in English classes. Course placement from test scores is recommended but not mandatory. A student can take courses without placement tests if prerequisites are met. 2

ACT Compass Test Peralta currently uses the ACT Compass test, CENG, for English placement. CENG tests English proficiency with separate writing and reading tests. This will soon change... 3

Statewide Online Assessment From Student Success Task Force, January, 2012: “… all students will have access to common online assessment tools for English, mathematics and ESL and to pre-testing programs that help improve assessment outcomes. They also will be able to take the results of their tests to any community college in the state.” 4

For now: ACT Compass Test Placement in English Courses A decision rule based on the two test scores selects an English course: transfer level (English 1A) degree applicable (English 201A) Pre-collegiate (Basic Skills). 5

Placement in English Course If the writing score is less than 22, the student is not assessed into a course and must see a counselor. 699 students in the sample data had low writing scores and were excluded. 6

Data Students taking CENG-recommended English courses in Fall 2008, Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Spring Took test immediately preceding semester when they took English course. Never took test prior to semester when they took English course. 7

Validity Validity measured in three ways: Relationship between assessment scores and grades. Comparison of assessed and non-assessed. Comparison of students who took the “right” course (recommended by CENG) and “wrong” course (not recommended by CENG). 8

Assessed and Took Right Course 9 CoursesCount% Eng 1A % Eng 201A 59321% Basic Skills* 59822% TOTAL % * English 252AB, 267AB, 268AB, 269AB

Assessed - Grade % 10 A B C D FW Eng 1A 28%23%12%5%8%25% Eng 201A 21%19%15%9% 27% Basic Skills 23%22%16%4%10%24% ALL 25%22%13%6%9%25%

Placement and Grades 57% were placed in English 1A. 47% overall got A’s or B’s. 25% overall withdrew from class. 11

Grades vs. Test Scores Are assessment test scores positively correlated with grades? We use ANOVA (Analysis of Variance). 12

Reading Test Scores by Grade 13 Courses A - Test ave B - Test ave C - Test ave D - Test ave F/W- Test ave ANOVA Sig. Eng 1A Eng 201A Basic Skills

All Test Scores by Grade 14 Courses ANOVA Sig. Reading ANOVA Sig. Writing ANOVA Sig. Combined Eng 1A Eng 201A Basic Skills

Grades vs. Test Scores Analysis Reading test scores most sensitive to grades. Students who get A’s have higher average test scores than those who have lower grades. Writing test and Combined Tests only significant for English 1A. 15

Predicted Chance of Success As test scores get higher, does predicted chance of success increase? We use logistic regression. 16

Reading Test Predicted Chance of Success 17

Reading Test Predicted Chance of Success 18

Reading Test Predicted Chance of Success 19

Predicted Chance of Success As test scores get higher, predicted chance of success increases but … Only for reading test scores. Different courses are selected across range of scores so much is filled in by software. Results aren’t statistically significant. 20

Assessment vs. No Assessment Do assessed students do better in their assigned courses than students who don’t take the assessment test? We use ANOVA and Chi Square tests. 21

Counts 22 CoursesAssessedNot Assessed Eng 1A Eng 201A Basic Skills* TOTAL * English 252AB, 267AB, 268AB, 269AB

Not Assessed - Grade % (Similar to Assessed) 23 A B C D FW Eng 1A 25% 15%5%6%24% Eng 201A 18% 19%9%11%25% Basic Skills 21%18%13%6%10%31% ALL 23%22%16%6%8%25%

Assessed vs. Not Assessed GPA 24 Courses Assessed Course GPA Not Assessed Course GPA ANOVA Sig. Eng 1A Eng 201A Basic Skills TOTAL

Assessed vs. Not Assessed GPA No significant results: Students who are assessed have similar class GPA as those who are not assessed. 25

Assessed vs. Not Assessed Success 26 Courses Assessed % Success Not Assessed % Success Chi-Square Sig. Eng 1A 62%65%0.112 Eng 201A 55%56%0.795 Basic Skills 61%53%0.004 TOTAL 60% 0.984

Success - Assessed vs. Not Assessed Significant only at basic skills level: Students who are assessed have greater success than those who are not assessed. 27

Assessed – “Right” vs. “Wrong” Course Do assessed students who take the right course do better than assessed students who take the wrong course? We use Chi Square and ANOVA. 28

Counts - Right vs. Wrong Course 29 Courses Right Course Count Wrong Course Count % Right Course Eng 1A % Eng 201A % Basic Skills % TOTAL %

Success - Right vs. Wrong 30 Courses Right Course Success % Wrong Course Success % Chi Square Sig. Eng 1A 62%53%0.001 Eng 201A 55%52%0.364 Basic Skills 61% 0.932

Success - Right vs. Wrong Significant only for English 1A: Assessed students who take right course have greater success than those who take wrong course. 31

GPA - Right vs. Wrong 32 Courses Right Course GPA Wrong Course GPA ANOVA Sig. Eng 1A Eng 201A Basic Skills

GPA - Right vs. Wrong Significant only for English 1A: Assessed students who take right course have higher GPA than those who take wrong course. 33

Conclusions English assessment test validity confirmed. Generally assessed results aren’t much different from non-assessed. Most students take English 1A. Students assessed into English 1A do significantly better than “wrong” English 1A students. Reading test most sensitive. 34