Placement Testing: Past, Present, and Future

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

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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 2012. • **Abdul-Alim, Jamaal. “Study on College Placement Exams Energizes Debate about Their Effectiveness” Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. August 2012. • ***Adams, Caralee. “Research Looks at Value of Community College Placement Exam” Education Week. March 2012.

5. 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

6. 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 2012. • **Scott-Clayton, Judith. “Are College Entrants Overdiagnosed as Underprepared?” New York Times. April 2012.

7. 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 2012. • **Fain, Paul. “One-Stop Shop” Inside Higher Ed. June 2012. • ***Abdul-Alim, Jamaal. “Study on College Placement Exams Energizes Debate about Their Effectiveness” Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. August 2012.

8. 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 2012. • Markle, Ross and Steve Robbins. “A Holistic View of Course Placement Decisions-Avoiding the HS **GPA Trap” Educational Testing Service Report. March 2013. • ***Attewell, Paul, et al. “New Evidence on College Remediation” The Journal of Higher Education. Volume 77, Number 5, September/October 2006.

9. 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 2012. • **Burdman, Pamela. “Where to Begin? The Evolving Role of Placement Exams for Students Starting College” Jobs for The Future. August 2012.

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

11. Who’s retaking the MPT?

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

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

14. Campus-Wide Collaboration • Math faculty • Testing Services • Data collection • Advising

15. 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

16. 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?

17. Works Cited • Abdul-Alim, Jamaal. “Study on College Placement Exams Energizes Debate about Their Effectiveness” Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. August 2012. • Adams, Caralee. “Research Looks at Value of Community College Placement Exam” Education Week. March 2012. • Attewell, Paul, et al. “New Evidence on College Remediation” The Journal of Higher Education. Volume 77, Number 5, September/October 2006. • Boylan, Hunter and Alexandros Goudas. “Knee-Jerk Reforms on Remediation” Inside Higher Ed. June 2012. • Burdman, Pamela. “Where to Begin? The Evolving Role of Placement Exams for Students Starting College” Jobs for The Future. August 2012. • Fain, Paul. “Crash Course for Remediation” Inside Higher Ed. December 2012. • Fain, Paul. “One-Stop Shop” Inside Higher Ed. June 2012.

18. Works Cited • Frey, Susan. “Report questions efficacy and fairness of college placement tests” Ed Source. August 2012. • Markle, Ross and Steve Robbins. “A Holistic View of Course Placement Decisions-Avoiding the HS GPA Trap” Educational Testing Service Report. March 2013. • Pudar-Hozo, Stela .“A Better Placement Test Helps a Math Department in Multiple Ways” The Chronicle of Higher Education. January 2013. • Scott-Clayton, Judith. “Are College Entrants Overdiagnosed as Underprepared?” New York Times. April 2012. • Scott-Clayton, Judith. “Do High-Stakes Placement Exams Predict College Success?” Community College Research Center. February 2012