Placement of Students into First-Year Writing Courses

Research in the Teaching of English Feb 2012

Placement of Students into First-Year Writing Courses

Norbert Elliot New Jersey Institute of Technology ; Perry Deess New Jersey Institute of Technology ; Alex Rudniy New Jersey Institute of Technology ; Kamal Joshi New Jersey Institute of Technology

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to examine concurrent and predictive evidence used in the validation of ACCUPLACER, a purchased test used to place first-year students into writing courses at an urban, public research university devoted to science and technology education. Concurrent evidence was determined by correlations between ACCUPLACER scores and scores on two other tests designed to measure writing ability: the New Jersey Basic Skills Placement Test and the SAT Writing Section. Predictive evidence was determined by coefficients of determination between ACCUPLACER scores and end-of-semester performance measures. A longitudinal study was also conducted to investigate the grade history of students placed into first-year writing by established and new methods. When analyzed in terms of gender and ethnicity impact, ACCUPLACER failed to achieve statistically significant prediction rates for student performance. The study reveals some limits of placement testing and the problems related to it.

Journal: Research in the Teaching of English
Published: 2012-02-01
DOI: 10.58680/rte201218457
Open Access: Closed
Topics: first-year composition assessment empirical research quantitative research multimodality

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