Running head: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 1

Annotated Bibliography:

Placement Testing

Ceciliah Martinez

The University of Texas at El Paso

RWS 1301

Dr. Vierra

April 1, 2019
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Research Questions

1. How effective and accurate are the placement tests in which students are required to take?

- I believe placement tests are not as effective and accurate

2. Do the students who take placement tests get enough preparation on the subjects they are

being tested on?

- Not all students are prepared enough on the subjects within a placement test.

3. Are placement tests fair to all students?

- Not all placement tests are equally fair to every diverse group of students.

4. How does a placement test affect the persistence of a student?

- Placement testing highly affects any student pursuing persistence.

5. What are the pros and cons of placement testing towards a students’ success?

- There are more cons rather than pros of placement tests

6. Could any changes be made to placement tests, if so, what?

- Changes to creating more effective tests can be made.

7. Are there any problems one can face with a placement test?

- There are numerous of problems surrounding the tests given today

10. Utep needs to administer an effective and accurate placement test in which any incoming

student is possible of fairly taking.

The inaccuracy of many placement tests highly affects the persistence of students.
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Annotated Bibliography

Monographs

Marshall, M. V. (1944). An introduction to tests and testing Toronto, Halifax, The Ryerson press

Retrieved from http://0-

search.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat04704a&AN=nug.b135

8042&site=eds-live&scope=site

The purpose of placement testing is for an individual to be measured on his or her own

knowledge and learning capabilities. If a student isn’t properly reviewed and admitted

into the next level studies, their future can lead to difficulties. According to Kowski

(2014), many of today’s college students are not academically strong enough to manage

college-level work, and some would argue, should not have been admitted into college in

the first place (p.1). According to Marshall (1944), tests are designed to measure either a

person’s knowledge or his ability to use his knowledge (p. 2). Testing or examining has

been used for many other purposes than as a concomitant to teaching (p. 2). This implies

that the history of tests and test taking has evolved to hold many different purposes which

would include placement testing for individuals to be qualified for the “next step”. This

suggests the basis to the whole idea of having individuals be examined is to test what

they’ve been taught.

Marshall, M. V. (1944). An introduction to tests and testing Toronto, Halifax, The Ryerson press

Retrieved from http://0-

search.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat04704a&AN=nug.b135

8042&site=eds-live&scope=site
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 4

The validity of a single test is determined by the selection of questions and data obtained.

According to Marshall (1944), a test has high content validity when a careful scrutiny of

each item item in it shows that the content of the test is undeniably important material from

the subject field. A test has a high statistical validity when the results from it, when

correlated by statistical techniques with a reliable criterion, show that the test differentiates

to a high degree between those who know more and those who know less; or, better, it

arranges the students in order of their knowledge of the subject (p.36-37). This implies that

way to accurately determine and measure how valid a test is by comparing it with a

criterion. It can determined mainly in comparison of the results from a student who knows

the subject well as opposed to a student who knows less. In relation to reliability of a test,

there are numerous factors in which can affect the test. These factors include the length of

the test as well as the arrangement of the questions on a test. According to Marshall (1944),

they must be arranged in order of difficulty for if difficult questions precede easy ones the

student might be prevented from showing his command of the subject by wasting time on

the difficult problems and hence missing out on many of the easier ones which he could

answer (p.38). This suggests that a students performance on a test will not be accurate as

the student could have skipped the difficult questions, preceding to the much easier ones,

receiving a better mark. All factors must be taken into consideration to determine validity

and reliability.

Essays

Kaufman, J. C. (2009). Intelligent testing : Integrating psychological theory and clinical practice
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Cambridge England; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2009. Retrieved from

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6976&site=eds-live&scope=site

It is very important for tests to be fair for all students. According to Kaufman (2009), the

U.S population continues to change, the need for fair assessment of diverse populations

of children has become progressively more important (p. 87). This implies that

assessments administered to students of all kinds including those of a minority must be

nondiscriminatory on both a racial and cultural basis as it is already considered under the

federal law. It is of demand for tests to provide a fair way to assess diverse populations of

children. In this case its important that all assessments are reviewed for bias.

Kaufman, J. C. (2009). Intelligent testing : Integrating psychological theory and clinical practice

Cambridge England] ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2009. Retrieved from

http://0-

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6976&site=eds-live&scope=site

Success is achieved through aspects of intelligence including, analytical, practical, and

creative skills. According to Kaufman (2009), analytical skills are the skills primarily

measured by traditional tests (p. 117). Analytical intelligence is involved when skills are

used to analyze, evaluate, judge, or compare and contrast (p. 117). Creative intelligence is

involved when skills are used to create, invent, discover, imagine, suppose, or

hypothesize (p. 117). Practical intelligence is involved when skills are utilized,

implemented, applied, or put into practice in real-world contexts (p. 118). This indicates
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the difference between all three aspects pertaining to tests. This also leads to schools

looking for new ways of improving their selection process with the use of the mentioned

aspects of intelligence.

Journals

Clery, S. Frye, B. E. (2018). Lessons learned from developmental education data. New

Directions for Community Colleges,

2018(182), 101-107. doi:10.1002/cc.20306

Common placement tests and exams do not highly predict validity and in many cases result

in misplacement. According to Clery & Frye (2018), colleges and states are developing

alternative methods to place students. For example, some are striving to identify methods to

better identify the academic needs of students, while others are doing away with

developmental requirements altogether (p. 3). This implies the efforts from colleges and

states to develop alternative pathways for students to be able to move up to a higher level of

developmental education. With a possibility as such students can take or enroll in a higher

or college level course. According to Clery & Frye (2018), community colleges have

engaged in new approaches in developmental education designed to improve student

progress and completion of developmental coursework, leading to enrollment and success in

college coursework and to increases in student success and completion outcomes (p. 6). This

will accurately allow students who are eligible to enroll in a higher or college level

coursework more efficiently while those who are not to be held from moving up and

potentially becoming stressed over difficulty courses they are not prepared for.
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Headden, S. (2011). How the other half tests. Washington Monthly, 43(9), 32. Retrieved from

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s-live&scope=site

Placement tests often mark off students who can do higher or college level work. According

Headden (2011), In part that's because community colleges tend to use these tests as the

main or only determinant of who gets to take credit-bearing courses. They could avoid that

by, at the very least, doing what most four-year colleges do, and what the test companies

recommend they do: looking at multiple measures of a student's potential—placement

scores, high school grades, recommendations, the fact that a student has already passed

college courses (p. 4). This suggests that placement testing scores should not be the main

measurement tool that is relied on to justify and determine the placement of a student. The

assessments could potentially be more helpful if the tests gave specific information, as it is

incapable of being aware of whether the students forgot the material or never was taught it.

Hoyt, J. E., & Sorensen, C. T. (2001). High school preparation, placement testing, and college

remediation. Journal of Developmental Education, 25(2) Retrieved from http://0-

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ite=eds-live&scope=site

A large number of students entering into a community college or university are not

prepared for the college level coursework. According to Hoyt & Sorensen (2001), these

factors have led to imminent federal legislation requiring greater accountability and

increased testing in public schools (p. 1). Educators express concerns that student failure

to take college preparatory courses, grade inflation, and a lack of academic rigor in high
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school courses all contribute to the need for remediation in college (p. 1). This implies

that’s students aren’t gaining a true understanding of the material they are being taught.

According to Hoyt & Sorensen (2001), states are establishing higher standards for high

school graduation, increasing admission requirements at senior colleges and universities,

structuring open admissions programs, and using testing and evaluation to assess

educational outcomes (p. 2). This is resulting from the concerns pertaining to high

schools potentially not preparing students for college.

Websites

College Board. (2019). What Are College Placement Tests? Retrieved from

https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/find-colleges/academic-life/what-are-college-

placement-tests#

Colleges use placement tests to review the academic skill levels of students entering

college. According to College Board (2019), almost all two-year colleges and many

public four-year colleges require new students to take at least one placement test when

they first get to campus. Some private four-year colleges also use these tests. This implies

that depending on your score, you may be able to skip any introductory courses or may

need more preparation before taking a college level course.

Primary Sources

Paulson, D. (1981). El Paso Prospector. Orientation Program Expands. Retrieved from

https://theprospector.newspaperarchive.com/el-paso-prospector/1981-03-27/page-6/
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 9

Paulson (1981), explains the three major changes in the program: increased sessions; pre-

plan scheduling and placement testing; and developmental testing (paragraph 2). In

previous freshman orientations, it took place in August and all the students would attend

one session, but for the year of 1981, nine orientations were given and each session had

more than 250 students participating. Paulson (1981), also explained the two-day format

will give students more time to adjust to the University system (paragraph 3). Another

change for the freshman orientation was the placement test obtained by students for some

of the basic courses offered by UTEP. The test consisted of a portion of math and English

and determined the course level the student would be entered in.

El Paso Prospector. (1976) Counseling Service offers placement testing. Retrieved from

https://theprospector.newspaperarchive.com/el-paso-prospector/1973-09-13/page-9/

In the El Paso Prospector (1976), mentions the Counseling Service taking reservations for

placement testing for credit from freshman entering the University for spring (paragraph

1). The exam meant to last two hours is given with free of charge and if placed out of the

English 3110 course, three credit hours is awarded. This more or less took part as an

incentive to have students wanting to strive for that placement. Those who earned a score

of 550 or higher on the SAT or a 22or higher on the ACT were able to take the English

3111 placement test in attempt to place out and be awarded six credit hours. Other tests

were offered as well allowing a variety of students to showcase their placement taking

skills and receive beneficial rewards.