The multiple-choice placement test component and high school GPA similarly predicted passing credit-bearing ELA courses, while the writing component did not predict any outcomes¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associationalr2·q2
Currency · newest study 2026 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · recheck by 2029: tool and model accuracy changes quickly
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q2 i? Both the multiple-choice component and cumulative high school GPA were statistically significant positive predictors of passing credit-bearing ELA courses, with similar standardized estimates; the writing component did not statistically significantly predict passing either course. → Shannon 2026
Evidence¶
Shannon 2026¶
Shannon, L., Gruber, J., Rentz, B., Vila, C., Erichsen, K., & Nastasi, J. (2026). Examining the English language arts course placement system at the College of the Marshall Islands (REL 2026–006). U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, Regional Educational Laboratory Pacific. https://ies.ed.gov/use-work/resource-library/report/descriptive-study/examining-english-language-arts-course-placement-system-college-marshall-islands
q2 · i? · associational · r2
Logistic regression analyses on subsamples enrolled in English 105 (n = 381) and English 111 (n = 383), accounting for cohort and high school type. The report states the multiple-choice component and GPA "were both statistically significant and positive predictors of passing credit- bearing ELA courses," while the writing component was not significant.
"Students' performance on the multiple- choice component of the ELA course placement test and their cumulative high school GPA were both statistically significant and positive predictors of passing credit- bearing ELA courses, after other factors were accounted for."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Multiple-choice state tests are prone to ceiling and floor effects and do not measure higher-order skills well — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it
- Only 11 percent of first-time CMI students between spring 2022 and spring 2024 placed into credit-bearing ELA courses, down from 22 percent under the prior placement system — related
- The multiple-choice component of the revised ELA placement test strongly measured overall ELA performance, but few items strongly measured the three specific ELA domains — related
- The ELA placement test was most precise for students whose scores would place them into developmental courses, with precision declining above the 40th percentile — related
- Students placed into Level 3 and Level 4 intensive pathways had the highest first-attempt passing rates in credit-bearing ELA courses, while Level 2 intensive pathway students had the lowest — related
- MCAS and PARCC scores similarly predict which students need remedial coursework in college — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
cmi-gpa-and-multiple-choice-similarly-predict-ela-passing |
title |
The multiple-choice placement test component and high school GPA similarly predicted passing credit-bearing ELA courses, while the writing component did not predict any outcomes |
description |
The multiple-choice placement test component and high school GPA similarly predicted passing credit-bearing ELA courses, while the writing component did not predict any outcomes |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2026 |
recheck_by |
2029 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-08 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — shannon-2026 |
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