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¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2026 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Students initially placed into Level 3 and Level 4 intensive pathways had the highest passing rates on credit-bearing ELA courses on their first attempt; Level 2 placements, particularly the Level 2 intensive pathway, had the lowest passing rates. → Shannon 2026 q2 i? For English 105, 86 percent of Level 4 intensive pathway students passed on the first attempt versus 63 percent of Level 4 regular pathway students; for English 111, 88 percent versus 50 percent. → 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

Descriptive analysis of first-attempt passing rates by initial placement level and pathway, with chi-square tests significant at p < .05 across pathway placements. The report states "86 percent of students in the Level 4 intensive pathway in their first year passed the course on their first attempt, compared with 63 percent" in the regular pathway.

"For credit- bearing English 105, 86 percent of students in the Level 4 intensive pathway in their first year passed the course on their first attempt, compared with 63 percent of students in the Level 4 regular pathway."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• 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 — related
• 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 ELA placement test was most precise for students whose scores would place them into developmental courses, with precision declining above the 40th percentile — related
• Large majorities of incoming California community college students place into remedial-level mathematics and English — related