Most incoming students do not understand that placement test performance determines which classes they can take¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · qualitative r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 2010 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2015: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Before taking the assessment, most students did not understand that their performance would determine which classes they could take or how quickly they could complete their goals. → Venezia 2010

Evidence¶

Venezia 2010¶

Venezia, A., Bracco, K. R., & Nodine, T. (2010). One-shot deal? Students' perceptions of assessment and course placement in California's community colleges. San Francisco: WestEd. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED566386

q2 · i? · qualitative · r3

In the five-college student focus groups, most students were unaware of the stakes of placement testing; one student reported being told at the test center that "It doesn't matter how you place. It's just to see where you," which the student later recognized as untrue. Students described the tests as discrete tasks, not part of an education plan.

"Before taking the assessment, most students did not understand that their performance on it would determine which classes they would be able to take."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Large majorities of incoming California community college students place into remedial-level mathematics and English — related
• Community college students experience assessment and placement as a one-day isolated event with minimal advance information, not as part of a continuous process — related
• Taking initial multiple-choice tests without feedback can lead students to later produce the incorrect lure answers they selected, even when an overall retrieval practice benefit occurs — related