[RUME] On-line Placement tests

[Jerome Epstein]

Well, the only study is by me and is so far unpublished. I am not sure 
the data I have would meet publication standards. It is always found to 
be interesting, and a bit shocking, but I am not sure it predicts 
anything or explains anything, except it clearly demonstrates that the 
knowledge and cognition of many of our students is far lower than most 
people suspect, in spite of all that has been written. Generally the 
people who are not shocked are those in learning support services who 
spend a lot of time with students one-on-one, and really know what 
students understand and what they don't.

Jerry Epstein

Cathy Kessel wrote:

>
> On Feb 10, 2006, at 4:04 PM, Jerome Epstein wrote:
>
>> I think Charles is correct to be very concerned about online placement.
>>
>> I would point out that on my Basic Skills Diagnostic Test (BSDT -- write 
>> for info if you want), there is a quite strong correlation between the 
>> score on the first half and the SAT I. The first half of the test is 
>> non-algebraic and all of its questions should be answerable by a 
>> competent 8th or 9th grader. What is quite stunning is the relative 
>> scale of the correlation. If one says that 75% on the 8th grade level 
>> test is minimally competent this correlates to 620 on the SAT. Below 600 
>> one finds rapidly increasing probability that one will see serious 
>> problems at elementary school level math, approaching virtual certainty 
>> at 500 (the national average). This has been shown now at 3 
>> universities, and with many hundreds of students at my university.
>
>
> Does this mean that those universities have done a study? I'd be 
> interested in a reference.
>
> The (old) SAT is well known (at least in testing circles) to 
> underpredict (in general, on average) women's undergraduate 
> mathematics course grades relative to those of men. Marcia Linn and I 
> summarized studies about the SAT (and other things, including possible 
> legal consequences of its misuse) in:
>
> C. Kessel and M. Linn. (1996). Grades or scores: Predicting future 
> college mathematics performance. Educational Measurement: Issues and 
> Practice, 15(4), 10–14, 38.
>  
> M. Linn and C. Kessel. (1996). Success in mathematics: Increasing 
> talent and gender diversity. In Alan Schoenfeld, Ed Dubinsky, and 
> James Kaput (Eds.), Research in Collegiate Mathematics Education II 
> (pp. 101-144). Providence, RI: American Mathematical Society.
>
> The SAT is not designed as a placement test. I haven't kept up with 
> what happens with the new one as regards underprediction of grades, 
> but (again) the new one is not designed as a placement test, so any 
> math department that wants to use it that way needs to validate that 
> use or worry about possible legal consequences.
>
> --Cathy
>

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