Assessment test validity English 2-12-12

English Assessment Validity February 2012

Michael Orkin, Jo Ann Phillips, Hui Zhang, Sheryl Queen Office of Institutional Research Peralta Community College District 1

English Assessment Test • New Peralta students take assessment tests for placement in English classes. • Course placement from test scores is recommended but not mandatory. • A student can take courses without placement tests if prerequisites are met.

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ACT Compass Test • Peralta currently uses the ACT Compass test, CENG, for English placement. • CENG tests English proficiency with separate writing and reading tests. • This will soon change...

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Statewide Online Assessment • From Student Success Task Force, January, 2012: “… all students will have access to common online assessment tools for English, mathematics and ESL and to pre-testing programs that help improve assessment outcomes. They also will be able to take the results of their tests to any community college in the state.”

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For now: ACT Compass Test Placement in English Courses A decision rule based on the two test scores selects an English course: • transfer level (English 1A) • degree applicable (English 201A) • Pre-collegiate (Basic Skills).

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Placement in English Course • If the writing score is less than 22, the student is not assessed into a course and must see a counselor. • 699 students in the sample data had low writing scores and were excluded.

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Data • Students taking CENG-recommended English courses in Fall 2008, Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Spring 2010. • Took test immediately preceding semester when they took English course. • Never took test prior to semester when they took English course.

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Validity Validity measured in three ways: • Relationship between assessment scores and grades. • Comparison of assessed and non-assessed. • Comparison of students who took the “right” course (recommended by CENG) and “wrong” course (not recommended by CENG). 8

Assessed and Took Right Course Courses Eng 1A

Count

%

1571 57%

Eng 201A

593

21%

Basic Skills*

598

22%

TOTAL

2762 100%

* English 252AB, 267AB, 268AB, 269AB

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Assessed - Grade % A Eng 1A

B

C

D

28% 23% 12% 5%

F

W

8% 25%

Eng 201A 21% 19% 15%

9%

Basic Skills 23% 22% 16%

4% 10% 24%

ALL

25% 22% 13% 6%

9% 27%

9% 25%

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Placement and Grades • 57% were placed in English 1A. • 47% overall got A’s or B’s. • 25% overall withdrew from class.

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Grades vs. Test Scores Are assessment test scores positively correlated with grades? We use ANOVA (Analysis of Variance).

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Reading Test Scores by Grade Courses

A - Test ave B - Test ave C - Test ave D - Test ave F/W- Test ave

ANOVA Sig.

Eng 1A

91.61

87.33

86.98

87.01

87.88

0.000

Eng 201A

84.17

81.35

80.36

83.75

81.12

0.000

Basic Skills 61.84

58.92

57.99

60.08

57.29

0.036

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All Test Scores by Grade Courses

ANOVA Sig. Reading

ANOVA ANOVA Sig. Writing Sig. Combined

Eng 1A

0.000

0.000

0.000

Eng 201A

0.000

0.727

0.727

Basic Skills

0.036

0.170

0.481

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Grades vs. Test Scores Analysis • Reading test scores most sensitive to grades. • Students who get A’s have higher average test scores than those who have lower grades. • Writing test and Combined Tests only significant for English 1A.

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Predicted Chance of Success As test scores get higher, does predicted chance of success increase? We use logistic regression.

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Reading Test Predicted Chance of Success

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Reading Test Predicted Chance of Success

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Reading Test Predicted Chance of Success

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Predicted Chance of Success As test scores get higher, predicted chance of success increases but … • Only for reading test scores. • Different courses are selected across range of scores so much is filled in by software. • Results aren’t statistically significant.

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Assessment vs. No Assessment Do assessed students do better in their assigned courses than students who don’t take the assessment test? We use ANOVA and Chi Square tests.

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Counts Courses

Assessed

Not Assessed

Eng 1A

1571

1838

Eng 201A

593

621

Basic Skills*

598

727

TOTAL

2762

3186

* English 252AB, 267AB, 268AB, 269AB 22

Not Assessed - Grade % (Similar to Assessed) A

B

C

D

F

W

24%

Eng 1A

25% 25% 15%

5%

6%

Eng 201A

18% 18% 19%

9%

11% 25%

Basic Skills 21% 18% 13%

6%

10% 31%

23% 22% 16%

6%

8%

ALL

25%

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Assessed vs. Not Assessed GPA Courses

Assessed Not Assessed ANOVA Course GPA Course GPA Sig.

Eng 1A

2.76

2.74

0.730

Eng 201A

2.47

2.32

0.099

Basic Skills

2.58

2.51

0.426

TOTAL

2.61

2.66

0.212

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Assessed vs. Not Assessed GPA No significant results: • Students who are assessed have similar class GPA as those who are not assessed.

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Assessed vs. Not Assessed Success Courses

Assessed % Not Assessed % Chi-Square Success Success Sig.

Eng 1A

62%

65%

0.112

Eng 201A

55%

56%

0.795

Basic Skills

61%

53%

0.004

TOTAL

60%

60%

0.984 26

Success - Assessed vs. Not Assessed Significant only at basic skills level: • Students who are assessed have greater success than those who are not assessed.

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Assessed – “Right” vs. “Wrong” Course Do assessed students who take the right course do better than assessed students who take the wrong course? We use Chi Square and ANOVA.

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Counts - Right vs. Wrong Course Courses

Right Course Wrong Course % Right Count Count Course

Eng 1A

1571

378

81%

Eng 201A

593

479

55%

Basic Skills

598

127

82%

TOTAL

2762

984

74%

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Success - Right vs. Wrong Courses

Right Course Success %

Wrong Course Chi Square Success % Sig.

Eng 1A

62%

53%

0.001

Eng 201A

55%

52%

0.364

Basic Skills

61%

61%

0.932

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Success - Right vs. Wrong Significant only for English 1A: • Assessed students who take right course have greater success than those who take wrong course.

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GPA - Right vs. Wrong Courses

Right Wrong ANOVA Course GPA Course GPA Sig.

Eng 1A

2.76

2.39

0.000

Eng 201A

2.47

2.34

0.178

Basic Skills

2.58

2.58

0.986

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GPA - Right vs. Wrong Significant only for English 1A: • Assessed students who take right course have higher GPA than those who take wrong course.

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Conclusions • Validity confirmed. • Useful for counselors. • Assessed results aren’t much different from non-assessed, pre-requisite method. • Most students take English 1A. • Students assessed into English 1A do significantly better than “wrong” students.

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