Recent research on entering college student assessment instruments and placement practices has been critical. Critics suggest that commonly used assessment instruments are inaccurate, misused, and lack predictive validity. This article describes valid criticisms and appropriate uses of assessment instruments. It also lists challenges and provides…

How should colleges determine whether students are placed into developmental or college-level courses? Each year, colleges place millions of students into developmental math and English courses upon enrollment. To do so, colleges most often use a high-stakes placement test, which numerous research studies have shown to be highly inaccurate in…

Colleges throughout the United States are evaluating the effectiveness of the strategies used to decide whether to place students into college-level or developmental education courses. Developmental, or remedial, courses are designed to develop the reading, writing, or math skills of students deemed underprepared for college-level courses, a…

This paper presents a pilot study aiming to evaluate the effects of a non-cognitive assessment instrument which was developed and tailored for a community college in the New York City area. The instrument was pilot tested on a group of developmental students and asked a series of questions to determine the campus support services that might best…

This article presents strategies for using two types of essay-writing rubrics in a developmental English class of students transitioning into college-level writing. One checklist rubric is student-facing, designed to serve as a guide for students throughout the writing process and as a self-assessment tool. The other checklist rubric is…

The purpose of the current study was to develop and validate a measure of motivation for use with basic college writers that would measure self-efficacy, achievement goals, beliefs, and affect. As part of a design research project on curriculum for community college developmental writing classes, 133 students in 11 classes completed the motivation…

A potentially useful program-evaluation approach obtains information from program dropouts. This method was applied to university students who dropped out of four developmental programs. Results indicate many students recognize the value of the program for others, yet resist participating themselves. This approach was a useful supplementary…

An experience involving graduate students enrolled in a student development preparation program in the direct assessment of undergraduate students' psychological development is described. Two views of student development found in the literature are presented and results of assessment procedures are presented along these lines. Generally, data…

Introduces the practitioner to psychometric issues related to developmental assessment and makes recommendations for the assessment refinements needed in the field. (Author/BH)

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the developmental education program of the Eastern Campus of Cuyahoga Community College. An evaluative model was constructed by accepting the performance standards and program guidelines that Roueche and Kirk listed in "Catching Up; Remedial Education" (1973), after their study of five successful…

This 2016 directory identifies, describes, and contains evaluative data evidence-based practices that improve academic performance, close the achievement gap, and improve persistence towards graduation for low-income, first-generation, and historically-underrepresented 6th grade through college students. The directory was a production of the…

The purpose of the current study was to analyze the relationship between automated essay scoring (AES) and human scoring in order to determine the validity and usefulness of AES for large-scale placement tests. Specifically, a correlational research design was used to examine the correlations between AES performance and human raters' performance.…

An academic enrichment program was designed for a large state university and an experiment conducted to test its effectiveness in enhancing high-risk students' academic performance. Students in the enrichment program significantly outperformed control group students but only within the program's scope. The need for continuing support efforts is…