Placement testing: One test, two tests, three tests? How many tests are sufficient?. (July 2020)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- Placement testing: One test, two tests, three tests? How many tests are sufficient?. (July 2020)
- Main Title:
- Placement testing: One test, two tests, three tests? How many tests are sufficient?
- Authors:
- Hille, Kathryn
Cho, Yeonsuk - Abstract:
- Accurate placement within levels of an ESL program is crucial for optimal teaching and learning. Commercially available tests are commonly used for placement, but their effectiveness has been found to vary. This study uses data from the Ohio Program of Intensive English (OPIE) at Ohio University to examine the value of two commercially available tests (the TOEFL ITP and the Michigan EPT) and a locally developed writing test for accurate placement decisions. Placement accuracy was measured in terms of the relationship between test scores and (1) appropriate placement levels for individual students according to their teachers, and (2) student performance in the classes. Findings support the continued use of multiple measures for more accurate placement decisions in the study context. However, the relationship between test scores and student performance, measured by students' grades in the actual course levels and their success in advancing to a higher course level as additional indicators of the extent to which placement tests provide an accurate indication, was weak when analyzed through multiple regression and cross-tabulation, suggesting that factors other than initial proficiency are primarily determinative of student success when students have been accurately placed.
- Is Part Of:
- Language testing. Volume 37:Number 3(2020)
- Journal:
- Language testing
- Issue:
- Volume 37:Number 3(2020)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 37, Issue 3 (2020)
- Year:
- 2020
- Volume:
- 37
- Issue:
- 3
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2020-0037-0003-0000
- Page Start:
- 453
- Page End:
- 471
- Publication Date:
- 2020-07
- Subjects:
- ESL -- intensive English program -- Michigan EPT -- multiple regression -- ordinal regression -- placement accuracy -- placement testing -- predictive validity -- TOEFL ITP
Language and languages -- Ability testing -- Periodicals
Language and languages -- Examinations -- Periodicals
407.6 - Journal URLs:
- http://ltj.sagepub.com ↗
http://www.uk.sagepub.com/home.nav ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1177/0265532220912412 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 0265-5322
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - BLDSS-3PM
British Library HMNTS - ELD Digital store - Ingest File:
- 13523.xml