Running head: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 1

Annotated Bibliography:

Placement Testing

Fernando Perez

The University of Texas at El Paso

RWS 1301

Dr. Vierra

March 31, 2019

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Research Questions

1. How does placement testing affect what is being thought and how it is being

thought?

2. Do teachers really care that their students learn something or for them to be ready

to pass the test?

3. Are students benefitting from placement test?

4. Should teachers worry that they students pass the test or that they learn the

material?

5. What are the effects of the inaccuracy of the test?

Revised Research Questions

1. Who does placement test affect in the end the student or the institution?

2. What are the benefits of takin and scoring high on placement test?

3. When will placement testing will stop being a requirement for a college

education?

4. Where does placement test scores have a greater impact to society?

5. Why are placement test scores a requirement if they are sometimes inaccurate?
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Annotated Bibliography

Monograph

Montgomery, R. J. (1978). A new examination of examinations London; Boston: Routledge and

K. Paul, 1978. Retrieved from http://0-

search.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat04704a&AN=nug.b107

3094&site=eds-live&scope=site

Exams and assessments are a big part if the education system particularly before going to

college and at college. According to Robert Montgomery (1978), a school with 1,160

pupils aged 13 to 18 in 1976-7 spent £6,527 on public examinations in that academic

year. The amount of 'capitation' money available for running costs in the financial year

1976-7 was about £5,387 for all fifth- and upper-sixth-formers. This means that the

importance of examinations on students is high because the school was spending more

money on giving test to their students than buying books or other materials need. If

spending that much money will help them get recognition of a being a good school, then

the importance of spending for exams will continue.

Corning, H. M. (1926). After testing-what? the practical use of test results in one school

system Scott, Foresman and Co. Retrieved from http://0-

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1038&site=eds-live&scope=site

Test show that the intelligence of the test takers can be explain by a normal frequency

graph. According to Corning (1926), t is now possible to demonstrate that measurements

of human intelligence conform to the normal-frequency curve, just as it was previously

established that measurements of

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physical dimensions and ability followed the same uniform distribution. Using these

tests, we know that a few individuals have unusual mental ability, and a corresponding

few have very limited ability, while the great majority of us have this ability in average

amount (p. 4-5). This means that most people intelligence is consider average while

others are below or higher. Therefore when students take test not all of them pass because

they are not capable.

Essays

Ligon, G. D. (1983). Preparing students for standardized testing. In W. E. Hathaway (Ed.),

Testing in the schools (p.19-27). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Retrieved from

http://0-

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4491&site=eds-live&scope=site

Students are never prepared to take test that will tell their level of knowledge and

teachers struggle to help students pass those tests or do well on them. According to Glynn

D. Ligon (1983) the competing claims of teaching the test, teaching to the test, and

encouraging guessing through test wiseness strategies usually attract the most attention

when educators discuss preparing students for standardized tests (p.21). If teachers really

want their students to pass, then they should engrave in their students that learning is fun

and look at them taking test to prove that you are a good teacher.

Beckum, L. C. (1983). Testing and the minority child. In W. E. Hathaway (Ed.), Testing in the

schools (p.39-47). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Retrieved from http://0-

search.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat04704a&AN=nug.b132

4491&site=eds-live&scope=site
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Minorities don’t always have the resources to succeed in education and the way the

system is structured almost always places them at disadvantage. According to Leonard C.

Beckum (1983), another dilemma for schools has been raised by the issue of competence

testing. Initiated in the late seventies, the competence test movement was an attempt to

set minimum standards that students must meet to graduate from high school. In the

landmark case of Debra P. v. Tarlington, 3,445 black students filed a lawsuit because

they failed the Florida literacy test (p.42). This means that the way the school system for

a student to be able to graduate from high schools gives a disadvantage to minority

groups.

Ligon, G. D., & Matter, M. K. (1983). A Case Study: Testing in the Austin Independent School

District. In W. E. Hathaway (Ed.), Testing in the schools (p.97-102). San Francisco, CA:

Jossey-Bass. Retrieved from http://0-

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Test results are the big part of test. They tell if the student did well is he above average,

average, or below average. According to Glynn D. Ligon (1983), in Austin, test scores

are used as criteria for placement in several junior and senior high school courses and for

meeting the districts minimum competence requirement for high school graduation

(p.102). This means that students while still in high school take test to qualify them to

take courses that will advance their college career. If students do not place well or the test

scores do not benefit them, then they won’t be able to graduate or get ahead.

Journals
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Moses, M. S. & Nanna, M. J. (2007). The Testing Culture and the Persistence of High Stakes

Testing Reforms. Education and Culture 23(1), 55-72. Purdue University Press.

Retrieved March 12, 2019, from Project MUSE database

Testing and advance placement testing relates to persistence in the university. According

to Moses (2007), high stakes tests are used to lend legitimacy to existing cultural

practices, particularly when the practice is validated by experts. Indeed, many of the

technical aspects of testing are used as a justification for its legitimacy and, ultimately,

widespread use (p. 64). Therefore, if a student that takes advance placement test to get

ahead or show legitimacy of his knowledge, then the university as the expert will

acknowledge that and let the student continue its studies in the university. By continuing

their studies, the student maintains its persistence.

Shin, S., & Lidster, R. (2017). Evaluating different standard-setting methods in an ESL

placement testing context. Language Testing, 34(3), 357-381.

Placement test are not always accurate, and they could misplace the test taker with the

results. According to Ryan Lidster (2017), placement procedures can take several

different forms such as interviews, essays, multiple-choice placement tests, or a

combination of methods. The means of evaluating and ensuring the reliability and

validity of those procedures depend on their individual characteristics (p. 358). This

means that test takers take several of the test to help show that the test are reliable and

validate the test by comparing the test to each other. Also, Lidster (2017), to determine

the levels into which students are placed, raters compare test-takers’ performances to

descriptions of performance standards–sets of characteristics that distinguish between

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categories of performance. This demonstrates that a base standard is set to classify the

results of the test.

Hoyt, J. E., & Sorensen, C. T. (2001). High school preparation, placement testing, and college

remediation. Journal of Developmental Education, 25(2), 26. Retrieved from http://0-

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ite=eds-live&scope=site

Students are not putting that much effort when taking placement test causing the school

system to change requirements for graduation and college acceptance. According to Hoyt

(2001), as a part of the standards movement, states are increasing graduation standards,

implementing mandatory proficiency tests, releasing report cards on schools, and

awarding differentiated high school diplomas, giving some students credit for

demonstrating competence in college preparatory courses based on proficiency exams

(p.32). By schools increasing the standards students put more effort into wanting to

graduate but graduate with honors when coming out of high school into college. That will

increase their competence when entering college.

Websites

What Are College Placement Tests? (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/find-colleges/academic-life/what-are-college-

placement-tests

Placement test don’t only help to tell students their level of college readiness but also the

college or institution the students wishes to attend. According to The College Board,

almost all two-year colleges and many public four-year colleges require new students to

take at least one placement test when they first get to campus. As well as, Community

colleges — most of which admit all students with a high school degree — tend to rely on
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these tests because their entering students can have very different skill levels. Therefore,

first year students are taking the correct classes based on their skill level from the

placement exams.

Primary Sources

3/30/19 CBFA +2. 7 of 12 sources complete.