Title of Effective Practice: - California Postsecondary Education ...

Direct Connection to Policy Area 4 of The Illinois Commitment
Alternative Mathematics Placement Examination
Chicago State University
What issue or need is addressed by the effective practice?
All incoming students, including transfer students whose majors require advanced math courses, are required to
take the ACT/Compass math placement examination. The computerized examination has caused many students
anxiety related to the examination format. The examination is adaptive, which means that students doing well
are pushed ahead quickly to harder questions. If students miss several related questions, the test terminates
itself and provides a score placing them in a developmental math course. The exam is not diagnostic in that it
affords no information about specific weaknesses students may have.
Several modifications have been done on the computerized test. For example, starting with basic algebra rather
than basic arithmetic, because students claim that they do better on recently learned material than they do on
material that they haven’t seen since grammar school. If they are unable to answer the basic algebra questions
accurately, test takers are taken back to basic arithmetic by the computerized test. Students still complain,
however, that the computerized test does not adequately assess their skills. One concern is that the
computerized test will not allow students to look ahead or to go backwards, test-taking strategies that many
students have been taught. There is no way for students to quickly go through the test answering what they can
before going back to do the harder questions. Nor is there any way for students to go back and check their work.
As a result, some students have no faith that they have been correctly placed in math courses and felt that their
degree completion was being held up unfairly.
Description of the effective practice:
The Paper and Pencil Placement Test (PPPT) was instituted in December 2005 in response to student concerns.
To better serve students, a policy was implemented to give all students who have taken the ACT/Compass
examination the option of also taking the PPPT on request. The PPPT has thirty-six questions that specifically
test the skills students would be expected to gain in each level of developmental math, 090, 095, and 098.
Students may see all thirty-six questions and may answer them in any order. The PPPT, unlike the
ACT/Compass examination allows both students and advisors to identify specific areas of weakness.
How does this practice achieve sustainability?
Students will continue to have the option to take the PPPT if they are dissatisfied with their computerized test
scores. As more students exercise this option, more data can be collected about students’ mathematics
preparedness when they matriculate to college. Over time, these data will be used in course and curriculum
planning for mathematics courses in order to streamline mathematics remediation and to assist students in more
rapidly attaining their educational goals.
What are the results/measurable outcomes?
A substantial benefit provided by the PPPT is that it allows identification of areas of weakness in students’
mathematics skills, which can then be targeted for remediation. Targeted remediation helps students master the
required material and move forward more quickly than unfocused developmental math coursework.
Thus far, forty-nine students have taken both the ACT/Compass and the PPPT. Thirty-nine percent of the
students taking the PPPT earned higher scores and higher placement than they had on the ACT/Compass test.
Because the ACT/Compass examination is scored immediately after a student has completed the examination, it
is an efficient placement instrument. For students who do not fully demonstrate their skills on the computerized
test, however, the PPPT provides an effective alternative. Additionally, for students who overestimate their
mathematics abilities, the two tests with similar scores help them to form a realistic assessment of their
mathematics skills.
Contact Information
Name: Dr. H. Silver
Email: hsilver@csu.edu
Phone: (773) 995-2102
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