Writing Self Placement

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Writing Self Placement

• The time that used to be spent testing was
• replaced by time spent communicating
• program standards and expectations to
• students who were now invited to take
• responsibility for much of this new placement
• process.
• - Dan Royer and Roger Gilles, Grand Valley State
  University

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Writing Self PlacementDefinition

• The act of informed students enrolling into the
  writing class of their choice.

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Rhodes State College

• Two-year technical college
• Applied associates degrees
• Arts and Sciences
• Business/Public Service
• Engineering/Information Technologies
• Nursing
• Allied Health
• 3,100 headcount
• Student average age 27

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Timed Writing Placement at Rhodes

• Orientation students take 45-minute timed
  writing
• Teachers evaluate writing
• Students placed

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Problems with one-time writing assessments

• Not representative of academic writing timed
  writing does not allow for the writing process
  brainstorming, drafting, revising, editing, and
  proofreading.
• The writing is just a snapshot
• College English leadership (CCCC) is against
  one-time assessments
• Writing placement is not only about writing

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CCCC Position Statement on Writing Assessment
(1995)

• Any individual's writing "ability" is a sum of a
  variety of skills employed in a diversity of
  contexts, and individual ability fluctuates
  unevenly among these varieties. Consequently, one
  piece of writing--even if it is generated under
  the most desirable conditions--can never serve as
  an indicator of overall literacy, particularly
  for high stakes decisions.

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The Beginning

• Park City, Utah, 2002, Annual Conference of
  Writing Program Administrators
• Self placement began at Rhodes one year later,
  summer 2003.

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The Process

• ? Letter sent to students prior to orientation
  from writing faculty
• ?Letter describes the two course options
• English Composition
• Developmental Writing

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The Letter to Students

• Includes subjective criteria predictive of
  success in writing classes
• ?Characteristics
• ?Behaviors
• ?Attitudes (e.g., confidence)
• And includes objective criteria to consider
• ?Learning Outcomes

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Why Put the Students in Charge?

• After providing students with directed questions
  and information on behaviors, attitudes, and
  experiences needed to make an informed
  decision the students then make their
  decision.
• Even so, why let the students decide? Whats the
  RATIONALE?

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Rhodes Rationale for Choosing this Self
Placement Process

• ? Student agency (remember--its not only about
  the writing)
• ? Student ownership of college decisions starting
  from Day One
• ? Decisions have consequences
• ? Students know what theyre ready for better
  than teachers who take a one-time writing
  assessment

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Best Reason for Implementing Self Placement

• ? Its the right thing to do ?
• The right message (student agency)
• At the right time (Day One)
• For the right reasons (respecting that an
  informed student has the capacity to make a
  personal placement decision)

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Placement Results

• With self-placement, students choose remediation
  at a higher percentage than previously
• Four-year university 33 to 22
• Rhodes (two-year college) 26 to 33

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Research

• Research on grades in this presentation includes
  four complete years of grades
• 2001-2002 Timed writing placement
• 2003-2004 Self-placement

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Grade Outcomes

• Students placed by timed writing into COM-098
  scored C or better 44.52 of the time (over
  2-year period)
• Students self-placed into COM-098 scored C or
  better 75.51 of the time (over 2-year period)
• (C equals satisfactory)

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Self-placed students had higher grades

• Because of self-efficacy?
• Because taking the class was their idea?
• Because they knew what class fit them best?
• We dont really know why. We just know
• what is. Self placed students score higher.

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Student Rationale

• Why do students elect to take a precollege class
  such as COM-098?
• Lack of Confidence
• Just because

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Student Rationale

• Why do students elect to take English
  Composition and skip COM-098?
• Wealth of confidence (i.e., theyre ready, a
  state of mind)
• Just because

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Paradigm Shift

• The placement test now became the placement
  process.
• Robbie Pinter and Ellen Sims, Belmont University

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Paradigm Shift in terms of Placement Modality

• In timed writing, students were placed strictly
  on writing ability as exhibited in one timed
  piece of writing (passive)
• In self-placement, students are placing
  themselves based on what they know about their
  own confidence level, behavior, and writing
  experience (active)

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More on GRADES

• Timed Writing
• Students with B or better in COM-098 who had C or
  better in COM-111 61.8
• Self-Placement
• Students with B or better in COM-098 who had C or
  better in COM-111 82.6
• C is satisfactory B equals successful

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Grade Outcomes

• Students placed by timed writing into COM-098
  scored C or better 44.52 of the time (over
  2-year period)
• Students self-placed into COM-098 scored C or
  better 75.51 of the time (over 2-year period)
• (C equals satisfactory)

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Needed follow-up

• Timed Writing
• Students with B or better in COM-098 who had less
  than C in COM-111 2.5
• Self-Placement
• Though 82.6 of students scored satisfactorily in
  COM-111, students with B or better in COM-098 who
  had less than C in COM-111 9.6

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It Works

• More self-placed students scored a satisfactory
  grade of C (75 to 44) in the Developmental
  class
• More self-placed students with a B or better in
  COM-098 went on to score a C or better in
  COM-111 82.6 vs. 61.8.
• Its the right thing to doplacement should be an
  inclusive process

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Additional Resources on Self Placement in Writing

• Grand Valley State University First Year Writing
  web page on Directed Self Placement, with links
  to various original articles by faculty members
  of Grand Valley State University and others
• http//faculty.gvsu.edu/royerd/dsp/
• Council of Writing Program Administrators
  http//wpacouncil.org/

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Students Confidence COM-098

• I placed myself into this class because I know
  that I am not confident of my English.
• Confidence is non-present, and hope is little.
• I figured I would start at the bottom since Im
  starting over Im going to do the right way.
• I took COM-098, because I think I could use the
  extra boost, and confidence.
• Placing myself in this particular writing class ,
  is to relearn the fundamentals of writing . My
  confidence in my writing ability is not to high.
  
• I am not confident about my writing skills and
  could use all the help I can get. I figure it
  would be better to start from the bottom and work
  my way up, rather than go in over my head and get
  far behind.
• I placed myself into this class because I felt
  that I would benefit more starting out here than
  starting in COM-111. It has also been a while
  since my last English class and being a first
  time student I felt that this would start me off
  at a good place for all of my college classes.
• I really enjoy writing but I need to figure out
  how to become even more confident in my writing
  class.
• I took all the easy classes in high school so I
  thought it would be best for me to start at the
  level I am at which would be COM-098.

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Students Just because COM-098

• During my senior year at Lima Senior I took a
  post secondary nursing course, where I earned an
  STNA license and 13 credit hours towards my first
  year at Rhodes. In high school, I took three
  advanced placement English classes, and during my
  senior I decided to take an integrated English
  course.
• I do know what I would like to do one day, and
  that is work for either DreamWorks or Pixar
  animation studios. I love computer animation,
  and it seems like something I would enjoy doing
  everyday on the job. Speedway isnt the greatest
  and it hasnt been a life long dream to work
  there either, especially with all the weird
  people coming in and out of those places.
• I was always on honor roll and my senior year I
  was 4.0 student. English was one of my better
  subjects.
• I graduated from Shawnee High School in 1976. I
  have always liked school, my grade point average
  then was 3.60. I did well in English, usually
  As or Bs. In 1989 I went to Northwestern
  College for a degree in computers. I received an
  Associates Degree in Computer Technology in 1991.
  Twice my grade point average was 4.0, making the
  Deans list. I also received an Outstanding
  Attendance Awared. I signed up for this class
  because it has been so long since I have gone to
  school, that I thought I might need to refresh
  any skills I might have left.

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Students Im Ready COM-111

• I put myself in this class because a friend of
  mine who started her first year here last year
  said that COM-098 isnt worth taking and I felt
  that I did alright in English in high school so I
  should do alright in college.
• I honestly chose to place myself into this class
  because I hope to spend as few semesters in
  school as possible and this class was required.
  When push comes to shove I have never failed at
  anything in my life and I know I can and will do
  well in this class. That is the honest reason I
  came to this class. If it where not required I
  would not have taken this class.
• The reason I placed my self in COM-111 is because
  I am capable of meeting all the guidelines of the
  course. Taking a more difficult course will make
  things more complicated for me and force me to
  put more effort into my studies.
• I placed myself into this class because I thought
  I was ready for this level.