PHD, Kent State University, 2020, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Foundations, Leadership and Administration

Educational institutions, at all levels, must justify their use of placement testing and confront questions of their impact on students' educational outcomes to assure all stakeholders that students are being enrolled in courses appropriate with their ability in order to maximize their chances of success (Linn, 1994; Mattern & Packman, 2009; McFate & Olmsted III, 1999; Norman, Medhanie, Harwell, Anderson, & Post, 2011; Wiggins, 1989). The aims of this research were to (1) provide evidence of Content Validity, (2) provide evidence of Construct Validity and Internal Consistency Reliability, (3) examine the item characteristics and potential bias of the items between males and females, and (4) provide evidence of Criterion-Related Validity by investigating the ability of the mathematics placement test scores to predict future performance in an initial mathematics course. Students' admissions portfolios and scores from the mathematics placement test were used to examine the aims of this research. Content Validity was evidenced through the use of a card-sorting task by internal and external subject matter experts. Results from Multidimensional Scaling and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis revealed a congruence of approximately 63 percent between the two group configurations. Next, an Exploratory Factor Analysis was used to investigate the underlying factor structure of the mathematics placement test. Findings indicated a three factor structure of PreCalculus, Geometry, and Algebra 1, with moderate correlations between factors. Thirdly, an item analysis was conducted to explore the item parameters (i.e., item difficulty, and item discrimination) and to test for gender biases. Results from the item analysis suggested that the Algebra 1 and Geometry items were generally easy for the population of interest, while the PreCalculus items presented more of a challenge. Furthermore, the mathematics placement test was optimized by removing eleven items from the Algebra 1 factor (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Aryn Karpinski PhD (Committee Chair); Tricia Niesz PhD (Committee Member); Rajeev Rajaram PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Gifted Education; Mathematics; Mathematics Education; Psychological Tests

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2019, Educational Research and Evaluation (Education)

Placement testing in intensive English programs (IEPs) involves methodological considerations that merit additional research. Neither quantitative nor qualitative methods alone have always proven successful to address common research problems in the field of IEP student placement, including questions regarding the selection of placement tests and the establishment of cut scores for those tests by means of standard-setting methods. These two key questions, alongside the methodology underlying them, comprise three necessary supporting elements for the achievement of appropriate student placement. This dissertation uses a three-article format to examine, in turn, each of these necessary supporting elements and its connections to the other two. The first manuscript, “The Application of Mixed Methods for Developing Student Placement Protocols in Intensive English Programs” serves as the methodological focus for this dissertation, exploring the potential of Mixed Methods Research to address the common challenges of inconsistent placement criteria and small sample sizes in IEP student placement and to yield recommendations regarding the selection of placement tests and the setting of cut scores. The second manuscript, “Placement Testing: One Test, Two Tests, Three Tests? How Many Tests are Sufficient?,” then provides a quantitative analysis to address the question of placement test selection so as to maximize placement accuracy and includes consideration of logistical issues as well. The final manuscript, “Setting Cut Scores for Student Success,” addresses the issue of establishing appropriate cut scores and presents an approach to synthesizing the potentially divergent cut score results that different standard-setting methods can yield. Taken together, these three manuscripts provide a close examination of multiple supporting elements that are necessary for the achievement of appropriate student placement; these manuscripts also challenge practitioners in the field (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Krisanna Machtmes PhD (Advisor); Yuchun Zhou PhD (Committee Member); Lijing Yang PhD (Committee Member); Sara Helfrich PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Education Policy; Educational Evaluation; Educational Tests and Measurements; English As A Second Language; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration; Language; Statistics

Master of Arts, University of Toledo, 2014, English (English as a Second Language)

This paper discusses the research and design of a new composition placement test to better fit the rapidly growing population at an intensive English program. The previous placement test no longer fit because it was designed for a much smaller student population. After reviewing the research, new versions of prompts and instructions were designed to use the curriculum directly as criteria, against which to measure a student's placement. This will decrease the occurrences of misplacement due on discrepancies between language skills, reading ability and writing ability, for example. The new prompts and instructions consider variables of content, linguistic accessibility, task difficulty/variety, and transparency regarding writing evaluation. This can inform any IEPs that are going through similar growing pains with the dramatic increases in international students in the US, year after year

Committee: Douglas Coleman (Committee Chair); Anthony Edgington (Committee Member); Alexander Wrege (Committee Member) Subjects: English As A Second Language

Master of Education (MEd), Bowling Green State University, 2013, Curriculum and Teaching

This paper examines what drives curriculum in schools by looking at several different factors, including student creativity, student independence, teaching strategies, and the role of state proficiency and advanced placement testing in schools. I first took a historic perspective on the role of cultural and economic reproduction in school curriculum. In order to find out what currently drives curriculum in schools, I observed a northwest Ohio suburban high school to find out how students are taught through the direct curriculum and the null curriculum. The factors I used to help determine what currently lead curriculum of one suburban high school were student independence, student creativity, teaching strategies, negotiation, and state proficiency and advanced placement testing preparation. I observed how big a role, if any at all, state proficiency and advanced placement testing preparation impacted what teachers taught, and how that affected students' higher order thinking skills. I made inferences regarding how the curriculum the students at this high school were exposed to impacted their future careers.

Committee: Tracy Huziak-Clark PhD (Advisor); Bruce Collet PhD (Committee Member); Chris J. Frey PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Education

EdD, University of Cincinnati, 2005, Education : Curriculum and Instruction

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the perceptions that students and advisors/administrators had regarding the mathematics placement process at a two-year branch campus of a large urban, mid-western university. Participants in the study were 20 advisors/administrators and 15 students. Qualitative data were collected from face-to-face, semi-structured interviews and focus groups, placement test observations, and placement test documents. The student participants were students who had taken the Compass/ESL® computer-adaptive math placement test and successfully completed a college level math course at the institution, as well as students who had just recently taken the test. The advisors/administrators all had some level of involvement in the mathematics placement process at the institution. Therefore, this research offered a unique opportunity to focus on the current mathematics placement process. The results suggested that students want and need an opportunity to practice before they take the test. This may encourage them to take the test more seriously. Furthermore, the use of an entrepreneurial placement testing system should require that the recommendations made by them as to the procedures for administering the test be followed. Finally, the institution is interested in implementing mandatory placement in mathematics. This would include a well-defined mathematics placement appeal process for students who believe they are not correctly placed by the test, as well as the use of multiple measures to determine the placement of students in a mathematics course.

Committee: Dr. Linda Taylor (Advisor) Subjects: