Placement at De Anza CollegePlacement at De Anza College

John Swensson, Dean of Language ArtsBert Manriquez, Director of AssessmentPat Weinberg, Testing Technician, AssessmentKathy Flores, ESL Placement CoordinatorWallis Leslie, EWRT Placement CoordinatorDrew Oman, ReaderPrompt criteria and writing

English Placement at De Anza CollegeEnglish Placement at De Anza College        We're fortunate to have an essay component of the placement

process.        We have 23 readers from English, ESL, and Reading departments. There are 7-10 English placement essay reading sessions per quarter. 

       In 2003-2004–   placement criteria updated–   new essay models added–    three new prompts written and vetted

       for 2004-2005

–    more English department full-time readers needed–    more new prompts needed– continued interface with the Developmental Task Force

English Placement Essay English Placement Essay ReadersReaders

Karen Chow, Marc Coronado, Dave Denny, Katie Dunlap, Diane Furlan, Lydia Hearn, Clara Lam, Wallis Leslie, Sonja Levinger, Bobbie McKenna, Shirley Myers, Cheri Newman, Drew Oman, Julie Pesano, Jill Quigley, Julie Sartwell, Kristin Skager, Ariel Smart, Iris Thot-Johnson, Bill Turner, Ken Weisner, Sue Yoes

Guidelines for Reading English Placement Test Writing SamplesGuidelines for Reading English Placement Test Writing Samples  

    Before looking at the numeric scores, read each essay, first deciding if the essay needs an Before looking at the numeric scores, read each essay, first deciding if the essay needs an ESL placement. After reaching a tentative placement, check the scores. A writing score of 37 ESL placement. After reaching a tentative placement, check the scores. A writing score of 37 would qualify a student for EWRT100A or LART 200 if that were the only measure, but we are would qualify a student for EWRT100A or LART 200 if that were the only measure, but we are reading the essays to see where the actual writing places the student. The only reading score reading the essays to see where the actual writing places the student. The only reading score that limits us is when we want to make a LART 200 placement. In that case, the essay will fit that limits us is when we want to make a LART 200 placement. In that case, the essay will fit the criteria for LART 200, the writing score will be 40 or below, and the reading score will be 20 the criteria for LART 200, the writing score will be 40 or below, and the reading score will be 20 or below. or below. Each essay will be read once and placed unless the first reader is unduly perplexed and Each essay will be read once and placed unless the first reader is unduly perplexed and wants to consult with another reader. Each sitting will have readers from the English wants to consult with another reader. Each sitting will have readers from the English department and the ESL department. department and the ESL department. Essays placed in EWRT100B will automatically be assigned to LAB 160. If the essay meets Essays placed in EWRT100B will automatically be assigned to LAB 160. If the essay meets the LAB 161 criteria, then a placement of 100B/LAB 161 should be noted.the LAB 161 criteria, then a placement of 100B/LAB 161 should be noted. Sometimes readers detect a need for an EDC consultation. "EDC consult advised" should Sometimes readers detect a need for an EDC consultation. "EDC consult advised" should be noted in addition to the recommended placement.be noted in addition to the recommended placement. All essays must receive a placement. If a student has only filled out name and social All essays must receive a placement. If a student has only filled out name and social security number or if the essay is entirely off-topic, then the placement is made according to security number or if the essay is entirely off-topic, then the placement is made according to the numeric score, taking into consideration that such responses are not positive indicators of the numeric score, taking into consideration that such responses are not positive indicators of writing ability. In these cases, scores in the 100B placement range might receive 100A writing ability. In these cases, scores in the 100B placement range might receive 100A placement instead. placement instead.   Writing Score Placement Reading Score PlacementWriting Score Placement Reading Score Placement0-400-40 EWRT 100A 0-18 LART200 EWRT 100A 0-18 LART20041-57 EWRT100B 19-31 READ10041-57 EWRT100B 19-31 READ10058-75 EWRT1A 32+ EWRT1A58-75 EWRT1A 32+ EWRT1A

Criteria for Placing Essays

EWRT1A

•summarizes or paraphrases the main point of the subject reading in such a way as to show clear understanding of the issue(s).

•is focused on a strong central or controlling idea that is clearly related to the main idea of the subject reading and uses the essay as a springboard for the writer's own ideas.

•is well organized according to a logical and sophisticated progression of ideas.

•is very well-developed with many specific examples that provide concrete evidence to support points logically and clearly.

•contains a variety of compound and complex sentences.

•uses sophisticated vocabulary and contains no or few vocabulary problems.

•is free of major grammatical errors.

EWRT100B

•summarizes the main point of the subject reading.

•is focused on a central or controlling idea that is related to the central idea of the subject reading.

•is organized according to a logical progression of ideas.

•is developed with examples although they may not be very specific.

•has some sentence pattern variety.

•is largely free of major grammatical errors. Errors are not consistent and may indicate proofreading rather than knowledge problems.

LART200

•is loosely focused on the main point of the subject reading but fails to demonstrate an understanding of the subject reading.

•may not be focused on a central idea, or the connection to reading may be unclear.

•shows that knowledge of paragraph and essay conventions may be lacking.

•fails to use examples or uses examples that are not relevant.

•demonstrates control of basic English sentence patterns.

•has good control of simple tenses but may have problems with perfect tenses.

•may contain non-English syntactical patterns, but they are not serious enough to frequently interrupt comprehension.

•may contain non-standard vocabulary and usage, but overall vocabulary and word choice are generally accurate. 

 

EWRT100A

The paper meets the criteria for LART200, but the reading test score is above 20.

ESL5

•summarizes or paraphrases the main point of the subject reading in such a way as to show a clear understanding of the issue(s).

•is focused on a central or controlling idea that is related to the central idea of the subject reading. Uses the essay as a springboard for the writer's own ideas.

•is very well organized according to a logical progression of ideas.

•is very well-developed with many specific examples that provide concrete evidence to support points logically and clearly.

•contains a variety of compound and complex sentences.

•uses sophisticated vocabulary and contains no or few vocabulary problems.

•is free of major grammatical errors.

ESL24

•summarizes or paraphrases the main point of the subject reading.

•is focused on an idea related to the central idea of the paragraph.

•is organized according to a reasonable progression of ideas.

•contains clear examples although examples may not be developed with specificity.

•has good control of simple tenses, perfect tenses, and conditionals.

ESL163

•briefly summarizes or paraphrases the main point of the subject reading.

•is focused on a central idea although connection to the main idea of the subject reading may be loose or implied.

•uses some support although it may be very undeveloped.

•is organized according to a reasonable logical progression of ideas although knowledge of paragraph and essay conventions may be lacking.

•has good control of simple tenses and some perfect tenses or conditionals.

•demonstrates some sentence variety.

•contains simplistic but accurately used vocabulary.

 

ESL153

•fails to summarize the subject reading.

•is unfocused; the main point or idea is unclear.

•contains ideas that do not progress logically.

•lacks examples and/or has examples that are unrelated to the main point.

•has no sentence variety.

•lacks consistently accurate use of simple tenses.

•shows accuracy and variety in word choice vocabulary although it may still be simplistic.

•has fairly accurate use of basic English sentence patterns.

ESL144

•demonstrates little clear connection between the paper and the main idea of the subject reading.

•is badly disorganized.

•fails to develop the point with examples/specifics.

•does not have a clear sense of sentence structure but has some semblance of simple sentences beginning to emerge.

•has non-English syntactical patterns that frequently or regularly interfere with meaning.

•does not clearly convey knowledge of tenses although some sentences may be without error.

•has simplistic, limited, and repetitive vocabulary.

ESL134

•responds to the reading by repeating its ideas and language.

•demonstrates a superficial or limited understanding or lack of understanding of the issues.

•has problems with non-English syntactical patters so severe that the reader may have difficulty with comprehension.

•has vocabulary so frequently misused and limited as to make the writing difficult to comprehend.

•does not demonstrate knowledge of formation of simple sentences, questions, or negatives.

•does not have control of simple verb forms, tenses, or auxiliaries.

English Placement Prompts – CriteriaEnglish Placement Prompts – Criteria                 clear and briefly statedclear and briefly stated                not highly emotional or controversial topicsnot highly emotional or controversial topics                interesting to students (and readers)interesting to students (and readers)                within the realm of experience of all studentswithin the realm of experience of all students                allowing for the full range of essay scores needed in courses of placement as allowing for the full range of essay scores needed in courses of placement as described in scoring guidesdescribed in scoring guides                unbiased and inoffensiveunbiased and inoffensive                valid—that is, better students tend to score higher, poorer students tend to score valid—that is, better students tend to score higher, poorer students tend to score lowerlower

  

Sample Prompt        Please read the following paragraph.       In ½ hour, write a short composition about any idea you find interesting in

the paragraph. You may respond to the whole paragraph or to any point within it. Your composition should have a main idea, and you should support that idea with specific examples.

       Try to leave yourself a few minutes at the end to reread and correct your errors.

       Please do not skip lines.   Television does nothing for children but provoke violent behavior.

Regardless of their age or level of maturity, children act out what they see on TV; then want to be their TV heroes, despite the fact that these characters aren't real. The sensational violence on TV is real to children, so real that kids can't play or resolve conflicts without hurting someone. After watching their favorite show, instead of doing their homework, kids try out the combat stunts they saw on TV, using their fists, getting their hands on real guns and knives. Any show they see gives them an ugly impression of the adult world, which has become unsafe due to TV violence. Kids shouldn't be allowed to watch TV; it gives them a warped impression of civilized society.