New Studies Show College Placement Tests are Ineffective

[exboyfil]

3. It is crap that you can't prepare for these tests by

studying. I wanted to get my daughter qualified for Precalculus over the summer, but I also wanted to get it done early this year (before she had seen the second half of her Advanced Algebra/Trig) class. We grabbed a COMPASS preparation book from the library and all of the sample tests online (and their are several) and she went through the College Algebra portion. We did not bother with Trig since it was not a requirement for Precalculus. I suspect that by the end of this semester, she probably could pass the Trig part as well and eligible to take Calculus I.

No way that the test results should have overridden the college credit. Articulation agreements should be in place to stop this from happening. It reinforces my belief that most counselors do not know what they are doing.

I would not necessarily blame the test though. In the case of students coming out of High School or not having taken the class in several years, they need some method of placing individuals. At least for the COMPASS test you have a short waiting period before you can take it again. I thought it did a pretty good job assessing my daughter. My daughter maxed out the Reading and Writing parts, and it was recommended that she look to CLEP the first Composition course. This is with only 1 semester of 10th grade English.