The Use of Placement Exams in Entrance into Colleges or Universities - Annotated Bibliography Example

The use of placement exams in entrance into colleges or universities Annotated Bibliography al Affiliation Barnard-Brak, L., McGaha-Gamett, V., & Burley, H. (2011). Advanced placement course enrollment and school-level characteristics. National Association of Secondary School Principals.NASSP Bulletin, 95(3), 165-174. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/908807308?accountid=1611 The study analyzed access to AP courses as a function of the characteristics of education. The study considered aspects such as the percentage of ethnic minorities and persons from low-income families. Consequently, enrollment to the AP program was considered as a function of the stated attributes and accessibility to the AP courses. Basing on the structural equation modeling techniques, their results showed that school characteristics in the form of percentages of students with lower economic status is more related to the availability or accessibility of AP services. Further, they also established that no relationship exists between the amount of scholars enrolled in the AP system and its availability. The research is vital to the synthesis as it highlights the importance of school attributes in determining enrollment via the AP criteria Choi, H. J., & Park, J. (2013). Historical analysis of the policy on the college entrance system in South Korea. International Education Studies, 6(11), 106-121. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1491430305?accountid=1611 In their article, Choi, & Park describe how the national college admission system has frequently been altered in South Korea since independence. Even so, they still claim that the system can be salvaged. They synthesize the issues associated with the Korean college admission system tackled by successive regimes, relevant policy alternatives coupled with the ensuing consequences of the policy alternatives enacted by the different regimes. In their analytical lens, the Choi, & Park conclude that the Korean government is better advised to make continuous progress to complement and stabilize the existing system, despite regime changes. In their analysis of the Korean college admission system, a contribution to the literature is made to policy makers to other nations about reforming the college entrance systems. Choi, & Park describe how various alterations in the Korean university placement exams have affected the quality of the assessment. The significance of the study to the analysis is that it shows how government and political institutions influence college and university enrollment. Hacsi, T. A. (2011). Document-based question: What is the historical significance of the advanced placement test? The Journal of American History, 90(4), 1392-1400. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/224893308?accountid=1611 In the script, Hacsi tries to explore the historical importance e of the advanced placement exam. Hacsi claims that the assessment program in general fits into the broader history of assessing in the United States within the century. The author describes various tests that have had significant influences. The impacts have come in the form of shaping the activities that take place in schools or by changing the individual opportunities of the students. Hacsi similarly examines how testing has fared in a society and a system of education that employs schooling for the dual functions of sharing along class status. He extends to pupils of middle income and wealthy families while permitting some upward mobility at the individual level. The study is critical in advancing the significance of the AP in the history of the United States. The historical perspective presents a trace of the roots of the practice and how successful the program has been. Hansen, K., Reeve, S., Gonzalez, J., Sudweeks, R. R., & al, e. (2006). Are advanced placement English and first-year college composition equivalent? A comparison of outcomes in the writing of three groups of sophomore college students. Research in the Teaching of English, 40(4), 461-501. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/215340051?accountid=1611 The study is commissioned to obtain empirical data to be applied in informing policy decisions regarding the exemption of incoming students from a first-year composition exam in the AP English test. In their study, they explored the impact of avoiding first-year writing on the writing capabilities of sophomore undergraduates. From a subset of 182 sophomore students, various writing samples were collected, and the average scores of the papers were applied as indices of writing competence. They established that pupils that had taken AP English tests and courses n FYC performed better relative to those that had only done AP exams. Their findings reveal that exempting students from college based on work covered during high school is unwise. To them, more instructions in writing during college tend to bolster student learning. The study concludes that the exclusion of FYC in sophomore years is an uncalled move. They argue that increased instructions in writing during college helps enhancing student learning. It is for this aspect that the report was selected for the annotated bibliography. Hughes, K. L., & Scott-Clayton, J. (2011). Assessing developmental assessment in community colleges. Community College Review, 39(4), 327-351. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/910699520?accountid=1611 Hughes, & Scott-Clayton, assess the applicability of the placement tests in determining the future of students entering college. They claim that for students entering community college, the initial checkpoint on campus is an assessment center. They claim that most of the students from the community colleges will end up being placed in developmental education based on their reading, mathematics and writing scores on the entry assessment. However, Hughes, K. L., & Scott-Clayton claim that minimal evidence exists to show how the results enhance the outcome of the students. They examine alternative perspectives on the role of assessment test and how to implement it best. In their analysis, they review the applicability of the most typical methods and evaluate emerging trends for assessment policies and practices. The study sought to explore the validity of the most applied forms of assessment in the placement exams and their impact on influencing the outcome of the students. Kusayanagi, C. (2013). Constructing and understanding an incident as a social problem: A case study of university entrance exam cheating in Japan. Human Studies, 36(1), 133-148. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10746-013-9256-2 The new Orleans sniper incident of 1973 inspired the 2013 study by Kusaynagi. In the study, Kusayanagi explored university entrance exam cheating using the internet question and answer bulletin board. He further examined how the incident can be translated into a social problem by constructing a victim and a villain. He employed newspapers with nationwide coverage and reports from news agencies during the situation. He showed how the commonsense knowledge of persons frames their comprehension and the construction of an event. In the study, he demonstrated that Wechsler’s ideas regarding the New Orleans sniper event and her resultant evacuation of the event are admissible in several other situations. The importance of the paper is to show how cheating in the exams discredits the credibility of the exam. Moore, G. W., & Slate, J. R. (2008). Whos taking the advanced placement courses and how are they doing: A statewide two-year study. The High School Journal, 92(1), 56-67. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/220221624?accountid=1611 The two-year study assessed enrollment in AP courses across all high school campuses in Texas state. In the study, the researchers sought to establish the extent to which student diversity is manifested. The study confirmed that a higher percentage of the students taking the AP exams are mostly the females at 17 percent relative to 13 percent of their male counterparts. In addition, over one-fifth of the white students was enrolled in the program relative to 10 percent of the Hispanics and Africans. As per their hypothesis, the percent of the low-income earners was relatively low. Also, in relation to performance, individuals of African descent performed the worst. In aiming to identify the diversity of student enrollment in terms of gender, the researchers sought the relevancy of the AP in motivating students to enroll in the colleges. The inclusion of the paper in the analysis lies in the need to evaluate the variation in college enrollment across the genders. Moran, C. (2010, May 24). Drowning in tests | high school students swamped with exams as they strive to prove their academic merit. The San Diego Union - Tribune Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/271681769?accountid=1611 Moran provides a picture of how students striving to get admission into top colleges spend their time. According to the author, students have to undergo layers of exams that in some instances exceed up to 30 hours of timed testing; she equates the time spent on timed exams to a week of schooling. Moran provides an example of an international student expected to take an AP exam in Spanish, English and the history of the United States. For such a Baccalaureate diploma with worldwide recognition, the student is accepted to sit for an IB test sanctioned by the global headquarter of the program in Geneva. Nevertheless, for a student based in California, the state piles on top of the exams the Stanford 9 tests that are administered over several days. She claims that starting from second grade all through to 11th grade; a student is expected to take the Stanford 9 test. Despite being the most prominent indicators of the performance of a school and the achievement of a student, Moran concludes that the number of exams is too much. The study provides an insight into the plight of the students as they go through the American curriculum. The research shows the various exams that the students have to sit for and seeks to ask how much enough for the students is. Roderick, M., Nagaoka, J., & Coca, V. (2009). College readiness for all: The challenge for urban high schools. The Future of Children, 19(1) Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1519298681?accountid=1611 Melissa Roderick, Jenny Nagaoka, and Vanessa Coca hedge on the prudence of enhancing college access to all students. Their key emphasis is improving the access to college especially for the low-income and minority students in urban high schools. Stressing on the aspirations-attainment gap, where they claim that substantial disparities exist in college readiness and enrollment. The disparities exist despite the dramatic increase in college aspirations for all high-school kids in the US. Roderick, Nagaoka, and Coca emphasize the need, for studies and authorities to exercise clarity and precision when contemplating on the set of knowledge and skills, are imperative in shaping college access. They also extend the emphasis to performance and the best approach to evaluating such skills. Deviating away from the need for pure assessment tests for college admission, they point out four sets of skills in the form of content knowledge, behavioral skills, basic academic skills, and college knowledge as the best means of placement test. They similarly analysed different indicators that are applicable to the assessment prior to college placement. Accordingly, they concur that coursework; achievement test scores and grade points average are also appropriate. Various researches have been conducted to study the economic composition of students in colleges. However, the study introduces a fresh perspective to the issue by providing alternative means for the assessment of placement in colleges. Willis, S. (2004). Historical and operational perspectives of the advanced placement program in studio art. Art Education, 57(1), 42-46. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/199373264?accountid=1611 Willis provides a historical perspective of the advanced placement exams in the United States. He argues that the exams were instituted in the late 1950s by colleges with an aim of assessing college-level curricula for academically advanced high school graduates. The analysis strived to share an overview of the AP program. The paper helps the reader reflect on the needs and the expectations of high school and college necessities. Further Wills tries to shows chronological picture of the events that lead to the introduction of the AP exams as a means of determining the entry of students to public universities The paper is incorporated to demonstrate just how important have the AP exams in assessing the mathematical, reading and writing skills of the student before joining college. It is included in the paper as means to give the bibliography a historical perspective. Read More