The Comparative Validities of Differential Placement Measures for College Composition Courses

Abstract

Thirty-four tests measuring verbal ability, academic achievement, reading skills, attitudes, visual perception, spelling, and word decoding skills were compared for their correlational strengths with grade in a required freshman course in composition. In several modes of analysis scores from the English subtest of the ACT Assessment yielded the strongest and most pervasive relationship to composition grades. Several other language tests showed varying power to discriminate between groups of students with high, middle, or low grades in the composition course, but a strong correlation between scores measuring word-level skills and grade in freshman course in composition suggests their unique potential in test batteries designed for the differential placement of students into English composition courses.

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