Re: [MATHEDCC] Outsourcing R/D and Who's Sylvan?

Ruth Collins (LV2FLY@nni.com)
Sun, 27 Jul 1997 20:45:09 -0400

We use Accuplacer to test everyone who thinks they want or
need a math course. In the precollege arithmetic and
algebra course work we retest the first day, especially in
the lab classes when the students can test out of the
material they already have under control.
I can honestly say that we don't move but a handful up or
down each semester (700 placements)
Often when we do it's because the student requests a lower
class for reasons of math anxiety or whatever. A much
larger problem is the huge dropout rate...it is really bad
in labs and I hate to be there.
Anything innovative going on there.

ruth

----------
> From: Ddeliberto@AOL.COM
> To: galois@cyberg8t.com; mathedcc@archives.math.utk.edu
> Subject: Re: [MATHEDCC] Outsourcing R/D and Who's Sylvan?
> Date: Sunday, July 27, 1997 6:10 PM
>
> In a message dated 97-07-27 17:48:47 EDT, you write:
>
> << At College of the Desert (somewhere near the
surface of planet
> Mars) where I teach math, the poor sods are given the
ETS placement exam
> which can (or so the line goes) place students
accurately (sic) in any
> class from College Arithmetic to Calculus. >>
>
> Are you referring to Guides, Companion of the Accuplacer
System? What is
> "(sic)"
> We refer to this as the standard industry code but that
does not seem to fit
> here.
>
> <<I give my students lots of tests - with
> precisely the goal of making them skillful test takers
and skillful
> mathematicians, though I give no multiple guess
questions and the tests
> take alot of skill to grade. I think this beats the
crap out of getting
> them to be skill multiple guessers!>>
>
> Yes, I know. My studenst hated me for not giving
multiple-chice tests and
> begged me to give a multiple choice test once. They
insisted that their
> grades would improve if I gave multiple choice tests.
So, I took tehm up on
> their offer and they did much worse! The reson: I was
one of the few
> teachers that had a background in test development and
design. As a result,
> I knew how to construct valid multiple choice tests.
They then begged me to
> NOT to give multiple choice tests anymore!
>
> Is anyone out there using Accuplacer? What does everyone
think about it?
>
> I am able to provide workshops and trainging on test
development, test
> construction and scoring of alternative assessments if
anyone is interested.
>
> << Who is Sylvan?
>
> Geoff Hagopian
> College of the Desert
> Palm Desert, CA>>
>
> Sylvan is a company that provides computerized
instructions to students at
> various Learning Centers across the US and has various
partnerships with many
> school districts. They have recently become popular in
delivering
> computerized adaptive testing at Sylvan Prometric Test
Centers for Novell,
> ETS and a number of other testing companies.
>
> Deanna M. De'Liberto
> Assessment Specialist in Mathematics
> For: D SQUARED ASSESSMENTS, INC
> (Specialists in Test Development / Validation and Test
Administration)
> Hazlet, NJ
>
>
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> From: Geoff Hagopian <galois@cyberg8t.com>
> Organization: College of the Desert
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