The Developmental Reading & English

Placement TestMatt Bruining

NC DAP DRE History…• NC DAP DRE – North Carolina Diagnostic and Placement Developmental Reading & English

• The NC DAP is a custom assessment that aligns directly to the state’s new developmental curricula.

• The Developmental Education Initiative’s State Policy Team recommended creation of the NC DAP in 2011 in order to create a more robust tool to accurately identify students’ developmental needs.

• State Board of Community Colleges approved a contract with College Board in 2012.

• The Reading & English assessment was made available to early adopter “pilot” colleges the first week of April 2014.

• CPCC was one of the first to pilot the NC DAP.

• NC colleges were required to use it for placement in Spring 2015.

What is the DRE…

• Computer based test

• Not a pass/fail test

• Scores help determine if a student is ready for college-level courses

The DRE is made up of three sections WritePlacer (essay) Reading (multiple choice) Revising & Editing (multiple

choice)

WritePlacer (Written Essay)

• The WritePlacer test measures your ability to write effectively, which is critical to academic success. Your writing sample will be scored on the basis of how effectively it communicates a whole message to the readers for the stated purpose. Your score is based on your ability to express, organize and support your opinions and ideas, not the position you take on the essay topic.

• The essay is computer scored.

WritePlacer…

• The following five characteristics of writing will be considered:

Purpose and Focus: The extent to which the writer presents information in a unified and coherent manner, clearly addressing the issue.

Organization and Structure: The extent to which the writer orders and connects ideas.

Development and Support: The extent to which the writer develops and supports ideas.

Sentence Variety and Style: The extent to which the writer crafts sentences and paragraphs demonstrating control of vocabulary, voice, and structure.

Mechanical Conventions: The extent to which the writer expresses ideas using standard English.

Critical Thinking: The extent to which the writer communicates a point of view and demonstrates reasoned relationships among ideas.

WritePlacer Instructions…

The essay gives you an opportunity to show how effectively you can develop and express your ideas in writing.

You will first read a short passage and an assignment question that are focused on an important issue. You will then plan and write a multi-paragraph essay (300-600 words) in which you develop your own point of view on the issue. You should support your position with appropriate reasoning and examples. The position you take will not influence your score.

Your essay will be given a holistic score that represents how clearly and effectively you expressed your position.

Essay will be scored a zero if it’s too short or off topic.

Reading…• The reading consists of 30 multiple choice questions.

• Measures your ability to understand what you read, to identify main ideas and to make inferences. You need to distinguish between direct statements and secondary or supporting ideas.

Topics include: Main Idea/Summary Supporting Detail/Paraphrase Vocabulary Organization Inference Point of View, Fact-Opinion, and Bias (paired passages) Purpose/Tone Author’s Use of Language

Revising & Editing…• The revising & editing consists of 20 multiple choice questions.

• Measures your understanding of sentence structure — what makes a sentence complete and clear. Some questions deal with the logic of the sentence, and others with the relationships between two sentences

Topics include: Transitions Sentence Combining Revising Sentences, Inserting Sentences, and Deleting Sentences Topic Sentences, Thesis Statements, and Concluding Sentences Grammar, Mechanics, Sentence Structure, and Word Choice

Time…

The DRE is primarily an untimed placement test. The WritePlacer essay is the only component that has a maximum time limit of 2 hours. Otherwise, students can take as much time as needed to complete the test.

The Average Time Limit to complete the DRE WritePlacer essay = 30 min. Reading/Revising and Editing Writing = 1 hr.

Scoring…• WritePlacer scored on 1-8 scale

• Reading and Revising & Editing score range:100-200

• Each component is assigned a “weight” that is factored into the final score.

• All 3 scores are used to generate an overall composite score

• A composite score of 151 or higher indicates college-level readiness

• Scores are valid for 5 years

• Scores are transferable to other colleges

Reading50%

Revising & Editing20%

WritePlacer30%

• WritePlacer essays are electronically scored by the Intelligent Essay Assessor (IEA) that is powered by the Knowledge Analysis Technologies (KAT) engine.

• IEA reads lots of text in order to learn what words mean and how they relate to each other

• IEA evaluates the meaning of text, not just grammatical correctness or spelling and evaluates the content of what is written rather than just matching keywords.

• Essays are occasionally reported as “pending”• Requires human reader to hand score

• Requires 24 hours to be entered into the system

Automated Essay Scoring…

Placement…

DRE Composite Score Course Placement

151 or higher ENG 111

136-150 DRE 098

117-135 DRE 097

104-116 DRE 096

103 or lower (and not college level in any other measure of reading or English – ie TABE)

Refer student to College & Career Readiness for further assessment

Practice! Practice! Practice…• Students should provide themselves an

appropriate amount of time to study.

• Essential part of successful testing.

• Get an idea of what the actual test is like.

• Review & Practice Material: Found on Testing Center website (www.cpcc.edu/testing_assessment).

Retest Policy…Students have the option to retake the entire placement test or retake the following separate sections:

Reading/Revising and Editing WritePlacer essay

• Retest eligibility• May retest once per year• Must score 70% or higher on English or reading online practice

test• Must compose practice essay based on prompt

• Practice tests and essay prompt available from testing center website

• $10 fee

Sign up…

• Go to: http://www.cpcc.edu/testing_assessment

Click “Schedule your Placement Test Here”

Follow the steps provided

Questions?

Central Campus

CENTRAL HIGH - ROOM 248 P.O. BOX 35009 CHARLOTTE, NC 28235

Phone: (704) 330-6886

Fax (704) 330-6620

EMAIL: Testingcenter@cpcc.edu