What is a software development process What is a software development life cycle The development process

2.2.Examples of state or college placement testing policies
Placement testing using state approved tests is required (or encouraged) for all student (or all students taking classes for credit, or all new students taking classes for credit)
Students must meet approved cut scores to gain access to specific courses.Placement testing waived for students demonstrating college readiness via admissions tests (typically high scores on ACT or SAT tests, such as 21 plus or minus in relevant subjects on ACT, and 500 plus or minus in relevant subject areas on SAT), other approved placement tests, or previous college coursework in math and English
Students allowed/required to retest after/within a certain length of time (sometimes for a fee).
Students must begin remedial coursework within a specified time period.
Before testing/retesting students are encouraged/required to review study guides or complete a review course⁴.
Cut score levels, roles and reviews are described.
Remedial students encouraged/required to take diagnostic assessments before/during their coursework
Integration of criteria beyond test scores into remediation decision-making.
Requiring completion of Students may not register for college level classes until they have completed all (or certain) prescribed remedial courses
Defining remedial prerequisites such as placement test score or remedial coursework for specific courses.
Alternatives
Testing other elements of student ability
Conley recommends adding assessments of contextual skills and awareness, academic behaviors, and key cognitive strategies to the traditional math, reading and traditional tests[1] Boylan proposes examining affective factors such as "motivation, attitudes toward learning, autonomy, or anxiety."
Alternative test formats
In 1988, Ward predicted that computer adaptive testing would evolve to cover more advanced and varied item types, including simulations of problem situations, assessments of conceptual understanding, textual responses and essays.[20]: 6–8 Tests now being developed incorporate conceptual questions in multiple choice format (for example by presenting a student with a problem and the correct answer and then asking why that answer is correct); and computer-scored essays such as e-Write, and WritePlacer.
In a Request for Information on a centralized assessment system, the California Community Colleges System asked for "questions that require students to type in responses (e.g. a mathematical equation)" and for questions where "Students can annotate/highlight on the screen in the reading test." Some massive open online courses, such as those run by edX or Udacity, automatically assess user-written computer code for correctness.
Diagnostic placement testing
Placement testing focuses on a holistic score to decide placement into various levels, but is not designed for more specific diagnoses. Increasing diagnostic precision could involve changes to both scoring and test design and to better targeted remediation programs, where students focus on areas of demonstrated weakness within a broader subject.[citation needed]
"The ideal diagnostic test would incorporate a theory of knowledge and a theory of instruction. The theory of knowledge would identify the student's skills and the theory of instruction would suggest remedies for the student's weaknesses. Moreover, the test would be, in a different sense of the word from what we have previously employed, adaptive. That is, it would not subject students to detailed examinations of skills in which they have acceptable overall competence or in which a student has important strengths and weaknesses—areas where an overall score is not an adequate representation of the individual's status.⁵"
Test preparation
A controversy exists over the value of test preparation and review. Test publishers maintain that their assessments should be taken without preparation, and that such preparation will not yield significantly higher scores. Test preparation organizations claim the opposite. Some schools have begun to support test preparation.
The publishers' claims are partly based on the theory that any test a student can prepare for does not measure general proficiency. Institutional test preparation programs are also said to risk washback, which is the tendency for the test content to dictate the prior curriculum, or "teaching to the test". Various test preparation methods have shown effectiveness: test-taking tips and training, familiarity with the answer sheet format along with strategies that mitigate test anxiety.Some studies offer partial support for the test publishers' claims. For example, several studies concluded that for admissions tests, coaching produces only modest, if statistically significant, score gains. Other studies, and claims by companies in the preparation business were more positive.[27] Other research has shown that students score higher with tutoring, with practice using cognitive and metacognitive strategies and under certain test parameters, such as when allowed to review answers before final submission, something that most computer adaptive tests do not allow.

1^ Dodson, Ronald R. (1987). Quality and accessibility: Are they mutually exclusive? Community College Review, 14, 4, 56-60.

2^ Glaser, R. and Silver, E. (1994). Assessment, testing, and instruction: Retrospect and prospect. In L. Darling-Hammond, (Ed.), Review of Research in Education (Vol. 20, pp393-419). Washington, D.C.: American Educational Research Association.

3^ House, J. Daniel (1995). Noncognitive predictors of achievement in introductory college mathematics. Journal of College Student Development, 36, 2,171-181.

4^ Laughbaum, Edward D. (1992). A time for change in remedial mathematics. The AMATYC Review, 13, 2, 7-10.

5^ Lederman, M.J., Ribaudo, M., and Ryzewic, S.R. (1985). Basic skills of entering college freshmen: A national survey of policies and perceptions. Journal of Developmental Education, 9, 1,10 -13.