Posts published on July 12, 2010

College Board Overhauls Writing Placement Test

Students at many colleges  either place out of introductory composition or earn credit for the course. The College Board changes involve an additional type of essay — more research-oriented and less philosophical — as well as shifts in the multiple choice questions. The changes follow modest dips in recent years in the number of students taking the tests (last year the figure was 35,000), as many colleges have rejected the idea of using a standardized test for writing placement and credit. While some college officials said that the College Board’s move was a step in the right direction, others said it did not go far enough and predicted that skepticism would grow of evaluating writing competence through tests