Slowly, but surely...

Right now I am slowly, but surely working on my research for my annotated bibliography. I'm trying not to be overwhelmed by the information that I've found by taking one source at a time. Here are a few that I am using to get me started:

Saunders, Pearl I. 2000. Meeting the needs of entering students through appropriate placement in entry-level writing courses. ERIC Document Reproduction Service, ED 447 505.

Saunders examines the "accuracy of our entry-level English assessment practices in order to obtain pertinent information that may help to increase the academic success" (3) of students at the community college level. Her report examines the relationships between student placement scores (from ACCUPLACER-computer assisted testing software), grades, age, race and gender among freshman students at St. Louis Community College. While age, race, and gender had little to do with student grades in these entry-level courses, placement scores did. Students who were accurately placed in a course as a result of test scores had a higher retention rate than those who were inaccurately placed. According to the study, when a student was misplaced it was due to advisors, or faculty who misguided the student, not ACCUPLACER. What was interesting about this study was that they suggested that students take both enter and exit impromptu essay "exams" to ensure that there is continuity among instructors' teaching practices/grading. I wonder if these impromptu "exams" would cause anxiety for students that could get in the way of becoming better writers. If they are concerned about these upcoming "tests" throughout the semester, then they may avoid taking chances with their writing throughout the semester. I also wonder who would evaluate these "exit" exams and the amount of time it would take to look at them. Wouldn't there be discrepancies among evaluators as well?


Haswell, Richard H. 2004. Post-secondary Entry Writing Placement : A Brief Synopsis of Research. CompPile.

Haswell's essay gives an overview of how writing placement has worked in the past, and where it is headed for the future. Descriptions of tests, both essay and standardized, tend to be the trend. However, more and more institutions are changing their methods to directed self-placement. This essay gave me a good idea of where to start my research and where to begin finding some valuable sources. The works cited page of this essay is probably as much, or more helpful than the essay itself. I have already started to look for some of the original sources that Haswell points to in his essay to shape my own opinions about the writing placement techniques used in post-secondary schools.