A Comparison of the Validity of the Test of Standard Written English (TSWE) and of the California State University and Colleges English Placement Test (Csuc-Ept) in the Prediction of Grades in a Basic English Composition Course and of Overall Freshman-Year Grade Point Average

Abstract

FOR a sample of more than 500 freshmen at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) who had elected to take the general English composition course (English 155) during their first semester as well as for male and female subsamples of comparable size, comparisons were made of the predictive validity of the California State University and Colleges English Placement Test (CSUC-EPT) (Educational Testing Service, 1977a, b), the Test of Standard Written English (TSWE) of the Admissions Testing Program of the College Board (Educational Testing Service, 1974-1978, 1978a, 1978b), and the Verbal and Mathematics portions of the College Board Scholastic Aptitude Test (CEEB—SAT—Verbal and CEEB-SAT—Mathematics) (Educational Testing Service, 1948-1978) with respect to each of four criterion measures: (a) Grades in Fall Semester 1977 English 155—Written Expression, (b) Fall Semester 1977 GPA, (c) Spring Semester 1978 GPA, and (d) 1977-1978 Academic Year (Total CSUN GPA. Statistical findings suggested these conclusions : (1) the TSWE requiring 30 minutes of test-taking time is very nearly as valid as the CSUC-EPT, which involves two hours and forty-five minutes of working time, in prediction of success in the general English composition course; (2) both the TSWE and the CSUC-EPT appear to be more valid than is the CEEB—SAT—Verbal measure in placing correctly freshman students in an English composition course (from the standpoint of an accurate prediction of their achievement); (3) a short multiple-choice examination requiring knowledge of principles about grammar, usage, choice of words and phrases, and syntax such as the TSWE or a subtest of the CSUCEPT reflecting similar competencies provides a more accurate prediction of success in a basic English composition course emphasizing writing skills than does an essay examination requiring the actual demonstration of writing skills; (4) level of achievement in high school is nearly as valid an indicator of overall academic performance during the freshman year as are scores on the CEEB-SAT— Verbal or Mathematics, the TSWE, or the CSUC-EPT—Total Score measures; and (5) an optimally weighted combination of two or more of these measures is typically more predictive of performance in either the English composition course or in overall academic achievement during the freshman year than is any one of these variables alone. In general, validity coefficients for females are higher than those for males irrespective of which criterion measure is being predicted.