PREPARING FOR THE - City Colleges of Chicago

PREPARING FOR THE

WRITING PLACEMENT TEST

Harold Washington College Harry S Truman College Wilbur Wright College

March 2012

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Preparing for the Writing Placement Test: Student Guide

CONTENTS

PAGE

General Policies and Information about the Writing Placement Test............................................................................. 3

What is the Reading Placement Test (and not the Writing Test)? .................................................................................. 3

What is the Writing Placement Test? ..................................................................................................................................... 3

Preparing for the Writing Placement Test ............................................................................................................................. 4

Reading the Passage Carefully ................................................................................................................................................... 5

Key Questions to Ask Yourself About the Reading Passage: ............................................................................................ 5

Planning Your Essay .................................................................................................................................................................... 5

Understanding the Writing Placement Test Prompts......................................................................................................... 6

How to "Plan and write a well-organized essay on the topic you have selected." ......................................................... 6

How to "Support your ideas by discussing the passage above as well as your own experience and knowledge." . 8

How will the Writing Placement Test be evaluated? ........................................................................................................... 9

Critical Response to the Writing Task: .......................................................................................................................... 9

Development of Writer's Ideas: ....................................................................................................................................... 9

Structure of the Response: .............................................................................................................................................. 10

Language Use: Sentence and Word Choice: ............................................................................................................... 11

Language Use: Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics:.................................................................................................... 12

Using your Time Wisely and Planning your Response..................................................................................................... 12

Reading, Underlining and Taking Notes: .................................................................................................................... 12

Outlining, Planning and Pre-Writing:.......................................................................................................................... 13

Writing Your Essay: .......................................................................................................................................................... 13

Proofreading and Editing:................................................................................................................................................ 13

SAMPLE TEST .......................................................................................................................................................................... 14

Sample Student Response with Faculty Grader Comments ............................................................................................. 15

EVALUATION OF SAMPLE STUDENT RESPONSE ................................................................................................. 16

What Writing Classes Will You Be Placed Into: ................................................................................................................ 16

The Sequence of Courses .......................................................................................................................................................... 17

English as a Second Language Courses ................................................................................................................................. 18

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: .................................................................................................................................................... 18

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General Policies and Information about the Writing Placement Test

I am a New Student at CCC. Why Do I Need to Take the Writing Placement Test? Most new students at CCC need to take placement tests in Writing, Reading and Math. These tests are given in order to verify the best courses for you to take in these subjects. Proper placement into these courses will help to ensure your success both in the short-term and the long-term. Students cannot begin college-level work in an Associates Degree Program until they have achieved proficiency in reading and writing. This packet of information will focus on the Writing Placement Test.

Are There Any Exceptions? Yes. There are a few exceptions:

Students who received a grade of `C' or better in a 3 credit, college-level English course from an accredited college or university are considered proficient in reading and writing.

Students who have taken the ACT exam within the last 2 years and received a score of 21 or above are exempt from taking the English placement test.

Students who have taken the general College Level Examination Program (CLEP) can receive credit for English 101 and English 102.

What is the Reading Placement Test (and not the Writing Test)? The Placement Test in Reading is an un-timed, multiple-choice, computer-based test called the COMPASS exam. The COMPASS differs from other placement tests in that it is computerized and adaptive. An adaptive test generates questions based upon the individual responses of the students taking the test. The test begins with a midlevel question. A correct response will lead to a more difficult question, while an incorrect response will generate an easier question. The process continues until an individual level of performance proficiency is established. In other words, the number of questions given during a testing session is dependent upon the responses of the student testing.

What is the Writing Placement Test? The Placement Test is a writing test that assesses your readiness for introductory college courses by measuring your ability to write at a college-level. This test is an assessment of where faculty members believe you will be most successful in college writing courses. It is important to realize that this is not a test that you can pass or fail. Nevertheless, please take the test as seriously as possible so

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that we can most accurately assess your skill levels. We want you to do well at the City Colleges, and in order for us to understand what courses you belong in, we need to see a serious sample of your writing. With this in mind, please make sure to work diligently and carefully on this test, as it will determine into which course you will be placed.

The learning skills taught in first-year college courses are reflected in the test. In the test, you are asked to read a short excerpt from a text and demonstrate understanding of the excerpt by writing an essay that does the following:

Responds to the writing prompt Demonstrates basic critical thinking in response to the text excerpt Organizes ideas and builds connections among them Supports the ideas with relevant personal experience, readings, and/or other sources of

information Demonstrates competence in sentence construction, sentence variety, and word choice Exhibits correct usage, grammar and mechanics

You will have 90 minutes to complete the Writing Placement Test.

Preparing for the Writing Placement Test

The Writing Placement Test asks you to read a short passage and to respond to this passage by planning and writing a well-organized essay.

In order to prepare for the Writing Placement Test, it is helpful to understand the types of readings that you may encounter.

The text will be 250-350 words in length. Topics will be generally be about education, and they may give students the chance to reflect

on their goals for college, past experiences in the classroom, or approaches to studying and learning. Passages about education are used because they reflect what is important to your teachers and to the college staff and administration. We also know that the best students think a lot about how and why they learn. In responding to the questions, we are expecting you to think

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critically about education and how it will apply to you. The readings will generally use language that is clear and direct. The readings will come from

recent newspaper, internet or magazine articles or books or essay collections appropriate for first-year college students. Reading passages will include a title and author's name. You are encouraged to refer to the author's last name in your response.

Reading the Passage Carefully

The first set of directions for the Writing Placement Test is as follows: "Read the following passage carefully. Select one of the writing prompts. Plan and write a well-organized essay on the topic you have selected. You should refer to the reading in your response. Leave time to revise and edit your essay. "

The first thing that you are asked to do is to "read the passage carefully." You are asked to read the passage carefully because the ability to read, summarize and analyze college-level literature is going to be a key to your success no matter what academic path you pursue. As you read the passage, you can take notes on a separate sheet of paper, or you can make notes on the reading passage itself. As you make these notes, you should find the author's most important ideas. You should attempt to understand why the author has written this passage; what arguments the author is making; how the author is supporting these arguments; and what larger conversation the author is referencing.

Key Questions to Ask Yourself About the Reading Passage: In 1-2 sentences, how can you best describe this article? Why did the author write this piece? What is the author trying to argue or demonstrate? Does the author convince you of his or her points? In your own educational history, have you ever encountered what the author is discussing? If so, how? How can you relate this article to a larger discussion?

Planning Your Essay The directions ask you "Plan and write a well-organized essay on the topic you have selected."

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