Examining the English Language Arts Course Placement System at the College of the Marshall Islands. REL 2026-006
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| Title: | Examining the English Language Arts Course Placement System at the College of the Marshall Islands. REL 2026-006 |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Lisa Shannon (ORCID |
| Source: | Regional Educational Laboratory Pacific. 2026. |
| Availability: | Regional Educational Laboratory Pacific. Available from: Institute of Education Sciences. 550 12th Street SW, Washington, DC 20202. Tel: 202-245-6940; Web site: https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/regions/pacific/index.asp |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 18 |
| Publication Date: | 2026 |
| Contract Number: | 91990022C0010 |
| Document Type: | Reports - Research |
| Education Level: | Higher Education Postsecondary Education High Schools Secondary Education |
| Descriptors: | Foreign Countries, Language Arts, English Instruction, Remedial Instruction, Student Placement, College Students, Academic Persistence, Placement Tests, Grade Point Average, High School Students, Program Effectiveness, College Credits, Multiple Choice Tests, Writing (Composition) |
| Geographic Terms: | Marshall Islands |
| Abstract: | The College of the Marshall Islands (CMI) places many students into developmental English language arts (ELA) courses, which raises concerns about these students' likely academic success and persistence to graduation compared with their peers in credit-bearing courses. In an effort to increase the percentage of students who place into and pass credit-bearing ELA courses and persist to a second year of college at CMI, CMI modified its course placement process before the 2021/22 school year. Students now take a revised ELA course placement test that includes multiple-choice and writing components. Additionally, CMI also considers cumulative high school grade point average (GPA) when placing students into developmental courses or credit-bearing courses and into regular or intensive pathways through these courses. The goals of this study were to evaluate the relationship between the revised ELA course placement process and student outcomes and examine how well CMI's revised ELA course placement process measures ELA course performance. The study examined ELA course placement, course passing, and college persistence rates among students enrolling at CMI for the first time between spring 2022 and spring 2024, after CMI implemented these changes. The study also evaluated the relationship between CMI's revised placement process and performance in credit-bearing ELA courses. The study found that 11 percent of students who enrolled at CMI between spring 2022 and spring 2024 initially placed into credit-bearing ELA courses. CMI's prior placement system had a higher credit-bearing placement rate of 22 percent. Students placed into intensive pathways of credit-bearing courses and higher-level developmental courses in their first year at CMI had the highest passing rates for credit-bearing courses. Additionally, regardless of course level, students placed into intensive pathways had the highest rates of college persistence. The study also found that the multiple-choice component of CMI's revised ELA course placement test effectively measured ELA performance, particularly for lower-performing students. The multiple-choice component and high school GPA were similarly able to predict passing credit-bearing ELA courses, while the writing component did not predict any outcomes. Because of these findings, CMI might consider using only high school GPA to place students or weighting high school GPA more heavily and removing the writing component to ensure appropriate and logistically efficient course placement. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| IES Funded: | Yes |
| IES Publication: | https://ies.ed.gov/use-work/resource-library/report/descriptive-study/examining-english-language-arts-course-placement-system-college-marshall-islands |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Accession Number: | ED679031 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| FullText | Text: Availability: 0 CustomLinks: – Url: https://eric.ed.gov/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=ED679031 Name: ERIC Full Text Category: fullText Text: Full Text from ERIC |
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| Header | DbId: eric DbLabel: ERIC An: ED679031 AccessLevel: 3 PubType: Report PubTypeId: report PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Examining the English Language Arts Course Placement System at the College of the Marshall Islands. REL 2026-006 – Name: Language Label: Language Group: Lang Data: English – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Lisa+Shannon%22">Lisa Shannon</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="http://orcid.org/0009-0006-4463-1463">0009-0006-4463-1463</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Jennifer+Gruber%22">Jennifer Gruber</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4386-5122">0000-0002-4386-5122</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Bradley+Rentz%22">Bradley Rentz</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2893-6105">0000-0002-2893-6105</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Cheryl+Vila%22">Cheryl Vila</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="http://orcid.org/0009-0002-1481-5852">0009-0002-1481-5852</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Kristen+Erichsen%22">Kristen Erichsen</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6025-2387">0000-0002-6025-2387</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Jess+Nastasi%22">Jess Nastasi</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7119-3394">0000-0002-7119-3394</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Regional+Educational+Laboratory+Pacific+%28ED%2FIES%29%22">Regional Educational Laboratory Pacific (ED/IES)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22NORC+at+the+University+of+Chicago%22">NORC at the University of Chicago</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22National+Center+for+Education+Evaluation+and+Regional+Assistance+%28NCEE%29+%28ED%2FIES%29%22">National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE) (ED/IES)</searchLink> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Regional+Educational+Laboratory+Pacific%22"><i>Regional Educational Laboratory Pacific</i></searchLink>. 2026. – Name: Avail Label: Availability Group: Avail Data: Regional Educational Laboratory Pacific. Available from: Institute of Education Sciences. 550 12th Street SW, Washington, DC 20202. Tel: 202-245-6940; Web site: https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/regions/pacific/index.asp – Name: PeerReviewed Label: Peer Reviewed Group: SrcInfo Data: Y – Name: Pages Label: Page Count Group: Src Data: 18 – Name: DatePubCY Label: Publication Date Group: Date Data: 2026 – Name: NumberContract Label: Contract Number Group: NumCntrct Data: 91990022C0010 – Name: TypeDocument Label: Document Type Group: TypDoc Data: Reports - Research – Name: Audience Label: Education Level Group: Audnce Data: <searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Higher+Education%22">Higher Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Postsecondary+Education%22">Postsecondary Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22High+Schools%22">High Schools</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Secondary+Education%22">Secondary Education</searchLink> – Name: Subject Label: Descriptors Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Foreign+Countries%22">Foreign Countries</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Language+Arts%22">Language Arts</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22English+Instruction%22">English Instruction</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Remedial+Instruction%22">Remedial Instruction</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Student+Placement%22">Student Placement</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22College+Students%22">College Students</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Academic+Persistence%22">Academic Persistence</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Placement+Tests%22">Placement Tests</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Grade+Point+Average%22">Grade Point Average</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22High+School+Students%22">High School Students</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Program+Effectiveness%22">Program Effectiveness</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22College+Credits%22">College Credits</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Multiple+Choice+Tests%22">Multiple Choice Tests</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Writing+%28Composition%29%22">Writing (Composition)</searchLink> – Name: Subject Label: Geographic Terms Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Marshall+Islands%22">Marshall Islands</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: The College of the Marshall Islands (CMI) places many students into developmental English language arts (ELA) courses, which raises concerns about these students' likely academic success and persistence to graduation compared with their peers in credit-bearing courses. In an effort to increase the percentage of students who place into and pass credit-bearing ELA courses and persist to a second year of college at CMI, CMI modified its course placement process before the 2021/22 school year. Students now take a revised ELA course placement test that includes multiple-choice and writing components. Additionally, CMI also considers cumulative high school grade point average (GPA) when placing students into developmental courses or credit-bearing courses and into regular or intensive pathways through these courses. The goals of this study were to evaluate the relationship between the revised ELA course placement process and student outcomes and examine how well CMI's revised ELA course placement process measures ELA course performance. The study examined ELA course placement, course passing, and college persistence rates among students enrolling at CMI for the first time between spring 2022 and spring 2024, after CMI implemented these changes. The study also evaluated the relationship between CMI's revised placement process and performance in credit-bearing ELA courses. The study found that 11 percent of students who enrolled at CMI between spring 2022 and spring 2024 initially placed into credit-bearing ELA courses. CMI's prior placement system had a higher credit-bearing placement rate of 22 percent. Students placed into intensive pathways of credit-bearing courses and higher-level developmental courses in their first year at CMI had the highest passing rates for credit-bearing courses. Additionally, regardless of course level, students placed into intensive pathways had the highest rates of college persistence. The study also found that the multiple-choice component of CMI's revised ELA course placement test effectively measured ELA performance, particularly for lower-performing students. The multiple-choice component and high school GPA were similarly able to predict passing credit-bearing ELA courses, while the writing component did not predict any outcomes. Because of these findings, CMI might consider using only high school GPA to place students or weighting high school GPA more heavily and removing the writing component to ensure appropriate and logistically efficient course placement. – Name: AbstractInfo Label: Abstractor Group: Ab Data: As Provided – Name: CodeSource Label: IES Funded Group: SrcInfo Data: Yes – Name: CodeSource Label: IES Publication Group: SrcInfo Data: <link linkTarget="URL" linkTerm="https://ies.ed.gov/use-work/resource-library/report/descriptive-study/examining-english-language-arts-course-placement-system-college-marshall-islands" linkWindow="_blank">https://ies.ed.gov/use-work/resource-library/report/descriptive-study/examining-english-language-arts-course-placement-system-college-marshall-islands</link> – Name: DateEntry Label: Entry Date Group: Date Data: 2026 – Name: AN Label: Accession Number Group: ID Data: ED679031 |
| PLink | https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=eric&AN=ED679031 |
| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Languages: – Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 18 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Foreign Countries Type: general – SubjectFull: Language Arts Type: general – SubjectFull: English Instruction Type: general – SubjectFull: Remedial Instruction Type: general – SubjectFull: Student Placement Type: general – SubjectFull: College Students Type: general – SubjectFull: Academic Persistence Type: general – SubjectFull: Placement Tests Type: general – SubjectFull: Grade Point Average Type: general – SubjectFull: High School Students Type: general – SubjectFull: Program Effectiveness Type: general – SubjectFull: College Credits Type: general – SubjectFull: Multiple Choice Tests Type: general – SubjectFull: Writing (Composition) Type: general – SubjectFull: Marshall Islands Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Examining the English Language Arts Course Placement System at the College of the Marshall Islands. REL 2026-006 Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Regional Educational Laboratory Pacific (ED/IES) – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: NORC at the University of Chicago – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE) (ED/IES) – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Lisa Shannon – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Jennifer Gruber – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Bradley Rentz – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Cheryl Vila – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Kristen Erichsen – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Jess Nastasi IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 02 Type: published Y: 2026 Titles: – TitleFull: Regional Educational Laboratory Pacific Type: main |
| ResultId | 1 |
