COMET Admissions Examination Statistical Summaries Spring 2007

Basic Statistics

The COMET admissions examination consisted of a grammar and vocabulary section, an essay, and a math section consisting of four subsections. The basic statistics for this sections and subsections are presented in the table one below.


grammar

essay

95

96

99

100

Σmath

COMET

count

1608

1608

1607

1607

1607

1607

1619

1624

min

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

4

max

74

50

10

10

10

9

38

1179

range

74

50

10

10

10

9

38

1175

mode

32

0

8

3

2

2

12

550

median

33

22

7

4

3

2

16

546

mean

34.87

22.03

6.63

4.04

3.4

2.49

16.44

547.98

stdev

14.37

12.23

2.29

2.23

2.2

1.47

6.4

227.93

cv

0.41

0.55

0.34

0.55

0.65

0.59

0.39

0.42

Table 1: Basic statistics

Grammar is the grammar and vocabulary score out of 80.
Essay is the essay score out of 50.
95 is the first math subsection and contains ten arithmetic level problems.
96 is the second math subsection and contains ten prealgebra level problems.
99 is the third math subsection and contains ten elementary algebra problems.
100 is the fourth math subsection and contains ten college level algebra problems.
Σmath is the sum of the math subsections and is out of forty.

The essay this year was marked on a 50 point scale as opposed to the 40 point scale used last year.

Correlations

Although the first two subsections of the math test were rewritten to require less reading ability, the math subsections sum remains, given the sample size, correlated moderately to the grammar and essay sections of the examination.

Correlations

grammar

es

95

96

99

100

Σmath

z

grammar

1.00

0.69

0.50

0.56

0.50

0.28

0.62

0.85

essay

0.69

1.00

0.49

0.52

0.45

0.28

0.58

0.93

Σmath

0.62

0.58

0.78

0.85

0.80

0.56

1.00

0.79

Table 2: Correlations

The lowest inter-subject correlations are seen for performance on college level mathematics and English. The correlation of the 100 subsection of the mathematics examination is low at 0.28 for both the grammar and the essay section. The mean for the 100 subsection is near random, hence the low correlation. The low correlation is simply a reflection of the underlying random performance on this subsection of the mathematics examination.

Distributions

The distribution of scores on each section is given in illustration one. The score is on the horizontal axis, the vertical axis is the number of students with that score.
Frame1

With the exception of the writing section, the other sections distributed in a manner which is considered statistically reasonable. That is, the frequency (the number of students) rises with the score towards the mean, and then falls as the score continues to rise past the mean to the maximum possible score. If the distribution (the shape of the curve) is a symmetrical heap, the most common score is also the mean score as well as the median score. This distribution is sometimes called a "bell curve" and is mathematically described by the normal or student's t-distribution.

In the past, the writing section, the essay, has in performed in a statistically reasonable fashion except for the number of students who score a sum of zero. This was true again this year with 144 scores of zero. Although in the spring of 2006 there were 235 scores of zero on the essay, the number of students who wrote essays also fell from 1783 in spring 2006 to 1608 in the spring of 2007. That is 175 fewer students who wrote essays and 91 fewer essays with a score of zero. The drop in the number of students writing essays was not equal across all four states, with Chuuk seeing the largest drop in the number of students who took the admissions examination.

In the spring of 2006, the most common score on the essay, except for zero, was the then maximum possible score of 40. There was anecdotal evidence that the rubric needed to be adjusted as papers that varied in quality were "maxing out" at 40. A change in the rubric permitted a maximum score of 50 in 2007 and the result is that the right tail of the essay distribution now falls steadily from the mean to the maximum possible.


Rank order

The admissions board approved a rank-order formula using z-scores on the mathematics section, the grammar and vocabulary section, and the writing (essay) section. The formula placed a 50% weight on the essay, 25% on grammar and vocabulary, and a 25% weight on mathematics. The individual weighted z-scores were added to generate a sum of z-scores. The resulting z-score was linearly transformed to produced the final COMET score.

A COMET score of 700 was approved as the cut-off for regular admission to an associate degree program. A COMET score of 300 was established as the minimum score for admission to a certificate program. Students who have scored between 300 and 700 will be eligible to enroll in a certificate program.

Bear in mind that the college now operates based on fixed resources and specific projections of the number students that the college can serve. Each site has an target enrollment number and an maximum enrollment capacity limit. Like many smaller colleges, the college opts to admit a specific number of students.

The result is that the target admissions number is a fixed number. Put another way, there is not the possibility at present of all high schools increasing the number of students attaining regular admission to the college. If one high school sees an increase in the number of students who have attained regular admission, then some other high school (or high schools) must have seen a decrease in the number of students who gained regular admission. Thus admission is competitive and is mathematically termed a zero-sum game.

High schools that are using increases in regular admissions as an indicator do so at their own peril. If another high school improves by a larger amount, then that first high school could see a drop in admissions despite real improvement in their own educational processes. In 2007 the admissions board selected an intake of the top 400 students into associate degree programs.

Table three records the distribution by state and high school of the students into the three categories delineated above.

State

High School

Non-admitted

Certificate

Associates

Sum

Percentage

Chuuk

Berea

2

25

3

30

10%


Chuuk Campus

26

53

2

81

2%


Chuuk High

107

68

2

177

1%


Faichuk

16

3


19

0%


Mizpah

4

15

3

22

14%


Nnukuno

4

6

1

11

9%


PLHA

11

31


42

0%


Saramen


24

21

45

47%


SDA

1

3

1

5

20%


South Namoneas

13

27


40

0%


Weno

35

43

2

80

3%


Xavier


2

24

26

92%

Kosrae

Kosrae HS

8

92

63

163

39%

Pohnpei

CCA



12

12

100%


Nanpei Memorial

4

43

50

97

52%


Ohwa Mission


6


6

0%


PICS

14

241

97

352

28%


Pohnlangas

3

60

28

91

31%


Pohnpei campus

4

55

10

69

14%


SDA


3

24

27

89%

Yap

NICHS

2

33

1

36

3%


OIHS


17

3

20

15%


Yap Campus

1

18

6

25

24%


Yap High

4

95

40

139

29%


Yap SDA


2

7

9

78%

Total Result


259

965

400

1624

25%

Table 3: Admissions status


Note that the table above reports the high school name using the names provided to this author by those working on behalf of the admissions board.

The average COMET score seen in table four represents a measure of the relative performance on the essay section, the grammar section, and the mathematics sections.


High School

Mean

High School

Mean

High School

Mean

CCA

972

Yap Campus

609

Berea

489

Xavier

964

Yap High

604

Chuuk Campus

382

SDA

839

Pohnpei campus

559

PLHA

373

Yap SDA

778

Overall

548

South Namoneas

367

Saramen

692

Ohwa Mission

525

Nnukuno

363

Nanpei Memorial

680

OIHS

507

Weno

349

Kosrae HS

646

NICHS

501

Chuuk High

289

Pohnlangas

634

Mizpah

500

Faichuk

231

PICS

613





Table 4: High School COMET means


A COMET mean below 400 is exceptionally weak and below 300 represents essentially random performance on all included subsections.

While the individual high school scores are of interest to individual schools, state educational leadership might consider the mean performance of all of the schools in their state. Note that Kosrae reported results from only a single school, thus the state mean is the mean for that school.

Where a performance is strong, no one effort can be credited with the success. Where a performance is weak, no one lack can be faulted as the cause of the poor performance. Education is a set of canoes with many people paddling. Students, parents, teachers, administrators, state leadership, and special programs should all share in the credit where credit is due, in the blame where performances are weak.

Essay section

The writing section is considered by both the language and literature division and by those from other divisions who mark this section to possibly be singularly indicative of the capacity of students to academically succeed at the college – if there is such a thing as a single indicator. The maximum possible score is a fifty. Scores of twenty and under are considered to be significantly weak and raise questions as to whether these students can tackle any program that requires the ability to communicate in written English.

Determining whether one high school is statistically significantly stronger in rank order than another high school requires determining whether the mean essays scores are sufficiently separated.

In illustration 2, the vertical bars show the extent of the 95% confidence interval for the mean essay score. Where a bar for one school overlaps the mean ("the ball") for another school, the former is not statistically separated from the mean of the later.

The vertical axis in illustration two is the essay score, the high schools are listed in rank order.


Frame2

The mean essay scores suggest that Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Yap states are, to differing degrees, accomplishing the task of instructing students in the skills necessary to compose written English essays.

Celebrating their first graduating class in the history of their high school, Nanpei Memorial School led the public high schools on the essay in 2007. As noted earlier, success is the result of many factors including supportive parents, a professional faculty, a capable and dedicated administration, and motivated students. While Nanpei Memorial High School has faced facilities challenges including older buildings and other facilities issues, the school clearly rose above those challenges on the essay section.

Looking at the individual public high schools in Chuuk indicates an almost complete lack of ability to accomplish a written composition in the English language.

While some fields such as science have significant support costs, English language and literature is likely the least expensive program on a per student basis. This is not likely a failure due to a lack of funding alone.

Changes in essay performance 2006 to 2007

This section of the 2007 report cannot be completed as the marking rubric was substantively changed. The addition of a fifth category would, theoretically, lift scores for good essay writers even wherein there was no actual improvement in the ability of that school's students to write essays. This impact was greatest in the highest ranks schools on the essay.

Mathematics section

Year-to-year mathematics subsection performance

Table five records the year-to-year performance from 2005 to 2007 on the mathematics subsections. The table also shows the averages for the top four-hundred rank order students on each subsection for 2006 and 2007.

95

2005

4.00

2006

6.69

2007

6.63

2006 top 400

8.57

2007 top 400

8.22

96

2005

3.25

2006

3.69

2007

4.04

2006 top 400

5.74

2007 top 400

6.31

99

2005

3.08

2006

3.51

2007

3.40

2006 top 400

5.74

2007 top 400

5.45

100

2005

2.25

2006

2.43

2007

2.49

2006 top 400

3.27

2007 top 400

3.32

Table 5: Longitudinal math means


Two subsection means showed a small improvement while two subsections showed a small decline. There were no substantive changes in the test from 2006 to 2007, so the means are comparable. The first two sections were substantively revised, with the first section being completely rewritten, between 2005 and 2006.

Mean Mathematics Scores by High School

The mean score by high school for the mathematics section represents the average number correct out of fifty for a high school.

A student blindly guessing on all forty questions, each with five multiple choice options, should get at least eight correct. Given that the first few problems involve basic arithmetic, scores around twelve or under are extremely weak performances.

Illustration three on the next page depicts the 95% confidence interval for the mean mathematics scores, with the high schools in descending mathematics score order. The vertical bars are the extent of the 95% confidence interval for the sample mean. Where a vertical line for one school overlaps the mean (the center ball) of a another school, the first school is not statistically significantly separated from the second school's mean.

The performances at Nukuno and Faichuuk were statistically indistinguishable from a random score of eight. This is the second year in a row Nukuno is statistically indistinguishable from random. Joining Nukuno and Faichuuk is Yap SDA. Weno, Chuuk High School, Nukuno, Southern Noumeneas, and Faichuuk performed so weakly in both mathematics and English that there is merit to an argument which would shift all of whatever resources are being spent on mathematics education to the teaching of English. These schools will not do significantly worse by not teaching mathematics – there is almost no where "down" for them to go from the their current status.






Frame4

Mathematics Placement Data

Placement of students by high school and the program into which they were admitted is shown in table six below.



non-admit

certificate

associates

Sum

State

High School

95

96

95

96

99

100

95

96

99

100

101


Chuuk

Berea

2


17

7

1


2


1



30

CSC

26


48

5




2




81

Chuuk High

106

1

60

8



1

1




177

Faichuk

16


3









19

Mizpah

4


13

2



1


1

1


22

Nnukuno

4


6




1





11

PLHA

11


30

1








42

Saramen



20

3

1


7

6

4

4


45

Chuuk SDA

1


3




1





5

South Namoneas

13


24

2

1







40

Weno

35


41

2



1

1




80

Xavier




1


1

9

3

6

3

3

26

Kosrae

Kosrae HS

8


65

23

4


18

14

13

8

10

163

Pohnpei

CCA







1

6

2

3


12

Nanpei Memorial

4


8

32

3


1

19

25

3

2

97

Ohwa Mission



5

1








6

PICS

11

3

123

109

9


24

34

25

11

3

352

Pohnlangas

2

1

16

39

5


1

8

16

2

1

91

Pohnpei campus

4


29

21

5


3

6

1



69

Pohnpei SDA



1

1

1


3

7

6

8


27

Yap

NICHS

2


20

11

2




1



36

OIHS



14

2

1


1

1

1



20

Yap Campus

1


11

6

1


5

1




25

Yap High

4


53

37

5


18

11

10

1


139

Yap SDA



2




7





9

Sums


254

5

612

313

39

1

105

120

112

44

19

1624

Table 6: Placement by high school and admissions status


Comments

The college admissions examination is an instrument that has been refined over the years towards the sole purpose of determining admissions at the college. The examination is not intended as either a diagnostic or summative measure of the effectiveness of high schools or state departments of education.

The admissions test can indicate, at the extreme ends, whether a school is performing strongly on these admissions measures or performing in a manner indistinguishable from random. Comments above have been made where performances are extraordinarily weak.

Diversity

The differences in the performances by state have repercussions on the make-up of the regular admissions. Table seven compares the composition of the regular admissions to the state shares of the national population. The table reflects the state of the high school, not the cultural identity of the individual test takers.


2006

2007





State

Associate

RF

Associate

RF

Pop 2000

Pop RF

2006 Factor

2007 factor

Chuuk

75

18%

59

15%

53595

50%

0.35

0.30

Kosrae

55

13%

63

16%

7686

7%

1.81

2.29

Pohnpei

225

53%

221

55%

34486

32%

1.65

1.72

Yap

67

16%

57

14%

11241

11%

1.51

1.27


422

100%

400

100%

107008

100%



Table 7: Diversity


Thus in terms of the high school's state share of the national population, students from high schools in Kosrae are the most over-represented group in the regular admissions category with 2.29 times their share of the national population, up from 1.81 the previous year. Those from high schools in Chuuk are under-represented at a factor of 0.30 of their share of the national population, a drop from 0.35 the year before. Each high school has students from every state, however the data is still likely roughly reflective of the underlying cultural diversity the college can expect among freshmen in the fall of 2006.

Note that as one state gains an increasing share of the 400 associate degrees slots, other states lose share. As noted earlier, this is a zero-sum game. Gains by Kosrae and Pohnpei were mirrored by losses for Yap and Chuuk. Yap saw some of their strongest losses in the outer islands of Yap.

Subgroups Analysis

The college admissions examination is neither a diagnostic nor comprehensive measure of learning. The college admissions examination is designed for a single purpose: admitting students to the appropriate programs for their abilities in English and mathematics. Despite the focus of the examination, many sponsored programs utilize the admissions results and statistics in their reports. Other programs in the high schools also choose to use the college admissions examination as one of their many indicators. The following are analyses of the essay and mathematics section with some of these subgroups broken out separately.

This author is deeply indebted to those who work in sponsored programs and the high schools who provide lists of student names in programs and sections.

Essay section

Table eight details the performance of the high schools in descending mean essay score order, repeating an earlier table but including some of the subgroups. Explanation of the various subgroups is given after the table. The writing section had a total possible of fifty. The sample size n, sample standard deviation sx, lower bound for the 95% confidence interval for the sample mean, upper bound ("high") for the 95% confidence interval for the mean, and the sample mean are provided.

This section intentionally includes basic statistics for the subgroups as this is useful to many programs who have to report statistical data.

Many programs use admissions to an associates degree program as a indicator of success. This practice is not recommended. The college admits roughly the top 400 students into associates degree programs as ranked by a z-score using the grammar, essay, and mathematics test. Many of these students will be placed into developmental and not college level programs. Thus admission to an associates degree program is not a statistically meaningful measure. As a result this report does not include admissions status of the subgroups.

The rubric used to mark the essay is provided in an appendix. Two graders mark each essay. If the graders differ by five points, a third grader marks the essay. The college currently considers a score of forty to be a strong essay. Averages of forty or above are exceptionally good results and are likely difficult to improve upon year-to-year.

High school

n

sx

low

high

mean

Calvary Christian Academy

12

7.91

36.98

47.02

42

Upward Bound Kosrae

14

4.82

38.36

43.92

41.14

Yap SDA

9

6.31

35.6

45.29

40.44

Xavier

26

7.34

37.3

43.23

40.27

KHS advanced section

22

7.35

34.01

40.53

37.27

Pohnpei SDA

27

6.76

34.55

39.89

37.22

Nanpei academic sections

38

6.74

34.52

38.95

36.74

Upward Bound Pohnpei

14

6.52

28.88

36.41

32.64

Upward Bound Yap

14

10.49

24.94

37.06

31

Saramen Chuuk Academy

45

7.26

26.51

30.87

28.69

Nanpei Memorial all sections

97

12.34

25.27

30.24

27.75

Kosrae High School

162

11.15

25.18

28.64

26.91

Madolehnihmw HS, Pohnlangas

87

10.23

24.18

28.54

26.36

Yap State Campus

25

6.98

23.28

29.04

26.16

PICS

350

9.61

24.15

26.17

25.16

Yap HS

139

9.68

22.23

25.48

23.86

Nanpei business sections

23

7.31

20.58

26.9

23.74

Ohwa

6

5.35

17.71

28.95

23.33

overall

1608

12.23

21.44

22.63

22.03

Outer Island HS, Ulithi

20

8.38

17.38

25.22

21.3

Mizpah

21

9.81

16.58

25.51

21.05

Nanpei vocational sections

36

13.88

16.14

25.53

20.83

Chuuk SDA

5

10.26

8.06

33.54

20.8

Pohnpei State Campus

69

10.92

17.83

23.07

20.45

Neighboring Islands Central Woleai

36

7.36

17.09

22.07

19.58

Berea Christian Academy

30

9.11

12.3

19.1

15.7

Weno HS

75

11.22

12.23

17.39

14.81

Pentecostal Lighthouse

42

7.48

12.36

17.02

14.69

Chuuk State Campus

81

11.39

11.56

16.59

14.07

Southern Noumeneas HS

40

9.61

10.98

17.12

14.05

Nukuno

11

7.66

7.76

18.06

12.91

Chuuk High School

174

9.63

8.52

11.41

9.97

Faichuk

19

7.04

1.56

8.34

4.95

Table 8: 95% confidence interval for essay including subgroups


Note that the Kosrae High School advanced section and the Upward Bound Kosrae program are not independent subgroups. Ten of the twenty-two advanced section students are also in the Upward Bound program.

The Upward Bound Pohnpei participants are all enrolled at PICS on Pohnpei.

The subgroups indicate that the success seen at Nanpei Memorial this year was not simply a strong performance by only the academic sections. Nanpei Memorial's business sections performs on par with PICS, YHS, and Ohwa. Nanpei Memorials vocational sections outranked private schools such as Ohwa, Mizpah, and outranked two state campuses in the college system.

A note of caution is in order when comparing results between programs and sections. Clearly the Nanpei Memorial academic sections did well on the essay. Section lists for the academic sections at other high schools were not available to this author at the time of the writing of this report. PICS academic, Madolehnihmw academic, and Yap academic may have all done equally well or possibly better than Nanpei academic.

In illustration four, the mean essay score is marked by the central ball. The extent of the 95% confidence interval for the mean is given by the vertical bars. Where the 95% confidence interval for one school or subgroup overlaps the ball of another school or subgroup, then the scores are not sufficiently separated to ensure statistical significance.

Frame5

Mathematics Section

The following table details the performance of the high schools in descending mean mathematics score order, repeating an earlier table but including some of the subgroups of interest. The mathematics score is the sum of the four subsections, the total number correct out of forty.

Bear in mind that the the final column of ten problems are set at the level of college algebra, high school students are not expected to succeed at that column. Therefore averages above 26 (80% success in the first three columns of the test and a random two correct in the last column) would be a very strong performance. Lifting a school or a program's average above 30 is likely to be difficult.

High Schools

n

sx

low

high

mean

Upward Bound Kosrae

14

4.6

28.27

33.58

30.93

Kosrae HS advanced section

22

5.41

26.97

31.76

29.36

Upward Bound Pohnpei

14

4.55

25.3

30.55

27.93

Xavier

26

5.45

24.14

28.55

26.35

Calvary Christian Academy

12

4.17

22.85

28.15

25.5

Nanpei academic sections

38

4.55

22.95

25.94

24.45

Pohnpei SDA

27

5.72

21.7

26.23

23.96

Upward Bound Yap

14

7.96

16.83

26.02

21.43

Nanpei Memorial all sections

97

5.35

20.11

22.26

21.19

Nanpei business sections

23

3.68

19.54

22.72

21.13

Madolehnihmw HS, Pohnlangas

91

5.12

19.2

21.33

20.26

Saramen

45

4.76

18.08

20.94

19.51

Kosrae High School

163

7.33

18.19

20.46

19.33

PICS

352

5.44

17.26

18.4

17.83

Nanpei vocation section

36

4.78

16.16

19.39

17.78

Pohnpei State Campus

69

4.57

16.41

18.61

17.51

Berea

30

5.73

14.99

19.27

17.13

Yap High School

139

4.79

15.61

17.22

16.42

Yap State Campus

25

5.8

12.93

17.71

15.32

Outer Island HS

20

4.95

12.88

17.52

15.2

Neighboring Islands Central HS Woleai

36

5.48

12.89

16.61

14.75

Mizpah

21

5.86

11.95

17.29

14.62

Chuuk SDA

5

6.5

6.32

22.48

14.4

Ohwa

6

3.72

9.43

17.24

13.33

Chuuk State Campus

81

3.41

11.62

13.12

12.37

Southern Noumeneas

40

3.86

10.84

13.31

12.08

Pentecostal Lighthouse

42

3.05

10.79

12.69

11.74

Weno HS

77

4.11

10.06

11.92

10.99

Chuuk HS

176

3.96

10.33

11.5

10.91

Nukuno

11

3.06

7.76

11.87

9.82

Faichuk

19

3.5

7.63

11

9.32

Yap SDA

9

1.05

7.3

8.92

8.11

Table 9: 95% confidence interval for math including subgroups


Of note in the above table is that for the second year in a row the top ranked programs by mean math sum are Upward Bound programs and the Kosrae High School advanced section. From the perspective of preparing students to pursue college programs in science, technology, engineering, and medicine, the Upward Bound programs remain very important to this nation.

Also of note is that these programs lift their students to the level of the private schools and above. This provides important opportunities to students in the public school system. This is important to ensure equity in access to a quality college prepatory education. If the only access to a quality education is through private schools, then the nation faces a future where those with the resources potentially generate an intellectual elite that would likely become a governing elite. Down this road lies potential loss of the proverbial "middle class" that seems so crucial to democratic stability and the rise of oligarchic governmental structures.

Programs such as Upward Bound, Talent Search, and others are currently beyond the financial wherewithal of the local governments. Continued United States support for these programs is important to this young nation.

Illustration five depicts a portion of table nine on the next page.


Frame7

Mathematics Placement Data

The following table shows the break-down of the math placement by the subgroups. In that the mathematics section functions as a placement test, the placement of students has real meaning. There is no "400" limit involved. Theoretically, all students could place into college algebra classes. The class into which students are placed are indicated in the top row.

MS 095 PreAlgebra
MS 096 Elementary Algebra (Algebra I)
MS 099 Intermediate Algebra (Algebra II)
MS 100 College Algebra
MS 101 Algebra and Trigonometry (or MS 150 Statistics)

State

High School

Sxn

TRIO

MS 095

MS 096

MS 099

MS 100

MS 101

Sum

Chuuk

Berea Christian



21

7

2



30

Chuuk State Campus



74

7




81

Chuuk High



167

10




177

Faichuk



19





19

Mizpah



18

2

1

1


22

Nnukuno



11





11

Pentecostal LHA



41

1




42

Saramen Chuuk



27

9

5

4


45

Chuuk SDA



5





5

South Namoneas



37

2

1



40

Weno



77

3




80

Xavier



9

4

6

4

3

26

Kosrae

Kosrae HS



86

31

15

3

2

137

UB



1

2

1

4

Adv


5

3

1

1

2

12

UB


3


2

5

10

Pohnpei

Calvary Christian A



1

6

2

3


12

Nanpei Memorial

Voc


8

24

3


1

36

Aca


3

11

20

3

1

38

Bus


2

16

5



23

Ohwa Mission



5

1




6

PICS



158

145

28

5

2

338

UB


1

6

6

1

14

Madolehnihmw HS



19

48

21

2

1

91

Pohnpei State Camp



36

27

6



69

Pohnpei SDA



4

8

7

8


27

Yap

NICHS, Woleai



22

11

3



36

OIHS, Ulithi



14

2

1



17

UB

1

1

1



3

Yap State Campus



17

7

1



25

Yap High School



70

46

12



128

UB

5

2

3

1


11

Yap SDA



9





9

Total Result




971

438

151

45

19

1624


Students who place into MS 100 or MS 101/101 are deemed college level students.

Author and contact information:

All errors are solely those of the author. Please contact Dana Lee Ling at dleeling@comfsm.fm or 691-320-2480 extension 228 if you have questions or corrections.

Appendix A.


COMET Sub-Test 3 (Writing) Analytic Scale [Essay rubric]


Syntax

5

Grammar and word order nearly perfect.

4

Some errors of grammar or word order but communication not impaired.

3

Errors of grammar or word order fairly frequent; occasional re-reading necessary for full comprehension.

2

Errors of grammar or word order frequent; efforts of interpretation sometimes required on reader’s part.

1

Errors of grammar or word order very frequent; reader often has to rely on own interpretation.

0

Errors of grammar or word order so severe as to make comprehension virtually impossible.


Vocabulary

5

Wide and correctly used vocabulary.

4

Occasionally uses inappropriate terms or relies on circumlocution; expression of ideas not impaired.

3

Uses wrong or inappropriate words fairly frequently; expression of ideas may be limited because of inadequate vocabulary.

2

Limited vocabulary and frequent errors clearly hinder expression of ideas.

1

Vocabulary so limited and so frequently misused that reader must often rely on own interpretation.

0

Vocabulary limitations so extreme as to make comprehension virtually impossible.


Organization

5

Extremely well organized.

4

Material fairly well organized; links could occasionally be clearer but communication not impaired.

3

Some lack of organization; re-reading required for clarification of ideas.

2

Little or no attempt at connectivity, though reader can deduce some organization.

1

Individual ideas may be clear, but very difficult to deduce connection between them.

0

Lack of organization so severe that communication is seriously impaired.


Cohesion

5

Strong cohesion with smooth transitions both within and between paragraphs.

4

Occasional lack of consistency in choice of cohesive structures and vocabulary but overall ease of communication not impaired.

3

Patchy’, with some cohesive structures or vocabulary items noticeably inappropriate to general style.

2

Cohesive structures or vocabulary items sometimes not only inappropriate but also misused; little sense of ease of communication.

1

Communication often impaired by completely inappropriate or misused cohesive structures or vocabulary items.

0

A ‘hotchpotch’ of half-learned misused cohesive structures and vocabulary items rendering communication almost impossible.


Content

5

Full and complete answer, inclusive of all parts of the task.

4

Relevant and adequate answer to the task set.

3

For the most part answers the task set, though there may be some gaps or redundant information.

2

Answer of limited relevance to the task set. Possibly major gaps in treatment of topic and/or pointless repetition.

1

Answer bears little relation to the task set.

0

No evidence of assigned task. (If it is obvious that the student wrote on an unrelated topic or did not understand the instructions, give zeroes in all areas.)


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