ESL Placement Test Grading Protocols
(revised April 2002)
Placement should be based on the following procedures/protocols:
Reading Placement scores: (International Test Only)
59% and below: ESL 088
50 – 60% ESLAB 050
60 – 70% ESL 098
70 – 80% ESL 099
80 – 90% ESL 100
90 and above: potentially exempt from ESL; refer to writing and listening test scores.
Listening Placement Test Scores: (International Test Only)
12/30 and below: ESL 088
13/30-19/30: ESL 095 (and ESLAB 050, 098, 099, or 100, as required)
20/30 and above: exempt from ESL 095
Students who receive borderline scores of 10 or 11, who are also strong in reading and
writing can be considered for placement in ESLAB 050 and ESL 095.
Grammar:
0 – 30%
31 – 40%
41 – 55%
56 – 70%
71 – 85%
86% +
level 1
level 2
level 3
level 4
level 5
Advanced placement test
Writing Tests

Writing Tests will be evaluated according to the criteria laid out on the test forms.
Students electing the Lower Level Placement Test can only be placed in lower level
ESL classes. (Levels 1-5) Students electing the Higher Level Placement Test may
be placed in upper (Academic) ESL or lower level (ABE) ESL, depending on their
writing skills. Students must demonstrate the ability to organize an essay with
paragraphs to be placed in the higher levels. (Besides, of course, demonstrating
sufficient syntactical and lexical competence).

Starting Fall Quarter of 2001, new international students will take ESLAB 050 if they
need it. (Previously this was only open to resident students). For both international
students and resident students, the following guidelines will be used to determine
placement in ESLAB 050:
Students who write fairly well, but choose the lower placement questions
should go into Level 5. To distinguish Level 4 and Level 5 placement,
they should be able to produce a coherent, unified, correctly formatted
paragraph. Some grammar errors may be present, but the paragraph
should be comprehensible. Vocabulary should not be too simple. (There
should me more than just BE verbs or other ultra high frequency verbs like
DO and MAKE). There should be evidence of familiarity with verb
tenses; however, if the test question calls for only a limited range of
tenses, please carefully consider other criteria). There should be both
compound and complex sentences. Furthermore, there should be a "sense"
that students need more time to gain familiarity with the language before
tackling the Academic ESL classes. Students notably weak in any of these
areas should be placed in ESLAB 40/45 instead.

When there is a discrepancy between reading and writing scores, placement will be
based on the lower of the two, as is the current practice in the English Department.
For example, if a student's reading score indicates 099, but the writing indicates 098,
the student should be placed in 098. Conversely, if a student's writing score indicates
099, but the reading indicates 098, the student should be placed in 098.

Immigrant/Refugee students who have taken the Immigrant/Refugee test and their
scores indicate placement at higher than ESLAB 050, will be asked to return and take
the Higher Level Placement Test. When placing students with the Resident student
test, look at the score indicated on the Scantron, then refer to both grammar and
writing scores. As with the International test, place according to the lower of the
reading and writing scores. If a combination of writing and grammar scores indicate,
say Level 4 placement, but the reading placement calls for Level 3, then put the
student in Level 3. If the reading score placement shows, for example, level 5, but a
combination of reading grammar indicate level 4, then put the student in level 4.

Use the appropriate cover sheets when scoring; clear, specific comments on these
sheets make advising easier.