Assessment of study abroad programs

[Rosa-Maria Cormanick]

For The Ohio State-Purdue-Emory Semester Programs at the Pushkin Institute
in Moscow, Russia, since 1986 we have been using Pre & Post Tests developed
and periodically updated by our consortium faculty in conjunction w/ the
Pushkin Institute faculty.  Students are given an oral interview and a
written test by the Resident Director during the orientation in New York and
then again immediately before departing Moscow.  The Pre-Post Test is divided
into 4 sections:  reading comprehension, grammar, composition & stranovedenie.
Students have 3 hours to complete.  Total points = 400.  For the last five
semesters the percentage average improvement in post-test scores weighed
against pre-post scores range from +20.2% to +34.3%.

In addition to this testing, as part of an on-going evaluation of the
participants' progress the program utilizes a Midterm Oral Proficiency Test
(testing phonetics, vocabulary acquisition, and grammar at various levels,
routine or abstract) which is conducted by a consortium faculty member half-way
through the students' stay in Moscow.  This midterm exam follows the ACTFL Oral
Proficiency scale.  Our semester undergraduate students on the average attain
advanced speaking ratings & most graduate students attain an advanced-plus
rating.

Ohio State has a long continuous history of sending programs to the
USSR/Russia - since 1964!

RosaMaria Cormanick         e-mail:  rcormani at magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
Academic Program Coordinator
The Ohio State University
Slavic & East European Langs. & Lits
Columbus, OH   43210
(614)292-6733  Fax: (614)688-3107