"Faked" placement scores from native speakers

[Michael Denner]

Dear Steven inter alia,
I don't know how widespread this practice is, nor have I ever thought
through its fairness, but at Stetson University we have a policy known
as "retro-credit" that very effectively nudges heritage-language
students, like those you describe below, who might be tempted to "tilt"
the placement test in order to enroll in the lower levels of a language.
If a native or advanced non-native student takes an upper-level language
course (say, third-year Spanish, a literature course not in translation,
etc.), s/he receives five credits of (ungraded) "retro credit" in
addition to the three credits that the class is worth -- sort of a
reward for taking beyond the minimum requirement of language study.
(Stetson, like many schools in the southeast, has only a beggarly one
year language requirement.)

Since 80% of students graduate with significantly more credit hours than
they need (especially nowadays, with AP and dual enrollment), it doesn't
really matter at the macro level. Students, though, really seem to
appreciate the extra credits, even though ultimately it's superfluous.
And, in an area not particularly rich in native Russian speakers, we
have good enrollments of native speakers at the upper levels --
something that I feel is a real boon for the non-native speakers. It is
a particular boon for our upper-division Spanish classes. 

Best,
mad

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
   Dr. Michael A. Denner
   Editor, Tolstoy Studies Journal
   Director, University Honors Program
   
   Contact Information:
      Russian Studies Program
      Stetson University
      Campus Box 8361
      DeLand, FL 32720-3756
      386.822.7381 (department)
      386.822.7265 (direct line)
      386.822.7380 (fax)
      www.stetson.edu/~mdenner
-----Original Message-----
From: Slavic & East European Languages and Literature list
[mailto:SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU] On Behalf Of Prof Steven P Hill
Sent: Friday, February 03, 2006 5:29 AM
To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU
Subject: [SEELANGS] "Faked" placement scores from native speakers

Dear colleagues:

I suspect that as long as universities rely on an "honor system" when
giving 
placement  tests to high-school seniors, there will be some danger of
faked 
low placement scores.  (Russian-born youngsters,  native speakers of
Russian, 
may try to score very low, hoping to be placed in university sections of
"Russian 
101," the lowest elementary level.) Their motivation for faking a low
score would 
be to get an "easy A+" at the lowest university level,  without doing
much work.  
That  in turn can have the unfortunate side-effect of discouraging the
traditional 
students (native speakers of English), who enrolled in that same "101"
section 
and find it impossible to compete with the "fakers."

One way to try to deal with this problem, probably well known to most of
our 
colleagues, is for the admissions office of the US university to note in
its 
transcript records the place of birth and the age at which the
newly-admitted 
"heritage learner" entered the US (if so indicated).  Thus having
identified those 
students who had spent a number of years in the Russian school system,
the 
university can notify the newly-admitted heritage learners that if they
enroll in 
"Russ. 101" or "103," etc.,  they WILL RECEIVE NO UNIVERSITY CREDIT
(even if 
they  get an easy A+).  It would  be hoped that potential "fakers" would
thus 
be motivated to enroll directly in ADVANCED levels (e.g., 200- or 300-
or 400-
level), i.e., the lowest level at which they CAN receive university
credit.

The same approach could apply, for example, to Latin-American
immigrants, 
presumably native speakers of Spanish, who should not be eligible to
receive 
any university credit for going back and taking "Span. 101 or 103," etc.
Or, 
say, a mature 28-year-old freshman enrollee in "ROTC 101" (elementary
military 
officers training), whose transcript records would reveal that he/she
had served 
10 years (age 18-28) on active military duty, as high-ranked as 1st
lieutenant  
-- and thus should not be eligible to receive any credit for going back
and 
taking ROTC 101 or 103, etc.   

No panacea, but it might help.... -- Steven P Hill, University of
Illinois.  
_ ___ _ __ __ __ _ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ _  

------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
------------------------------------------------------------------------
-

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------