CAPR’s study of multiple measures placement in seven community colleges in the State University of New York (SUNY) system found that students placed using multiple measures were 7 percentage points more likely to be placed into college-level math and 34 percentage points more likely to be placed into college-level English than their peers evaluated using placement tests alone. The students placed using multiple measures completed college-level courses at the same or better rates.
A study of one statewide community college system found that 33 percent of entering students were severely misplaced by ACCUPLACER—either “overplaced” in college-level courses or “underplaced” in remedial courses when they could have earned a B or better in a college-level course. Using students’ high school GPA instead of placement testing to make placement decisions was predicted to cut severe placement error rates in half (to 17 percent). Subsequent research has found that even students deemed overplaced do better when allowed to take college-level courses rather than prerequisite developmental courses.