Placement tests the placement testing process

Placement Tests
Tests are widely used to assess the mathematics skills of students entering the first year of studies at post-secondary institutions . For example, a survey of 1,297 such institutions in the United States found that over 90% used math assessment tests (Lederman, Ribaudo, and Ryzewic, 1985). In the local context, Memorial University of Newfoundland and the College of the North Atlantic both use math assessment tests, though in different ways and degrees. Broadly speaking, placement tests take two forms: standardized scholastic tests developed by national or state/provincial bodies, and locally developed tests created for the purpose by an institution. Tests commonly used in the U.S. include:

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  Scholastic Aptitude Test - Math (SAT-M);
  
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  American College Testing Program (ACT);
  
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  Assessment of Skills for Successful Entry and Transfer (ASSET);
  
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  New Jersey College Basic Skills Placement Test (NJCBSPT);
  
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  Mathematical Association of America Placement Test Program (MAA);
  
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  Descriptive Tests of Mathematical Skills (DTMS).
  

Most of these are actually sets of tests that include one or more components on mathematics. A Canadian diagnostic/placement test is the Mathematics Skills Inventory (MSI) developed by Rudolph Zimmer at Fanshawe College in Ontario. It is in use at Memorial University of Newfoundland .
Placement tests may be administered to students in a variety of ways. They may be taken by high school students in the last month or two before graduation. They may be given to students during the first week of university/college attendance or they may be available to take at any time during a six-month (or longer) period before a student is scheduled to start a program. Students may take the tests in a variety of settings ranging from a large hall with hundreds of others, to a small room with a few others, or a computer terminal all alone.
Of course it is the results of the placement tests, the students' scores, that are considered meaningful. Ranges of scores, referred to as cut scores, are selected by the standard test developers or the institution's math faculty to assign students to categories, and thus courses.
These categories may be loosely described as prepared, underprepared, and very underprepared(Three categories are most common, though sometimes just two are used.). For a test with a maximum score of 100, say, students with 60 or more would be assigned to a college-level math course, students with scores from 50-59 would be assigned to a developmental course (elementary algebra), and the rest would be assigned to a basic math course (arithmetic only).
With placement decided, the next step in the process is the remedial mathematics program. What do these programs teach? A survey of 79 post-secondary institutions in the U.S. produced a broad categorization of 4 typical courses (McDonald, 1988). A quick look over the content briefly described there (see Table 1) shows that most mathematics from kindergarten to high school is included.