Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Jordan2210]

Does anyone know of any good placement tests to give that can show what grade level my students are at? This would help me pick out workbooks and reading for them and stuff. Thanks.

[Kyrei]

Other than very basic categories like "Beginner" "Intermediate" and "Advanced" it is nearly impossible to level test without knowing a lot more about the program you are using. How many levels are there? What age(s) are your students? What are the goals and objectives of your class? Is it predominantly speaking/conversing, or is it grammar based?And the list goes on. My suggestion would be to make your own level tests based on your experiences in class to make a decision.

If you pass along more information, I'm sure many will be pleased to help.

[Thiuda]

In the past I've designed level tests for the students myself. My tests included speaking, reading and writing sections and usually lasted for 10 minutes. The downside is that you need to administer the test yourself, scoring and evaluating while the student is being interviewed, which takes up a lot of time if you're doing it by yourself. However, I've found that evaluations done in this manner tended to correlate highly with student performance in class.

Usually, tests start with basic items, such as "What is your name?" and "How old are you?", and move to more complex questions like, "How many family members do you live with?", "What do you do in your free time?" and "What do you usually do on weekends?". I also usually include a question which asks what a student would do in a certain situation, for example, "What would you do if you won five million Won?"

The reading part usually includes a basic text, and a more advanced text.
The writing section includes similar questions to the verbal assessment section.

I usually score the verbal section on a five-point scale, 1 = no answer and 5 = complex, appropriate, grammatically correct answers. The reading section is scored in a similar manner using a three point scale, 1 = difficulty reading all items, 2 = difficulty with some items, 3 = no difficulties. Finally, I assess the written section by checking if the student has provided short (single item) answers or complete sentences, grammar and style.

Hope this helps.

[OiGirl]

Well, one idea is that you could administer a released form of the Texas state tests at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/resources/release/ and see at what grade level they achieve 85% or 60% or wherever your standard might lie.

[Jordan2210]

Thanks everyone, you gave me some place to start. I was hoping I wouldn't have to design my own tests but its looking like I do. I'm surprised there aren't any good tests online that place people in certain grade skill levels.

[Hater Depot]

Or if you work at a school, like mine, where you are not supposed to spend more than 2 minutes on a level test, none of it really matters.

[OiGirl]