How is a student’s ESL placement determined?
The starting point for placement is the ACT Writing Exam. When this exam is scored, readers are trained to look for papers that indicate that the student is not a native speaker of English. These papers are marked with an E along with their ACT score. The papers are then sent to the Developmental Skills department for leveling. Developmental Skills faculty reread all the papers to determine which level of ESL the student belongs in. The papers then go back to the Testing Office and the ESL Placement is entered in the computer.
