The long-term effectiveness of multiple measures assessment: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial
Kopko, E. M., & Daniels Sarica, H. (2025). Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 19(2), 327–350. https://doi.org/10.1080/19345747.2025.2505172.
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examining12,796Students, gradePS
Single Study Review
Review Details
Reviewed: July 2026
- Single Study Review (findings for Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022))
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Meets WWC standards without reservations because it is a randomized controlled trial with low attrition.
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Findings
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Attained a bachelor’s degree |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
9 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
2.60 |
2.40 |
No |
-- |
|
Earned an Associate's degree |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
9 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
13.90 |
14.00 |
No |
-- |
|
Earned an Associate in Applied Science (AAS) |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
9 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
5.70 |
5.80 |
No |
-- |
|
Attained a certificate |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
9 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
0.90 |
1.00 |
No |
-- |
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Enrolled in any college-level English course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
1 Semester |
Full sample;
|
58.20 |
44.70 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Enrolled in any college-level math course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
1 Semester |
Full sample;
|
29.80 |
27.10 |
Yes |
|
||
| Show Supplemental Findings | |||||||||
|
Enrolled in any college-level English course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
2 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
69.80 |
62.40 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Enrolled in any college-level English course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
3 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
73.00 |
67.10 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Enrolled in any college-level English course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
4 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
74.50 |
68.80 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Enrolled in any college-level English course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
5 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
75.20 |
69.80 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Enrolled in any college-level English course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
6 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
75.70 |
70.50 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Enrolled in any college-level English course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
7 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
76.20 |
71.00 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Enrolled in any college-level English course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
8 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
76.30 |
71.20 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Enrolled in any college-level English course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
9 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
76.50 |
71.40 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Enrolled in any college-level math course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
2 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
41.40 |
39.40 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Enrolled in any college-level math course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
3 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
49.50 |
47.60 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Enrolled in any college-level math course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
4 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
53.30 |
51.20 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Enrolled in any college-level math course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
5 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
55.70 |
53.50 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Enrolled in any college-level math course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
6 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
56.80 |
54.90 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Enrolled in any college-level math course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
7 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
58.10 |
56.00 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Enrolled in any college-level math course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
8 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
58.60 |
56.70 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Enrolled in any college-level math course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
9 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
58.90 |
57.00 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Completed any college-level English course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
1 Semester |
Full sample;
|
34.70 |
28.10 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Completed any college-level math course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
1 Semester |
Full sample;
|
16.70 |
14.90 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Number of credits earned |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
9 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
27.50 |
27.10 |
No |
-- | ||
| Show Supplemental Findings | |||||||||
|
Number of credits earned |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
1 Semester |
Full sample;
|
5.30 |
4.90 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Completed any college-level English course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
2 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
43.30 |
40.00 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Completed any college-level English course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
3 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
47.90 |
44.90 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Completed any college-level English course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
4 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
49.60 |
46.80 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Number of credits earned |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
2 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
9.90 |
9.50 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Completed any college-level English course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
5 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
50.90 |
48.60 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Completed any college-level English course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
6 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
51.60 |
49.20 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Completed any college-level English course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
7 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
52.20 |
50.10 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Completed any college-level English course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
8 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
52.40 |
50.40 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Completed any college-level English course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
9 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
52.70 |
50.60 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Completed any college-level math course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
2 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
24.10 |
23.30 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Completed any college-level math course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
4 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
33.90 |
32.90 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Completed any college-level math course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
5 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
36.70 |
35.30 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Completed any college-level math course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
6 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
38.20 |
37.00 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Completed any college-level math course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
7 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
39.40 |
38.20 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Completed any college-level math course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
8 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
40.10 |
38.80 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Completed any college-level math course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
9 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
40.50 |
39.90 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Number of credits earned |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
3 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
14.40 |
14.00 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Number of credits earned |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
4 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
18.20 |
17.80 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Number of credits earned |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
5 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
21.20 |
20.70 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Number of credits earned |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
6 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
23.40 |
23.00 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Number of credits earned |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
7 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
25.30 |
24.90 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Number of credits earned |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
8 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
26.80 |
26.40 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Completed any college-level math course |
Multiple measures assessment - Cullinan & Kopko (2022) vs. Business as usual |
3 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
30.30 |
29.90 |
No |
-- | ||
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Sample Characteristics
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
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Female: 48%
Male: 52% -
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New York
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Race Asian 2% Black 20% Native American 1% Other or unknown 30% Two or more races 4% White 43% -
Ethnicity Hispanic 20% Not Hispanic or Latino 80% -
Eligible for Free and Reduced Price Lunch Other or unknown 100%
Study Details
Setting
The study took place in seven State University of New York (SUNY) community colleges. The colleges served incoming students who took math or English placement tests as part of the college intake process. All seven colleges had open-access admissions, and the colleges varied in size, student population, and developmental math and English course offerings.
Study sample
The study randomly assigned 13,417 incoming students who took a placement test at one of the seven participating SUNY community colleges and were randomly assigned to multiple measures assessment or the existing test-based placement system. The study analyzed results for 12,796 students (6,319 in the multiple measures assessment group and 6,477 in the test-based placement group): 9,558 students for math-specific findings, 10,608 students for English-specific findings, and 12,796 students for findings that were not specific to math or English.
Intervention Group
Multiple measures assessment is a course placement approach that uses more than one source of information to decide whether students should begin in developmental or college-level courses. In this study, students in the intervention group were placed into developmental or college-level English courses at all seven colleges and math courses at five colleges using college-specific formulas that combined available information such as high school GPA, placement test scores, how long it had been since students finished high school, type of high school credential, SAT scores, ACT scores, and New York State Regents Exam scores. After students completed placement testing, they were told their course placements by a college staff member or through an online portal, depending on the college.
Comparison Group
Students in the comparison group were placed using each college’s existing placement system, which most often used ACCUPLACER test scores and college-specific cut scores. After students completed placement testing, they were told their course placements by a college staff member or through an online portal, depending on the college.
Support for implementation
Researchers from the Center for the Analysis of Postsecondary Readiness worked with colleges to prepare the new placement process. This preparation included using past student data to develop placement formulas, choosing cut scores, improving how colleges collected and entered high school transcript information, updating data systems and placement reports, training staff and advisors, and testing the process before using it with students.
Additional Sources
In the case of multiple manuscripts that report on one study, the WWC selects one manuscript as the primary citation and lists other manuscripts that describe the study as additional sources.
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Barnett, Elisabeth A.; Bergman, Peter; Kopko, Elizabeth; Reddy, Vikash; Belfield, Clive R.; Roy, Susha. (2018). Multiple Measures Placement Using Data Analytics: An Implementation and Early Impacts Report. Center for the Analysis of Postsecondary Readiness.
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Barnett, Elisabeth A.; Kopko, Elizabeth; Cullinan, Dan; Belfield, Clive R. (2020). Who Should Take College-Level Courses? Impact Findings from an Evaluation of a Multiple Measures Assessment Strategy. Center for the Analysis of Postsecondary Readiness.
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Kopko, Elizabeth; Daniels, Hollie; Cullinan, Dan. (2023). The Long-Term Effectiveness of Multiple Measures Assessment: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial. A CAPR Working Paper. Center for the Analysis of Postsecondary Readiness.
An indicator of the effect of the intervention, the improvement index can be interpreted as the expected change in percentile rank for an average comparison group student if that student had received the intervention.
For more, please see the WWC Glossary entry for improvement index.
An outcome is the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are attained as a result of an activity. An outcome measures is an instrument, device, or method that provides data on the outcome.
A finding that is included in the effectiveness rating. Excluded findings may include subgroups and subscales.
The sample on which the analysis was conducted.
The group to which the intervention group is compared, which may include a different intervention, business as usual, or no services.
The timing of the post-intervention outcome measure.
The number of students included in the analysis.
The mean score of students in the intervention group.
The mean score of students in the comparison group.
The WWC considers a finding to be statistically significant if the likelihood that the finding is due to chance alone, rather than a real difference, is less than five percent.
The WWC reviews studies for WWC products, Department of Education grant competitions, and IES performance measures.
The name and version of the document used to guide the review of the study.
The version of the WWC design standards used to guide the review of the study.
The result of the WWC assessment of the study. The rating is based on the strength of evidence of the effectiveness of the intervention. Studies are given a rating of Meets WWC Design Standards without Reservations, Meets WWC Design Standards with Reservations, or >Does Not Meet WWC Design Standards.
A related publication that was reviewed alongside the main study of interest.
Study findings for this report.
Based on the direction, magnitude, statistical significance, and sample size of the findings within a domain, the WWC assigns effectiveness ratings as one of the following: Tier 1 (strong evidence), Tier 2 (moderate evidence), Tier 3 (promising evidence), uncertain effects, and negative effects. For more detail, please see the WWC Handbook.
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Tier 1 Strong indicates strong evidence of effectiveness,
Tier 2 Moderate indicates moderate evidence of effectiveness, and
Tier 3 Promising indicates promising evidence of effectiveness,
as defined in the
non-regulatory guidance for ESSA
and the regulations for ED discretionary grants (EDGAR Part 77).