In another study, Ruetten (1994) compared English as a second language
(ESL) student and native English speaking (NES) student performance on a
compulsory writing proficiency test administered at the end of the secondsemester
freshman English course at the University of New Orleans. The ESL
students had a failure rate of 66% on their initial attempts on the examination
compared to an NES initial failure rate of 30%. According to University of New
Orleans policy, students who have failed the test are not required to retake the
writing exam if they have a passing grade in their coursework and if their
instructor will initiate an appeals process based on the quality of their work in
the course. The appeals process is based on an analysis of a folder of papers
representative of work written by the student both in and out of class. Of the
ESL students whose initial failure was appealed through this portfolio assessment
process, 89% passed. Ultimately, 92% of the ESL students in the sample
passed the examination compared to 89% of the NES students. In sum, of the
27 students in the sample, 25 passed the test either on the initial writing examination
or through the portfolio appeal process.