A study was conducted to evaluate the academic success of students involved in the Saddleback Community College (California) District's pilot assessment and placement project, and to design and apply procedures for evaluating the placement instrument cut-off scores. A group of 124 entering students agreed to participate in the pilot project and were given a battery of assessment tests and counseling based on their test scores and academic goals. This group was divided into two halves: the Program group consisted of students who took assessment tests and followed placement recommendations, while the Control group was made up of students who failed to attend testing sessions and those tested students who placed themselves contrary to the counselor's recommendations. While Program group members had higher success rates in mathematics courses than Control group members, this was not the case for English courses. The study found no correlation between placement instrument scores and final course grades in 11 English and mathematics classes that were given placement instruments as class exercises. The study report includes a literature review and recommendations. An appendix contains scatter diagrams of placement test scores versus final course grades. (EJV)