In 1991, a study was conducted to determine the differential effects of placement testing on cultural, linguistic, and ethnic groupings in the San Diego Community College District (SDCCD). The study was conducted in two parts. The first part examined the characteristics of the students used to norm the Comparative Guidance Program (CGP) tests used by the SDCCD for placement and compared these characteristics to the tested sample at SDCCD. The second part of the study examined the disproportionate impact of testing on the placement and enrollment of various groups of students into remedial and college-level English and reading courses. In addition, part two of the study tracked the enrollment patterns of these same student cohorts into the following semester to determine their representation in degree-applicable courses. Study findings included the following: (1) students in the SDCCD population differed from those in the CGP population in that they worked more hours, took more time in the transition from high school to college, and were more predominantly male and ethnically diverse; (2) Anglo-American students performed similarly across the SDCCD on the reading test, while Asian students had the lowest English and reading test scores overall; (3) Anglo-American students performed better on the reading test than did non-Anglos; (4) approximately 93% of the Anglo-American examinees chose to enroll in a degree-applicable course, while among Latino-, Hispanic-, and African-American students, the percentage enrolling in a degree-applicable English course was approximately 67%; and (5) persistence into the spring semester did not appear to differ for the various ethnic and racial cohorts tracked in the study, although Anglo-Americans showed the lowest persistence rate. (JMC)