Program Overview

2. Program Overview

3. ACCUPLACER® Background 1986 - DOS version introduced 1995 - Windows version 1999 - ACCUPLACER OnLine 2000 - WritePlacerPlus 2002 - WritePlacer ESL & ESL Listening 2007 - New Platform Released 2009 – i3 Launch w/updated WritePlacerPlus and WritePlacer ESL 2010 – Diagnostics & CSP 2007

4. ACCUPLACER® Users • Over 1300 institutions of higher and secondary education • Various user institutions • 49%-- 2 year • 37%-- 4 year • 14% -- high school partners • Used in every state and several foreign countries • Widely used in California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Maine Maryland Massachusetts Minnesota Mississippi Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New York North Carolina Pennsylvania Rhode Island Texas Utah Vermont

5. New ACCUPLACER impacts: College Readiness & Completion College Readiness Persistence Completion

6. ACCUPLACER® – General Features • Computer-adaptive testing format • Internet based (no downloads required) • Robust platform engineering/Intuitive user interface • Multifaceted/Institutionally-Personalized • Immediate results • Local test option • Standardized accessibility format • Real-time Field Testing

7. ACCUPLACER®– Platform Setup • One program w/ multiple levels and multiple tests • Local control of welcome screen, report messages, and student directions • Branching determined by institution • Background question selection (local and standard) • Simulator to test branching profiles and placement rules • Demonstration site for faculty (no data contamination)

8. ACCUPLACER®– General Reports • User-friendly report designs • Simplified printing of reports • Batch printing of reports • Comprehensive unit history and test administration reporting • Robust data configurations for downloading to student information systems

9. Subject Assessments

10. ACCUPLACER® Tests • General Tests • Reading Comprehension • Sentence Skills • Arithmetic • Elementary Algebra • College Level Math • WritePlacer Plus • Computer Skills Placement • “Local” Tests • ESL Suite • Reading Skills • Sentence Meaning • Language Usage • Listening • WritePlacer ESL • Diagnostics • Reading Comprehension • Sentence Skills • Arithmetic • Elementary Algebra

11. Branching Profiles

12. Branching ProfileBackground Questions Arithmetic Elementary Algebra No Yes Have you ever taken an algebra course?

13. Branching ProfileTest Scores PLACEMENT 20-120 College Level Math 91-120 Elementary Algebra 70-90 PLACEMENT 20-69 Arithmetic 20-59 20-120 Diagnostic Testing PLACEMENT

14. Diagnostic Details

15. The ACCUPLACER Diagnostics tests will provide institutions with a more detailed assessment of a test-taker’s skills in English and mathematics. These tests can be administered as a follow-up or before the ACCUPLACER placement tests as a way to provide additional proficiency analysis. Purpose for ACCUPLACER® Diagnostics

16. ACCUPLACER®Diagnostic Test Summary

17. ACCUPLACER® Arithmetic • Computation--fractions • Computation--decimal numbers • Problems involving percent • Estimation, ordering, & number sense • Word problems & applications

18. Fractions: Computation with whole numbers Addition or subtraction of fractions or mixed numbers Multiplication involving fractions or mixed numbers Division of a whole number by a fraction or mixed number Mixed operations with whole numbers, fractions, or mixed numbers Squares and square roots (whole numbers, fractions) Recognition of equivalent fractions & mixed numbers Percents: Recognition of percent and decimal equivalences Percent of a number Percent one number is of another A number when a percent of it is known Percent word problems Test Development Blueprint • Decimal numbers: • Addition and subtraction of decimal numbers • Multiplication of decimals by whole numbers other than powers of ten and by decimals • Multiplication of a decimal by a power of ten • Division of a decimal by a whole number other than a power of ten or by a decimal • Division of a decimal by a power of ten • Recognition of fraction and decimal equivalences • Squares and square roots (decimals)

19. Estimation, ordering, & number sense: Estimation of sums, differences, products, and quotients that involve fractions or mixed numbers Ordering decimals, fractions, and percents Rounding Problems involving the number line Word problems & applications: Rate problems, including ratio and proportion Distribution of a quantity into fractional parts Measurement problems Average Problems related to graphs and tables Other less routine problems Test Development Blueprint

20. ACCUPLACER® ElementaryAlgebra • Real Numbers • Linear equations, inequalities, and systems • Quadratic expressions & equations • Algebraic expressions & equations (other than linear and quadratic) • Word problems & applications

21. Real Numbers: Ordering Operations with signed numbers Absolute value Linear Equations, inequalities, & systems: Evaluating linear expressions Solving linear equations and inequalities Systems of linear equations Graphing linear equations and inequalities Quadratic expressions equations: Squaring a binomial Factoring the difference of squares Factoring a general quadratic over the integers Solving quadratic equations by factoring Test Development Blueprint • Algebraic expressions & equations (other than linear and quadratic): • Addition and subtraction of monomials and polynomials • Multiplication of monomials and polynomials • Positive rational roots and exponents • Factoring polynomials that are not quadratics • Division of monomials and polynomials, including simplification of algebraic fractions • Word problems & applications: • Translating written phrases or sentences into algebraic expressions or equations • Solving verbal problems in an algebraic context, including geometric reasoning

22. ACCUPLACER® Reading Comprehension • Passage-Based Reading: Main Idea • PBR: Supporting Detail • PBR: Inference • PBR: Author's Purpose/Rhetorical Strategies • Sentence Relationships

23. Test Development Blueprint Passage-Based Reading Main Idea: • The writer's main point is that • The passage concerns a debate over • Note that the phrase "main idea" or "main point" does not need to appear explicitly. However, in all instances, the question will require the reader to identify the central concern or idea of the passage. PBR Supporting Detail: • Why was Hollingshead's idea considered new and different? • According to the passage, which of the following statements about Emily Dickinson's poems is true? • These questions will focus on specific details from the passage. PBR Inference: • Which of the following statements can be inferred from the passage? • The passage suggests that people who like milk chocolate do not usually • These questions typically contain the words "suggest," "infer," or "imply," and require the reader to infer details or ideas that are not explicitly stated in the passage.

24. Test Development Blueprint • PBR Author's Purpose/Rhetorical Strategies: • The author's attitude toward Hurston can best be described as • The use of the terms "exploited" and "exploitation" suggests that the author feels that private business interests and hunters used the park • These questions typically refer to the author and require the reader to understand the author's purpose and how it is achieved through tone, diction, and other strategies. • Sentence Relationships: • Children often have difficulty comprehending abstract relationships. • Learning addition and subtraction is made much easier for them if they are provided with small beads. • What does the second sentence do? • This is a distinct item type that currently constitutes about 20% of the test. It makes sense to retain it as a separate attribute for diagnostic purposes.

25. ACCUPLACER® Sentence Skills • Sentence Structure • Sentence Boundaries • Modifiers • Diction/Logic • Agreement

26. Sentence Structure: Sentence Fragments Subordination/Coordination Parallelism Sentence Boundaries: Comma Splice Run-on Modifiers: Placement of modifiers and modifying phrases Modification and word order (opening phrase illogically modifies what follows) Test Development Blueprint Diction/Logic: • Word choice (conjunctions) Agreement: • Pronouns • Subject-Verb agreement • Verb Form/Tense shift

27. The Scoring

28. Standard Setting . 52 faculty representing nearly 50 high schools, community colleges and four year institutions. (Sept. 2009--Ft. Lauderdale, FL) The faculty convened in four groups (Sentence Skills, Reading Comprehension, Arithmetic and Elem. Algebra) to review items and make recommendations through a Bookmark Standard Setting Process about the placement of the cut scores to define each category. Determine cut points for: Needs Improvement, Limited Proficiency, Proficient The proficiency statements for the categories were drafted as part of the standard setting process.

29. The Reports

34. User Resources

35. Admitted Class Evaluation Service • Free online validity service for ACCUPLACER users • Validates the use of a test score for placement into a given course • Helps translate test scores into probability of success in a specific course at a specific institution/state system • Benefits the institution and the individual student • Results within 8-12 weeks • Provides probability tables for cut scores and a course grade of B or higher/a course grade of C or higher • Presents non-technical analyses of student data with interpretive text that highlights key findings • Can be shared with policy makers with documentation that supports placement decisions at a specific institution or within a system

37. Brett Miller Senior Assessment Manager 650.339.0338 bmiller@collegeboard.org