Purpose of the Basic Skills Assessment
The ACCUPLACER is an assessment tool developed
by the College Board and is administered to all new
students enrolling in a degree or certificate program in
order to assess their academic skills in mathematics,
English and reading. The results are used by advisors
and counselors to assist with course selection and
academic advising. You cannot “pass” or “fail”, but it
is very important that you do your very best so that
ACC will have an accurate measure of your current
academic skills. This is not an admissions test. The
assessment is untimed. On average, it takes
approximately 1 ½ to 2 hours, so plan accordingly.
Students arriving late will not be admitted into the
Assessment.
You must take the Basic Skills Assessment if:
You are an incoming student enrolled in a
degree or certificate program;
You are a transfer student who has not
successfully completed an English Composition
and/or college-level mathematics course with a
“C” grade or better;
You plan to register for a course with an
English or math prerequisite;
You are a non-degree student seeking to enroll
in an English or math course.
You may be exempt if:
You have completed coursework in a collegelevel English and/or Math course with a grade
of “C” or better;
You have achieved a score of 550 or higher on
the math portion of the SAT exam and/or 450
or higher on the critical reading or writing
portion;
You have taken the Basic Skills Assessment
at another community college or university.
If you believe that you are exempt from the placement
test, contact the Admissions Office.
Assessment Administration
Accuplacer is an adaptive multiple choice test
administered on a computer. This means that the
questions are chosen for you on the basis of your
answers to previous questions. This technique
selects just the right questions for your ability level.
Because the assessment works this way, you must
answer every question. The assessment is untimed so
that you can give each question as much thought as you
wish. You can change your answer to a particular question before moving on to the next question, but you cannot leave a question out or come back to it later to
change your answer.
Assessment Regulations
Do not bring calculators, textbooks, protractors,
notebooks, dictionaries, food or drinks. Cell
phones or any other electronic device must be turned
off while you are in the Assessment Center. Paper and
pencils will be provided.
At the End of the Assessment
Results are provided immediately upon completion of
the assessment.
Students with Disabilities
If you have a documented disability and will
require testing accommodations, please contact Maki
McHenry, Counselor and Accommodations Coordinator,
in the Students Services Department at 860-253-3021.
ACCUPLACER Assessments
Sentence Skills
There are 20 Sentence Skills questions of two types.
The first type is sentence correction questions that
require an understanding of sentence structure.
These questions ask you to choose the most
appropriate word or phrase to substitute for the
underlined portion of the sentence.
The second type is construction shift questions.
These questions ask that a sentence be rewritten
according to the criteria shown while maintaining
essentially the same meaning as the original sentence.
Within these two primary categories, the questions
are also classified according to the skills being assessed.
Some questions deal with the logic of the sentence,
others with whether or not the answer is a complete
sentence, and still others with the relationship between
coordination and subordination.
Reading Comprehension
There are 20 questions of two primary types on the
Reading Comprehension assessment.
The first type consists of a reading passage followed
by a question based on the text. Both short and
long passages are provided. The reading passages
can also be classified according to the kind of
information processing required including explicit
statements related to the main idea, explicit
statements related to a secondary idea, application,
and inference.
The second type of question, sentence
relationships, presents two sentences
followed by a question about the relationship
between these two sentences. The question may
ask, for example, if the information in the second
sentence supports the first, if it contradicts it, or
if it repeats the same information.
Elementary Algebra
A total of 12 questions are administered in this part.
The first type involves operations with integers
and rational numbers, and include computation
with integers and negative rationales, the use of
absolute values, and ordering.
A second type involves operations with algebraic
expressions using evaluation of simple formulas
and expressions, and adding and subtracting
monomials and polynomials. Questions involve
multiplying and dividing monomials and
polynomials, the evaluation of positive rational
roots and exponents, simplifying algebraic
fractions, and factoring.
The third type of question involves the solution
of equations, inequalities, word problems, solving
linear equations and inequalities, the solution of
quadratic equations by factoring, solving verbal
problems presented in an algebraic context,
including geometric reasoning and graphing, and
the translation of written phrases into
algebraic expressions.
.
College Level Math Assessment
There are 20 questions on the College-Level
Mathematics assessment. The College-Level
Mathematics assesses knowledge of intermediate
algebra and precalculus.
Algebraic operations include simplifying
rational algebraic expressions, factoring,
expanding polynomials, and manipulating roots
and exponents.
Solutions of equations and inequalities include
the solution of linear and quadratic equations
and inequalities, equation systems and other
algebraic equations.
Coordinate geometry includes plane geometry,
the coordinate plane, straight lines, conics,
sets of points in the plane, and graphs of
algebraic functions.
Applications and other algebra topics ask
about complex numbers, series and sequences,
determinants, permutations and combinations,
fractions, and word problems.
The last category, functions and trigonometry,
presents questions about polynomials,
algebraic, exponential, logarithmic and
trigonometric functions.
For more information, please contact
the ACC Admissions Office at
860-253-3010
Accuplacer Preparation
There are a number of resources to help you prepare
for the assessment:
Do a Google or Yahoo search. Type in
“Accuplacer Practice.”
Find SAT preparation or review books to help you
refresh your basic skills. These are available at
local bookstores, libraries and online.
Visit the Academic Skills Center for additional
study guides and practice tests.
Download a study guide or take an online
practice test:
http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/accuplacer/
http://www.math.com/students/practice.html
http://www.testprepreview.com/accuplacer_practice.htm
http://www.nv3.commnet.edu/bcaserta/mathreview/
http://www.purplemath.com/modules/
http://www.aaamath.com/
http://www.algebrahelp.com/
ACCUPLACER ®
BASIC SKILLS ASSESSMENT
(BSA)
BE SURE TO BRING YOUR
ACC
(BANNER) STUDENT ID
NUMBER:
@______________________
Your scheduled BSA:
M
T
W TH
F
Date _________________
Your Scheduled Time:
http://www.teacherschoice.com.au/mathematics_
how-to_ library.htm
http://www.studyguidezone.com/accuplacertest.htm
______________________________
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dwsp-Jp-kFo
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/
http://www.nwcc.commnet.edu/skillscenter/pdfs/CC
C%20System%20wide%20Arithmetic%20Review%201
3011.pdf
170 Elm St. Enfield CT 06082
www.acc.commnet.edu
Stacy Lanigan, Associate Director Career
Services and Admissions