|
|
|
|
What do the Accuplacer Scores Mean? Reading Skills 15th percentile (total right score of about 51) 15th percentile (total right score of about 51) Students scoring at this level demonstrate the following skills: - Read with comprehension short passages that are characterized by: * uncomplicated ideas * straightforward presentation * general proximity of subject matter to everyday experience - Recognize main and less central ideas and the tone of passages when questions do not require fine distinctions 50th percentile (total right score of about 78) 50th percentile (total right score of about 78) Students scoring at this level demonstrate the following additional skills: - Read with comprehension short passages that are characterized by: * moderately uncomplicated ideas and organization * moderately sophisticated vocabulary - Recognize main and secondary points making somewhat fine distinctions - Make simple deductions from a series of facts - Recognize organizing principles, including the relationship between sentences 85th percentile or higher (total right score of about 99 and above) 85th percentile or higher (total right score of about 99 and above) Students scoring at this level demonstrate the following additional skills: - Read with comprehension passages that, though short, are somewhat complex in terms of one or more of the following traits: * the ideas conveyed * the likely unfamiliarity of the subject matter presented * the difficulty of the vocabulary employed (including instances of scholastic vocabulary) * the difficulty of the sentence structure employed - Extract points that are merely implied - Follow moderately complex arguments or speculations - Recognize devices such as tone and organization that are subtly employed Sentence Skills 15th percentile (total right of about 54) Students scoring at this level demonstrate the following skills: - Solve simple problems in: * sentence inversion * subordination * logic - Correct simple sentence fragments - Correct misplaced modifiers Sentence stimuli at this level are about 15 to 20 words in length. 50th percentile (total right score of about 87) 50th percentile (total right score of about 87) Students scoring at this level demonstrate the following additional skills: - Solve problems of: * faulty coordination in a sentence with one or two clauses * faulty subordination in a sentence with one or two clauses - Manipulate verb tenses - Manipulate active and passive voices - Solve problems that combine grammar and logic Sentence length extends to about 28 words. 85th percentile or higher (total right score of about 109 or above) 85th percentile or higher (total right score of about 109 or above) Students scoring at this level demonstrate the following additional skills: - Manipulate complex sentences having two or more subordinate clauses and/or elisions - Correct problems of syntax and repetitive diction - Recognize correct and incorrect linkages of clauses, including problems involving semicolons Maximum sentence length is about 31 words. Arithmetic Students who score below a 40 on the ELEMENTARY ALGEBRA part of the Accuplacer (this category includes all students who made the transition to the ARITHMETIC level of the Accuplacer) should be encouraged to take ESKL090 Quantitative Essential Skills. Students scoring at this level tend to lack an adequate knowledge of elementary algebra skills. ESKL090 Quantitative Essential Skills is currently scheduled to be offered every Spring semester. 20th Percentile (Total Right Score of about 38) Students scoring at this level have minimal arithmetic skills. The students demonstrate the following skills: - Perform simple operations with decimals (addition, subtraction, and multiplication) - Determine the relative size of fractions - Calculate an average given integer values - Solve a simple word problem involving money 50th Percentile (Total Right Score of about 65) 50th Percentile (Total Right Score of about 65) Students scoring at this level have basic arithmetic skills. The students demonstrate the following additional skills: - Perform the basic arithmetic operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division with whole numbers, fractions and decimals, and mixed numbers - Make simple conversions among fractions, decimals, and percents - Estimate products of decimals and square roots of whole numbers 80th Percentile (Total Right Score of about 93) 80th Percentile (Total Right Score of about 93) Students scoring at this level have adequate arithmetic skills. The students demonstrate the following additional skills: - Solve simple percent problems of the form p% of q = ?, p% of ? = r, ?% of q = r - Divide whole numbers by decimals and fractions - Solve simple word problems involving fractions, decimals, ratio, percent increase and decrease, and perimeter 95th Percentile or higher (Total Right Score of about 110 or above) Students scoring at this level have substantial arithmetic skills. The students demonstrate the following additional skills: - Solve word problems involving the manipulation of units of measurement - Solve more complex problems involving percent, average, and proportional reasoning - Find the square root of mixed numbers and decimal numbers - Solve simple number sentences involving a variable Elementary Algebra Students who score a 40 or above on the ELEMENTARY ALGEBRA part of the Accuplacer are eligible for placement into Southwestern's Intermediate Algebra course. Students scoring at this level should have an adequate to substantial knowledge of elementary algebra skills. In addition to the Accuplacer score noted above, students who enroll in Intermediate Algebra must have passed at least one year of high school algebra, or the equivalent. For questions concerning equivalency, contact the Mathematics Department faculty, Reza Sarhangi or Bob Gallup. Students who are not adequately prepared to enroll in MATH105 Intermediate Algebra (that is students with Accuplacer scores below 40 on the ELEMENTARY ALGEBRA part of the test) should be encouraged to take ESKL090 Quantitative Essential Skills. Students scoring at this level tend to lack an adequate knowledge of elementary algebra skills. ESKL090 Quantitative Essential Skills is currently scheduled to be offered every Spring semester. 20th percentile (total right score of about 28) 20th percentile (total right score of about 28) Students scoring at this level will have a minimal knowledge of pre-algebra skills. The students demonstrate the following skills: - Have a sense of order relationships and the relative size of signed numbers 50th percentile (total right score of about 44) 50th percentile (total right score of about 44) Students scoring at this level will have a minimal knowledge of elementary algebra skills. The students demonstrate the following additional skills: - Perform operations with signed numbers - Perform operations with algebraic expressions: combine like terms, multiply binomials, and identify common factors 80th percentile (total right score of about 82) 80th percentile (total right score of about 82) Students scoring at this level have sufficient knowledge of elementary algebra skills. The students demonstrate the following additional skills: - Simplify algebraic expressions - Factor the difference of squares - Add radicals - Square binomials - Add algebraic fractions - Evaluate algebraic expressions - Factor quadratic expressions in - Solve linear equations with standard form (ax2 + bx + c, where a=1) integer coefficients 95th percentile or higher (total right score of about 109 or above) 95th percentile or higher (total right score of about 109 or above) Students at this level have substantial knowledge of elementary algebra skills. The students demonstrate the following additional skills: - Factor quadratic expressions (a < > 1) - Solve quadratic equations in nonstandard form - Solve linear equations with fractional and literal coefficients - Solve linear inequalities with integer coefficients - Solve systems of equations - Identify graphical properties of equations and inequalities College-Level Mathematics Students who score a 25 or above on the COLLEGE-LEVEL MATHEMATICS part of the Accuplacer are eligible for placement into Southwestern's College Algebra course. Students scoring at this level should have an adequate to substantial knowledge of intermediate algebra skills. In addition to the Accuplacer score noted above, students who enroll in College Algebra must have passed Intermediate Algebra, or at least two years of high school algebra, or the equivalent. For questions concerning equivalency, contact the Mathematics Department faculty, Reza Sarhangi or Bob Gallup. Students who score a 50 or above on the COLLEGE-LEVEL MATHEMATICS part of the Accuplacer are eligible for placement into Southwestern's Calculus 1 course. Students scoring at this level should have an adequate to substantial knowledge of advanced algebra skills. In addition to the Accuplacer score noted above, students who enroll in Calculus 1 must have passed College Algebra, or at least two years of high school algebra plus an additional mathematics course (such as trigonometry, functional analysis, advanced mathematics, or pre-calculus), or the equivalent. For questions concerning equivalency, contact the Mathematics Department faculty, Reza Sarhangi or Bob Gallup. 20th percentile (total right score of about 40) 20th percentile (total right score of about 40) Students scoring at this level demonstrate the following skills: - Identify common factors - Factor binomials and trinomials - Manipulate factors to simplify complex fractions 50th percentile (total right score of about 63) 50th percentile (total right score of about 63) Students scoring at this level demonstrate the following additional skills: - Work with algebraic expressions involving real number exponents - Factor polynomial expressions - Simplify and perform arithmetic operations with rational expressions, including complex fractions - Solve and graph linear equations and inequalities - Solve absolute value equations - Solve quadratic equations by factoring - Graph simple parabolas - Have a basic understanding of the concept of function notation, such as determining the value of a function for a specific number in the domain - Show a limited understanding of the concept of function on a more sophisticated level, such as determining the value of the composition of two functions - Have a rudimentary understanding of coordinate geometry and trigonometry 80th percentile (total right score of about 86) 80th percentile (total right score of about 86) Students scoring at this level demonstrate the following additional skills: - Understand polynomial functions - Evaluate and simplify expressions involving functional notation, including composition of functions - Solve simple equations involving * trigonometric functions * logarithmic functions * exponential functions 95th percentile (total right score of about 103 or higher) 95th percentile (total right score of about 103 or higher) Students scoring at this level demonstrate the following additional skills: - Perform algebraic operations and solve equations with complex numbers - Understand the relationship between exponents and logarithms and the rules that govern the manipulation of logarithms and exponents - Understand trigonometric identities - Solve trigonometric equations - Solve right-triangle problems - Recognize graphic properties of functions such as: * absolute value * quadratic * logarithmic |
|
If you have questions, please
Contact Michelle Boucher
|
