Testing Center:  Placement Testing  Who Must Take the Test  Who May be Exempt  What to Bring with You  At The End Of Your Test  Accuplacer Test  Accuplacer ESL  Test Schedule  How To Schedule a Test  Special Needs Students  Preparation & Sample Questions  Challenge to Placement Test  CLEP

Assessment Testing

The Accuplacer is an assessment tool administered to all new students enrolling in a degree or certificate program in order to provide information about your academic skills in mathematics, English and reading.  The results of the test are used by advisors and counselors to assist with course selection and academic advising.

This is not an admissions test.  Prior to taking the test, students must fill out an Application for Admission and pay a $20 application fee.

Computer Adaptive Testing

Who Must Take the Test

• All new students enrolled in a degree or certificate program.
• Any student transferring to NVCC who has not successfully completed an English composition and/or a college level mathematics course with a “C” grade or better.
• Any student registering for a course with an English or math prerequisite.
• Any non-degree student seeking to enroll in an English, English as a Second Language or math course.

NOTE:  If you have taken the Accuplacer assessment at any of the other Connecticut Community Colleges, the results may be used at NVCC.

Who May be Exempt

If you have completed a college level English and/or mathematics course(s) with a “C” grade or better or if you hold an Associates Degree or higher, you may be exempt from all or part of the assessment test. Appropriate documentation, e.g., transcripts, final semester grade reports, or a diploma, must be presented to the Admissions Office.

What to Bring with You

On the day of the test, be sure to bring your NVCC Banner Student ID Number.  You can locate that number on the bottom of the acceptance letter you receive from the Admissions Office.

Testing Regulations:
Do not bring calculators, textbooks, protractors, notebooks, dictionaries, food or drinks.  Paper and pencils will be provided.  The use of cell phones or any other electronic device is prohibited while you are in the Testing Center.

At the End of the Test

Once you have completed the test, we will provide you with a copy of your score report.

ACCUPLACER Tests

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 tested. 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 test.

• 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 statement in the second sentence supports that in the first, if it contradicts it, or if it repeats the same information.

Arithmetic Test

This test measures your ability to perform basic arithmetic operations and to solve problems that involve fundamental arithmetic concepts. There are 17 questions on the Arithmetic tests divided into three types.

• Operations with whole numbers and fractions: topics included in this category are addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, recognizing equivalent fractions and mixed numbers, and estimating.
• Operations with decimals and percents: topics include addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division with decimals. Percent problems, recognition of decimals, fraction and percent equivalencies, and problems involving estimation are also given.
• Applications and problem solving: topics include rate, percent, and measurement problems, simple geometry problems, and distribution of a quantity into its fractional parts.

Elementary Algebra

A total of 12 questions are administered in this test.

• The first type involves operations with integers and rational numbers, and includes 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 Test

There are 20 questions on the College-Level Mathematics.
The College-Level Mathematics test assesses from intermediate algebra through 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.

ACCUPLACER ESL

The ACCUPLACER ESL assesses your English skills if you have learned English as an additional language to your native or first language. You may be asked to write an essay.

ACCUPLACER ESL Reading Skills

The Reading Skills test evaluates comprehension of short passages. There are 20 questions to this test. The content of passage is varied and deals with a variety of subjects including the arts, human relationships, physical science, history, social sciences, and practical situations.

• Half of the Reading Skills test contains straightforward comprehension items (paraphrasing, locating information, vocabulary on a phrase level, and pronoun reference).
• The other half assesses inference skills (main idea, fact vs. opinion, cause/effect logic, identifying irrelevant information, author's point of view, and applying the author's logic to another situation)

ACCUPLACER ESL Language Use

The Language Use test measures grammar and usage. There are 20 questions to this test. It contains questions in two formats: completing a sentence by filling in a blank with the word or phrase from the choices given, and choosing a sentence that best combines two given discrete sentences.

• Subject-verb agreement
• Verb tenses
• Irregular verbs
• Noun forms and pronouns
• Modifiers and comparatives
• Prepositions, connectives, and parallelism
• Sentence fragments or run-on sentences

Test Schedule

As the College policy is to admit students on a first-come, first-served basis, you are encouraged to schedule the placement test as soon as possible to ensure availability of classes at the time of registration. Prior to taking the test, students must fill out an Application for Admission and pay a $20 application fee.

How To Schedule a Test

Step 1: Select a date and time.
Step 2: Call the Testing Center at (203) 575-8215 and follow the instructions on the voice mail message.
Location:        
Testing Center, Kinney Hall, Room 519a

Test Administrators:

Charlotte Cyr
Telephone Number (203) 575-8048
E-Mail Address: ccyr@nvcc.commnet.edu

Susan Vaichus
Telephone Number (203) 575-8218
E-Mail Address: svaichus@nvcc.commnet.edu

Inclement Weather

Special Needs Students

Students with disabilities who may require testing accommodations should contact Charlotte Cyr, test administrator, at (203) 575-8048 before scheduling a assessment test.

Preparation & Sample Questions

To ensure that test scores accurately represent your skill levels, you may wish to review basic concepts in reading, grammar, arithmetic, trigonometry, and algebra before taking Accuplacer, especially if you have been away from school for more than a year.

For more information about the content of the Accuplacer test, visit: www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/accuplacer

For math review, visit:
www.purplemath.com/modules

or

http://www.nvcc.commnet.edu/admissions/plc_math.shtml

Challenge to Placement Test

In some circumstances approval may be given for a student to retake the assessment test.

This may occur as a result of new or continuing student advising which will require a retest of the appropriate portion(s) of the assessment test.

For this purpose, download the "Challenge to Placement Test Results" form.