Accuplacer

BRIEF SUMMARY

Accuplacer is a College Board test that is used to demonstrate that a student is college and career ready. Students identified as potentially requiring remediation in college courses in order to be successful must take the test based on cut scores set by the Indiana Department of Education. In addition, Ivy Tech also uses Accuplacer for students to qualify to take different courses, determine the need for a remedial class before entering the standard level course, or to qualify for dual credit courses within a student’s high school.

KEY POINTS

• According to Indiana DOE’s guidance:
• IC 21-18.5-4-8.5 stipulates that students who graduate in 2015 or after and who receive general diplomas with evidence-based waivers are disqualified from receiving state scholarships, grants, or assistance administered by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education unless the student passes a college- and career-readiness assessment.
• IC 20-32-9 required the development of guidelines to assist secondary schools in identifying students who are likely to require remedial work at postsecondary institutions or workforce training programs after graduation from high school. The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) works in collaboration with the Indiana Commission for Higher Education (ICHE), Indiana Department of Workforce Development (IDWD) to continually develop criteria regarding the identification of the students that need to take the college- and career-readiness assessment, which are then taken to the State Board of Education (SBOE) for approval. Once the criteria is finalized and approved it will be disseminated to Indiana high schools.

SHARED WISDOM

• How many sessions are there and about how long do they take?  The IDOE Accuplacer should just be Reading and Elem. Algebra.  Each section is about an hour but there is no time limit.  I think my kids were averaging about 30-45 minutes per session last year.  Some of the kids who took Math were finished in less than 10 minutes if they did well enough on the first part. If they struggle, it takes them into an additional section.  A few kids took closer to 2 hours, but on average, I remember most of the kids finishing in one class period (50 minutes here).  (From Counselor Talk, Oct. 2017)
• Q: If I have students that are to take the Accuplacer, but already took it at vocational through Ivy Tech, do they still need to take it as long as I can get their scores?  A: No, they wouldn’t need to take the test again if it was the same version of the test that the state administers, which is the Ivy Tech Customized version. (from Counselor Talk, November 2017)
• From Deborah Anderson with the College Board (August 2017) regarding teachers administering the Accuplacer: “[regarding] teachers testing their students.  We do not recommend it as it posses (sic) a conflict since teachers have a stake in the outcome. With that said, if you need teachers as proctors that is OK.  I would attempt to have teachers from different disciplines testing.
• Students can be exempt from Accuplacer if they passed ISTEP+ and have a “B” or higher in AP, IB, or Dual Credit courses; it can be a dual credit course in any subject area.
  • Can it be a dual credit course the student is currently taking? Or does it have to be a credit that was already earned?  The credit has to already be earned. Any one of those classes would count, French, Art, etc. It doesn’t just have to be math or English.
  • What if the student was in a dual credit course, but did not take it for dual credit?  A dual credit course the student earned credit for even though they didn’t take the test is fine. Our thought is that teachers teach it with the same rigor to all students, regardless of those testing. 
• Proctor Eligibility:
  • All proctors must have their own Username and Password. Login credentials cannot be shared.
  • Proctors must be responsible adults familiar with accepted practices for administering standardized tests.
  • Proctors may not be a peer of the student.
  • Proctors may not be a friend of the student.
  • Proctors must have no stake in students’ scores.
  • Proctors may not be employed part-time or full-time at a test preparation company.
  • Proctors may not administer any ACCUPLACER test to a member of their household or immediate family.

  The key is that proctors should not have a stake in student outcome.  This is why we typically say no teachers proctoring their students.

RESOURCES

• Chapter 8 of the Indiana Assessment Program Manual address Accuplacer in greater detail here
• Further guidance, ordering, and resource information is available from the Indiana DOE here, although some links are outdated.
• Accuplacer website can be accessed here
• Sample Parent Letters:
  • Parent letter 2017 Fall (1)
  • CCR Letter.15
  • AccuplacerParentLetter 2017
  • AccuplacerDiagnosticPart1 (1)
  • Accuplacer Parent Letter Template (1)
  • Accuplacer Diag student Letter FALL (1)
  • 2017 letter to parents reading

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