1. Rock Valley College Testing Center
Introducing Students to ACCUPLACER®
An Inside Look
at the Placement Test
Includes the following tests:
Reading
Writing (English)
Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra & Statistics (QAS)
Arithmetic
Advanced Algebra & Functions (AAF)

2. ACCUPLACER Placement Test
Determining Placement
As a community college, Rock Valley College (RVC) provides different starting points for students interested in taking credit classes. We want to make sure that your journey at Rock Valley College begins at the best place for you. RVC determines your starting point/ placement by the best combination of the following:
College and/or high school transcripts (including AP & CLEP).
SAT, ACT, GED test scores (within 3 years)
ACCUPLACER® scores.

3. ACCUPLACER Placement Test
What to Know About the Test
18-25 multiple-choice questions per test
Computer-based
No time limit
No fee for 1st time – 1 retest is available at $5.00/test
Students may not use a translator, calculator or other websites
Immediate score results
Photo ID is required
Testing accommodations approved by the Office of Disability Support Services (815)

4. ACCUPLACER Placement Test
You will be asked to enter some background information such as Student ID, Name, and Address.
These are the only screens that require you to type. If you need assistance completing it, we can help you.

5. Four broad knowledge skill categories assessed
Reading
The ACCUPLACER Reading placement test measures your ability to derive meaning from a range of prose texts and to determine the meaning of words and phrases in short and extended contexts.
Four broad knowledge skill categories assessed
Information & Ideas – reading closely, central ideas & themes, summarizing, & understanding relationships.
Rhetoric - analyzing text structure, point of view, purpose & arguments
Vocabulary
Synthesis – analyzing multiple texts

6. Reading Type 1 Type 2 Type 3 Stand-alone questions –
One question for one passage.
Sets of questions –
Built around a common passage or passages.
Grammatical Correction –
Choose a word or phrase that best fits the meaning of a sentence.

7. Reading Sample Question
Sherry Turkle of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has been writing about human technology interactions for the past three decades. She has become increasingly wary of the capacity of online spaces to fulfill us in the ways we seem to want them to. According to Turkle, part of the problem with the internet is that it encourages self-invention. “At the screen,” she writes in Alone Together (2011), “you have a chance to write yourself into the person you want to be and to imagine others as you wish them to be, constructing them for your purposes. It’s a seductive but dangerous habit of mind.” T Y P E 1
The main purpose of the passage is to
A. evaluate conflicting assessments
B. present a sharp critique
C. propose a necessary remedy
D. provide background details

8. Rock Valley College Testing Center - 921-2385
Reading
Rationale
Choice B is the best answer. The passage focuses mainly on presenting the critique of the Internet offered by Sherry Turkle, who “has become increasingly wary of the capacity of online spaces to fulfill us in the ways we seem to want them to” and feels that the Internet encourages “a seductive but dangerous habit of mind.”

9. Reading Sample Question
Deciding that none of the nominees was ___________ the award, the film committee began reviewing a new group of candidates with better qualifications.
known for
pleased with
worthy of
interested in T Y P E 2

10. Rock Valley College Testing Center - 921-2385
Reading
Rationale
Choice C is the best answer. “Worthy of” means deserving respect or praise, which is consistent with the idea in the sentence that the film committee began looking for new candidates for the award when the original nominee proved unsatisfactory. Choices A, B, and D are incorrect because it makes no sense on context do describe unsatisfactory nominees for an award as being “known for” or “pleased with” the award (since none of them has received it) or “interested in” the award (since the nominees’ interest is irrelevant to their qualifications).

11. Two broad knowledge skill categories assessed
Writing (English)
The ACCUPLACER Writing placement test measures your ability to revise and edit a range of prose texts for effective expression of ideas and for conformity to the conventions of Standard Written English sentence structure, usage, and punctuation.
Two broad knowledge skill categories assessed
Expression of Ideas – development, organization, and effective language use.
Standard English Conventions – sentence structure, usage and punctuation.

12. Writing (English) Sample Passage
(1) The prevalence of nectarines in US supermarkets today is directly related to the company started by two unrelated men who shared a last name, an inventive bent, and a drive to succeed. (2) Moving from Korea to the United States in 1914, Ho “Charles” Kim founded the Kim Brothers trucking company in California in 9121 with his friend Harry Kim. (3) Much of the freight their trucks carried in the early years were fruit grown in the San Joaquin valley. (4) Kim Brothers soon expanded to include nurseries, orchards, and fruit-packing sheds. (5) Eventually the operation became a major employer, providing year-round jobs for about two hundred people and up to four hundred part-time jobs during harvest season coming after growing season. …
(11) By the 1960s, Kim Brothers included more than five hundred acres of farmland and grossed more than $1 million annually. (12) Charles and Harry Kim were eventually recognized as the first millionaires of Korean descent. (13) They were also known for giving back to their community. (14) Charles was also instrumental in helping to create Los Angeles’s Koreatown (home today to more Koreans than any place other than North and South Korea).

13. Writing (English) Sample Questions
1. Which is the best version of the underlined portion of sentence 3 (reproduced below)?
Much of the freight their trucks carried in the early years were fruit grown in the San Joaquin valley.
(as it is now) B. have been C. are D. was
2. Which is the best decision regarding the underlined portion of sentence 5 (reproduced below)?
Eventually the operation became a major employer, providing year-round jobs for about two hundred people and up to four hundred part-time jobs during harvest season coming after growing season.
A. Leave it as it is now B. Revise it to “when the crops were ready to pick.”
C. Revise it to “after the produce had ripened.” D. DELETE it and end the sentence with a period
3. Sentence 13 is reproduced below.
They were also known for giving back to their community.
The writer is considering adding the following text at the end of the sentence.
by building churches, funding scholarships, and establishing the Korean Association of Southern California
Should the writer make this addition there?
Yes, because it elaborates on the claim made at the beginning of the sentence.
Yes, because it establishes the historical period in which Kim Brothers operated.
C. No, because it introduces details that are irrelevant to the paragraph’s focus on nectarines.
D. No, because it fails to explain whether the institutions that the Kims established still exist today.
Correct Answer B

14. Writing (English) Rationale
Choice D is the best answer. The singular “was” agrees with the singular subject “much.”
Choice D is the best answer. Deleting the underlined portion results in a clear, economical sentence.
Choice A is the best answer. The proposed addition expands in a relevant way on the notion of the Kims “giving back to their community.”

15. Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra and Statistics
The ACCUPLACER Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra and Statistics placement test measures your ability for selected mathematics content.
Knowledge and skill categories assessed
Rational Numbers & Exponents
Probability & Sets
Linear Equations & Applications
Descriptive Statistics
Ratio & Proportional Relationships
Geometry Concepts

16. Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra and Statistics
Sample Question
Which of the following expressions is 5 times as much as the sum of r and s?
A. 5 x r + s
B r + s
C. r + s x 5
D. (r + s) x 5
Choice D is correct. The order of operations was used properly to write the expression. The sum of r and s in parentheses is found first, then multiplication is used to find the number that is 5 times the sum of r and s.)
Rationale

17. Arithmetic
The ACCUPLACER Arithmetic placement test measures your ability to perform basic arithmetic operations and to solve problems involving fundamental arithmetic concepts.
Whole number operations
Number comparisons & equivalents
Fraction Operations
Percent
Decimal operations

18. Arithmetic Sample Question 1 A. 1/6 B. 1/ 60 C. 6/10 D. 6/100
Which of the following fractions is equal to 0.06?
   
1 A. 1/6
B. 1/ 60
C. 6/10
D. 6/100
Choice D is correct. The number 0.06 is the same as six-hundredths, which when written as a fraction is 6/100 .)
Rationale

19. Advanced Algebra & Functions
The Advanced Algebra and Functions placement test measures your ability for selected mathematics content.
Linear Equations & Applications
Factoring & Functions
Radical & Rational Equations
Quadratics
Polynomial Equations
Exponential & Logarithmic Equations
Geometry & Trigonometry Concepts

20. Advanced Algebra & Functions
Sample Question
Function g is defined by g(x) = 3(x + 8).
What is the value of g(12)? 4 cm 9 cm –4 20
C. 44
D. 60
Rationale
Choice D is correct. The value of g(12) can be found by substituting 12 for x in the equation for g(x). This yields g(12) = 3(12 + 8), which is equivalent to 3(20) or 60)..

21. Preparing for the ACCUPLACER greatly reduces Test Anxiety
Ways to reduce your test anxiety:
Prepare for the test – Learn more about it; review sample questions
Approach the exam with confidence
Be well-rested
Be sure to eat something before the test
Allow yourself plenty of time – Approximately two hours
After creating a free account for the ACCUPLACER Study App, you can access a whole bank of questions that you can use to study. p
Choosing the Learn as You Go option allows you to see the explanation behind every correct answer.
The Tutoring Center offers free tutoring sessions for any student looking for help preparing for ACCUPLACER. Contact the Tutoring Center at (815)

22. Taking the Placement Test
Walk-in Testing: Monday – Thursday, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. No appointment needed. Photo I.D. required.
Appointment Testing:
Tuesday and Wednesday evenings – 5:30 p.m. and select Saturdays. Appointment REQUIRED (815) Photo I.D. required. Finals, holidays and summer hours vary – visit: RockValleyCollege.edu/Testing.