Which Study Is Right for You
Deciding Which ACES Study Is Right for You
ACES™ allows you to complete both admission studies and placement studies. In fact, you can even complete different types of placement studies: predictive, concurrent, or an evaluation of your current Advanced Placement Program® (AP®). It should be noted that ACES is continuously under development. The current options for designs and programs are those used most often by College Board members.
So how do you know which type of study you need? First, decide what you would like to validate: the way you admit students to your college or university or the way you place students into courses.
Admission StudiesThe primary purpose of an admission validity study is to evaluate the measures that are used in admission decisions. This study will determine how well your admission criteria work alone and in combination with other predictors, as well as the most effective weighting for the various factors. The admission validity report also includes a list of at-risk students. Admission studies can be completed for:
| Placement StudiesAdmitted Class Evaluation Service (ACES) offers two types of placement validity studies: predictive and concurrent. Predictive placement validity studies use information collected at the beginning of a course to predict whether or not a particular student has the prerequisite knowledge to succeed in that course. Predictive placement studies can be completed for:
ACES also offers an extra component to the AP Program predictive placement study that evaluates an existing placement program, looking at the criterion measure (usually grade in the course) for students placing into a course, and compares those students to students who entered the same course by taking the prerequisite course. This ACES placement study can be completed for:
Concurrent placement validity studies allow you to use test scores to place students out of a particular course offered at your institution. In this study, the placement test is administered to students who are near the end, or have recently completed, the course of interest. If the students you will be testing in the future can do as well as students who have already completed the course, they can be placed out of that course. Concurrent placement validity studies can be completed for:
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