ASSET Test

Students should do the following prior to taking the ASSET:

Turn in the admissions application, transcripts, etc. in the Admissions Office. Admissions will return the registration form to the student.
Visit with the Counseling Office and received a referral card for the ASSET test.
ASSET testing dates: By appointment only, please call the Assessment Center at 281.618.5744 or stop by the Academic Building, room 102 to schedule and appointment. The ASSET test may be scheduled on a Friday morning (9 a.m.-12:30 p.m.) or Thursday evening (5 p.m.-8:30 p.m.). Contact the Assessment Center for summer testing.
On test day, arrive at the campus testing location (Academic Bldg.#102) 15 minutes ahead of the scheduled time. Make certain to bring the admissions registration form, the referral card and a photo I.D. NO CHILDREN will be allowed in the testing room, and children should not be left unattended on campus. Test fees are $29 for the entire test or $10 per section
After testing is completed, results will be printed. Please see an advisor for placement./

Re-testing:
The student must wait 30 days to re-test. Students may re-test on the THEA test with no waiting period.

ASSET® includes:

Basic Skill Measures
Writing Skills (25 minutes)
Reading Skills (25 minutes)
Elementary Algebra (25 minutes)
Writing Essay (1 hour, 15 minutes)

Additional math may be required:

Intermediate Algebra (25 minutes)
College Algebra (25 minutes)

Writing Skills Test

The ASSET Writing Skills Test is a 36-item, 25-minute test that measures the student's understanding of the conventions of standard written English in punctuation, grammar, sentence structure, strategy, organization, and style. Spelling, vocabulary, and rote recall of rules of grammar are not tested. The test consists of three prose passages, each accompanied by a sequence of 12 multiple-choice test items. To provide a variety of rhetorical situations, a range of passage types is employed. Items that measure usage and mechanics offer alternative responses, including "NO CHANGE," to underlined portions of the text. The student must decide which alternative employs the conventional practice in usage and mechanics that conforms to the sense of the context. Items that measure rhetorical skills may refer to an underlined portion of the text or may ask about a section of the passage or the passage as a whole. The student must decide which alternative response is most appropriate in a given rhetorical situation. The elements of the Writing Skills Test and the approximate proportions of the test devoted to each are given.

Punctuation

This exam tests such conventions as the use and placement of commas, colons, semicolons, dashes, parentheses, apostrophes, question marks, and exclamation points.

Grammar

Tests adjectives and adverbs, conjunctions, and agreement between subject and verb and between pronouns and their antecedents.

Sentence Structure

Tests relationships between/among clauses, placement of modifiers, and shifts in construction.

Organization

Tests the organization of ideas and the relevance of statements in context (order, coherence, unity).

Strategy

Tests the appropriateness of expression in relation to audience and purpose, the strengthening of writing with appropriate supporting material, and the effective choice of statements of theme and purpose.

Style

Tests precision and appropriateness in the choice of words and images, rhetorically effective management of sentence elements, avoidance of ambiguous pronoun references, and economy in writing.

Reading Skills Test

The ASSET Reading Skills Test is a 24-item, 25-minute test that measures reading comprehension as a product of skill in referring and reasoning. The test items require students to derive meaning from several tests by (1) referring to what is explicitly stated and determining the meaning of words through context and by (2) reasoning to determine implicit meanings and to draw conclusions, comparisons, and generalizations. The test consists of three prose passages of about 375 words each that are representative of the level and kinds of writing commonly encountered in college freshman curricula. Passages on topics in prose fiction, business, and the social studies are included. Each passage is accompanied by a set of eight multiple-choice test items. The approximate proportion of the test devoted to each type of reading item is given below.

Advanced Mathematics Test: Elementary Algebra
The Elementary Algebra Test is designed to assess skills commonly acquired in the first high school algebra course. The content areas tested include:

evaluation of algebraic expressions
simplification of algebraic expressions
solution of quadratic equations
operations with polynomials
integer exponents
rational expressions
solution of linear equations

Numerical Skills Test

The ASSET Numerical Skills Test is a 32-item, 25-minute test designed to assess basic numerical skills in the performance of operations with whole numbers, decimals, and fractions and basic word problem solving skills involving arithmetic. The elements of the test and the approximate proportions devoted to each content classification are given below.

Arithmetic

The items in this category may include operations with whole numbers; decimals and fractions; factors and common factors; multiples and common multiples; comparison of fractions and decimals; ratio, proportion, and percent; conversion of fractions, decimals, and percents; and order of operations for real numbers.

Pre-Algebra

The items in this category may include prime and composite numbers, complex fractions, signed numbers, absolute values, scientific notation, and square roots.

Advanced Mathematics Test: Intermediate Algebra

The Intermediate Algebra Test is designed to assess skills commonly acquired in a second high school algebra course. The content areas tested include:

solutions of polynomial equations by factoring
graphs of linear equations
operations with radical and rational expressions
the distance formula
slope of a line
solution of linear inequalities
simplification of radicals

Advanced Mathematics Test: College AlgebraThe College Algebra Test is designed to assess skills commonly acquired in a precalculus course. The content areas tested include:

exponential functions
factorials
operations with complex numbers
composition of functions
inverses of functions
linear inequalities
graphs of polynomials