Information for Institutions

Background

College BASE offers institutions an effective, affordable option for assessing general education skills. Skills are clearly defined in College BASE, which enables institutions to better identify academic strengths and weaknesses and efficiently focus resources on improving weak areas. College BASE is administered on-site, so examinees do not have to travel to another institution to take the test. ARC charges for scoring and producing College BASE reports, but there are no administration fees. Your institution may administer College BASE at any time convenient for students and test administrators.

College BASE consists of 180 multiple-choice questions and an optional essay prompt. The content is organized into four subject areas:

English
Mathematics
Science
Social studies

The modular format of College BASE allows institutions great flexibility in selecting the components that best meet their goals and educational objectives. Institutions can choose 1-4 subject areas, an optional essay prompt, and a short-form option (College BASE 1:1).

As a broad-based achievement test, College BASE assesses basic and enduring knowledge in each of the four subject areas and provides performance rankings in higher order thinking skills (interpretive, strategic, and adaptive reasoning abilities). The specific skills tested on College BASE are described in more detail in College BASE Test Content.

In addition, the exam fulfills mandated requirements for a test with cut-off scores for admitting candidates into upper-level coursework including state-approved teacher education programs.

Uses of College BASE Data

Individual Student Data

Assessment of students' relative strengths and weaknesses.
Evaluation of preparedness of students for upper-level coursework.
Measurement of individual performance pre- and post-completion of general education requirements.

Institutional Summary Data

Establishment of institutional general education goals.
Assessment of students for institutional improvement.
Review of general education curricula.
Longitudinal studies of institution-wide performance.
Comparisons with national normative data or with a specific cohort group.

Exam Formats

The most commonly used formats for College BASE are the standard subjects option, the College BASE 1:1 option (short form), and the basic skills option. College BASE provides flexibility to an institution in selecting subjects for assessment that meet the needs of the individual institution. In the standard subjects option, students may be tested in 1-4 subjects, with all students assigned to the same area(s). The essay may also be included.

College BASE 1:1 option provides institutional summary data for all 4 subjects of the exam, but each student is assigned only 1-2 subjects. Using sampling guidelines provided by the Assessment Resource Center, the institution receives data as valid as if the entire population had been tested on all four subjects. The College BASE 1:1 option reduces administration time for each student and saves time and costs for the institution.

Institutions may use College BASE to assess certain populations of students for basic skills (English and mathematics) only. The essay assignment may be included to assess student achievement of general education objectives for writing.

Test Administration

College BASE consists of 180 multiple-choice items divided among four subjects: English, mathematics, science, and social studies. An optional essay prompt is available to evaluate students' writing abilities. Institutions have the choice of administering 1-4 subjects, with or without the essay prompt.

College BASE is administered on local campuses to meet institutional scheduling requirements. A user-friendly examiner's manual is available.

There are always at least two different test forms available. The examination is available in an audio and large print version.

University of Missouri
College of Education