How long does it take to get our results? ACAT score reports are sent out within 10 business days after receipt of answer sheets or upon closing of an online cohort. Special scoring which does not conform to this schedule may be available upon request for an additional fee. Automatically generated preliminary ACAT scores can be sent to a departmental representative by e-mail approximately 20 minutes after the completion of an online session. ACAT Online scoring will be conducted in the weekly cycle following receipt of notification of completion from the institution. This is a full report, including cohort scores and statistical analyses not provided with the automatically generated scores (see above). Score reports can be sent by US Postal Service or by email at the request of the department.
Who will the reports be sent to? PACAT provides two score reports for each administration and for the final end-of-year cumulative report. The reports can be the same or designed to meet the needs of two different individuals. A Score Report Profile is provided with each order of print tests or on request. The profile will show the addresses of the individual(s) to receive the two report copies. If the information is blank or incorrect, please update it and return the form to PACAT by mail, fax, or e-mail as a scanned attachment. We can send score reports only to the individual specified in writing on the Score Report Profile. We are unable to redirect reports without a completed Score Report Profile. If you need to change the individual(s) designated to receive your reports and do not have a Score Report Profile, call us and we'll provide you with one.
What information will be in my score report? You will receive 2 reports following the receipt of examinee responses for each administration. You will also receive 2 reports in early June containing your cumulative results for the June - May year. The reports can be customized individually and sent either to the same individual or to two different individuals. Sample score reports are available as PDF files (agriculture, art, biology, business, communication, criminal justice, geology, history, literature in English, political science, psychology, social work). Each report can contain any or all of the following components as requested. All reports will contain group standard scores for content areas and overall. The table provides standard scores comparing your students with a national multi-year comparison group of seniors taking each individual content area. An overall score is also provided. In addition, each report can contain any or all of the following components as requested.
Group Standard Scores for Content Areas and Overall: This table provides standard scores comparing your students with a national multi-year comparison group of seniors taking each individual content area. An overall score is also provided. Group Raw Scores for Content Areas and Overall: These are percent correct scores. Standard scores for ACAT include a compensation for item difficulty and penalties for incorrect responses. These adjustments are not included in the raw scores. Group Demographics: Your students report their gender, whether or not they transferred to your institution, their graduate school plans, and their overall and major grade point averages. These are presented as aggregate data in tabular format. Courses taken correlated with scores: Students report the content areas included in courses they have taken at your institution. The correlations between taking courses and scores in the corresponding content areas are presented. Self-reported GPA correlated with scores: Students report their GPAs in the major and overall in half point increments. The correlations between GPA and scores in the content areas and overall are presented. Annual gains compared with your department's prior scores: The change indicators compare the students you test to a cumulative group consisting of the students you have tested since beginning use of ACAT. The indicators are similar to what would be the case if ACAT was a locally developed test used only at your institution and interpreted by comparison to the performance of your previous graduates. This information is provided in end-of-year reports only. Individual standard scores by name: This is a table of student standard scores in each content area and overall with a percentile for overall performance. The table includes students names and ID numbers, sorted by last name. Individual standard scores by student ID: The table includes only the student ID numbers and scores. Individual stanine scores by name: Stanines are used as general indicators of performance when placing individual performance within percentile bands is more meaningful than using specific standard scores and percentiles. Stanines divide the distribution of scores into 9 percentile ranges numbered 1 to 9. The table includes students' names and ID numbers, sorted by last name. Individual stanine scores by student ID: The table includes only the student ID numbers and scores. Individual pre-post gain scores and percentiles: The table lists the pretest and senior exit scores for each student taking both and the gain scores compared to a national pre-post reference group. Available to programs conducting ACAT pre-post testing only. Pretest and senior exit tests must be given a minimum of 12 months apart to participate. Pre-post gain scores are available for biology, criminal justice, psychology, and social work. These scores are provided in the June final report only.
Do we get individual student scores on pretests? Only group data are routinely reported for pretests. We do not routinely include individual student pretest scores in our reports. ACAT used as a pretest is designed to assess only an overall cohort. If individual scores are made available, there is a possibility of introducing an inadvertent bias towards students who perform poorly.
|