Any new or returning student who needs a valid math placement to take a Parkland College math course must have the required ACT/SAT scores or unexpired college-level math course credits or take Parkland assessment testing. A student that has submitted a final high school transcript with a senior math course of a C or higher along with an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher on an unweighted 4.0 scale is also exempt from taking the Parkland assessment test.
ACT/SAT scores, high school transcripts used for math placement will expire after a minimum of two academic years.
Parkland uses the Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces (ALEKS) service for our math assessment testing. Along with testing service ALEKS also provides testing preparation and learning modules.
HOW TO GET STARTED:
Review this chart to determine if you need to take a placement test. If you score into a desired course stop here and call 217/351-2219 to schedule an appointment with an Advisor. If you did not score into a desired course follow the steps below to setup your assessment test.
SAT MATH Score
|
ACT MATH Score
|
Parkland Course Placement
|
530-649
|
22-26
|
MAT 110,131,105,106,107,108,124
|
649 - 719
|
27-29
|
MAT 125,141,143,145,160,200
|
720 - 800
|
30 - 36
|
MAT 128
|
|
|
|
HS Transcript
|
|
|
Transition Math 003
|
|
MAT 110, 131, 151, 072
|
Transition Math 002
|
|
MAT 098, 134, 107, 108
|
Transition Math 001
|
|
MAT 105, 106, 124
|
Senior Math
|
C or Higher*
|
MAT 105, 106, 124
|
*Corresponding overall GPA must be 3.0 or higher on an unweighted 4.0 scale
Set up accounts/access needed for Math Assessment:
- Use your seven digit Parkland College ID found in your acceptance letter to create a ParklandONE account with the ParklandOne Password Station
- Access your Parkland Student email account using your ParklandOne credentials. (ALEKS will send you messages through your Parkland Student email account.)
- Access ALEKS PPL by using your ParklandONE credentials. (Please note, this link is the only way you will be able to access your ALEKS profile.)
Call 217/353-3333 if you need assistance logging in to the system
- Starting November 1, 2020 you will need to make an appointment for your ALEKS PPL proctored assessment, which does require a password.
The ALEKS testing service consists of three parts:
- Currently the initial placement assessment is un-proctored and is being used for placement. Beginning November 1, 2020 the initial placement will be proctored and require an appointment to take the initial assessment.
- The Prep and Learning Module, an individualized, self-paced online review.
- Access to four additional Placement Assessments, which need to be proctored.
The testing service is an online, adaptive system covering a broad spectrum of mathematics topics. The length of the assessment will vary but can include up to 30 questions. You will see some, but not all, of the math you have learned in high school. It is an assessment designed to identify if you are prepared for a particular course.
Topics covered:
- Real numbers (including fractions, integers, and percentages)
- Equations and inequalities (including linear equations, linear inequalities, systems of linear equations, and quadratic equations)
- Linear and quadratic functions (including graphs and functions, linear functions, and parabolas), exponents and polynomials (including integer exponents, polynomial arithmetic, factoring, and polynomial equations), and rational expressions (including rational equations and rational functions)
- Radical expressions (including higher roots and rational exponents)
- Exponentials and logarithms (including function compositions and inverse functions, properties of logarithms, and logarithmic equations)
- Geometry and trigonometry (including perimeter, area, and volume, coordinate geometry, trigonometric functions, and identities and equations).