Our top priority: An Innovative Placement Exam

An effective course placement system begins with an effective placement exam.
Read about some of our innovative features not found in any other placement exam.

An Intuitive Student Interface




Four-Function Calculator

A built-in calculator is available on select problems (it can also be disabled, or enabled for the entire exam for students with accommodations).

Individual Problem Timers

Keep students on pace with gentle timing reminders. Fully customizable to accommodate students with special timing requirements.

Multi-Device Friendly

Students can use desktop/laptop computers, tablets, and even smartphones to access placement exams, results, and practice materials.

Simple Student Input

Students input answers by entering integers into boxes, eliminating problems with complicated symbolic entry and guessing on multiple choice problems.

Answer Formatting Assistance

We want to know if students know the mathematics, not whether or not they can figure out how to enter it! To help, our software detects input errors that students may make, and helps them format their answers correctly.

Embedded Reminders

Placement exams have different objectives than quizzes and tests given during classes. We want to know if students will be successful in a particular course, not whether they know all of the answers right now. Many students have learned material previously and forgotten it, and with some review would succeed in the course despite answering some prerequisite problems incorrectly on the placement exam.

Our algorithm identifies answers that particular students may have answered incorrectly for this reason, and shows them the correct, step-by-step solution using the same numbers as the student's problem. Then, a similar problem with different numbers is given, and the latter attempt is weighted more heavily in the scoring.

By asking students if they'd like a reminder and then seeing how they do on the same problem with different numbers, we can estimate how well a student may be suited towards courses that build in extra support, such as co-requisite models.

How it Works

A problem is answered incorrectly

Our algorithm determines that this student may know how to do this problem, but has forgotten.

The step-by-step solution is shown

The student can see the fully worked-out solution to exactly the same problem that they just answered incorrectly.

A second attempt is given

Scoring takes both attempts into account, but puts more weight on the second attempt at the problem.

Go beyond "right" and "wrong."

Students taking placement exams provide much more information than just their answers. We collect this data for use in your placement algorithms, suggesting materials for practice, and even for use in the courses for which they eventually enroll.

Reliability

It's a reality of online testing that some students may use outside resources, skewing results. Proctored exams generally give better results, but this isn't always feasible. Our proprietary technology estimates the reliability of a particular online exam, and allows you to decide how this information is used. Learn more.

Self-Assessment

For each problem, students indicate their level of confidence in their answer, providing a self-assessment of their preparation. This allows you to identify topics with which that students are having trouble, but think they are doing correctly.

This information is available by topic for individual students, for your student body, or by any group of students that you choose. For instance, a listing of topics to review can be very useful for course instructors after placement.

Review and Retake

This value is an estimate of how likely it is that this student, if they were to review and retake the placement exam, would score higher on the subsequent exam attempt. This is, of course, only an estimate, and is based on the types of problems on which students tend to improve their performance on subsequent attempts.

Remediation

Do you offer some courses with embedded remediation and support, just-in-time materials, or co-requisite models? Our remediation score can help you identify students who may be best suited to benefit from these course styles.

Our exam will sometimes show a student an embedded reminder of how to correctly complete a problem that was just answered incorrectly, and then follow up with a similar problem with different numbers. Together with student confidence measures, this allows us to estimate how effective these course models may be for particular students, allowing you to focus resources.

Multiple-Measures Placement Algorithms

Though our placement exam provides one of the best single data points for student preparation, it cannot provide the entire picture; no single exam can. We make it seamless to incorporate other measures into your placement decisions.

Placement Algorithm Editor

Create your placement algorithm as a series of simple "If-Then" statements. This creates an easy to understand placement algorithm.

Incorporate student data including SAT/ACT scores, previous GPAs, course history, and even any custom data that your institution wants to use.

Test changes to your active placement algorithm by changing values and running hypothetical placement tests to see the results.

Track how your algorithms are doing by looking back later to see which If-Then statements were used by specific students, which resulted in success in the following courses, etc.

Pathway-Based Placement Results

Provide students and academic advisors with a clear interpretation of placement algorithm results by showing which courses to take on one or more pathways.

Easily create as many pathways as appropriate, with fully customizable results on each.

Eliminate the need for on-the-fly interpretation of raw exam scores, SAT/ACT scores, GPAs, etc., and build everything into a simple interface.

Assess Placement Effectiveness with Detailed Statistics

Methods for correctly placing students into courses require constant assessment. We provide details statistics that can help you evaluate how things are going, produce reports for governing bodies, and fine tune your placement algorithms.

Assess student performance by placement result

Quickly and easily generate reports on student performance in specific courses categorized by their placement results. Easily see how to fine tune placement algorithms based on these results.

Comprehensive Real-Time Dashboard

See at a glance, placement exams currently being taken, recent placements being made, new account requsests from students, system status and activity logs, etc.

Student Pathways From Placement Through Courses

Various tools for generating reports showing the pathways being used by your students from placement and through your course sequences.

Visualize this data in various forms, including the Sankey Diagram as shown here, where the size of the connections denotes the number of students following each pathway.

Flexible Pricing Options

Per Exam Pricing

Pay for our services based on the resources used; a simple price per exam, per student account created, etc.

Full Site License

Pay a fixed fee based on full-time equivalent (FTE) student enrollment, and use as many exams and/or student accounts for your students as makes sense. Make usage decisions based on academics instead of finances, and know your annual costs up front.

Please contact us for pricing details or to request a quote.

Software Features

Managing all aspects of placement exam administration is a tough job. We provide all of the tools you'll need!

Quick and Easy Setup

Be up and running giving placement exams in a matter of days (setting up advanced features and systems integrations can take some time).

Real-Time Results and Stats

Monitor placements being made in real-time for planning course offerings and allocating resources.

Customizable Login Credentials

Have students log in using your institutional ID numbers, date of birth, or other credentials that you choose.

Simple Student Lookups

Search for students based on institutional ID number, name, or other information, all from a single search bar.

Your Branding and Logos

Brand your exams with your logo, color schemes, etc.

Custom Placement Algorithms

Customize your placement algorithm to use exam scores, SAT/ACT scores, GPAs, or any other data you have.

Flexible Retake Policies

Decide how many attempts at exams students should have, and under what circumstances.

Custom Survey Questions

Collect answers to survey questions of your choosing as a part of each student exam.

Disabilities Accommodations

Modify exam parameters and settings for students with disabilities, including time extentsions, calculator access, etc.

Pathway-Based Placement

Placement results tell students which specific course to take on a variety of pathways, based on the student's educational goals.

IP Restrictions

Control access to different exams using IP-based restrictions to access certain exams at certain times.

Remote Proctored Exams

If you choose to require exam proctoring, you can also configure remote exam proctoring on a case-by-case basis for proctoring situations that you approve.

Create Custom Exams

Do you have exam content that you're happy with, and want to deliver it through our interface to make use of all of our reporting tools? Not a problem!

Systems Integration

Tools to allow integration of placement algorithm results with your Learning Management System and Student Information Systems.

Simple Data Transfers

Data transfer to/from our software is flexible and simple. No more creating custom formatted data files, our software learns your data formats.

Flexible Account Creation

Upload student information beforehand, or allow students to request accounts on the fly.

Create Custom URLs

Create different URLs for different uses, including staff logins, students from home, proctored terminals, schedules and reservations, etc.

Email Contact Tools

As deadlines approach, send email reminders to students who have not yet completed their exams.

FERPA-Compliant Security

We take data security and privacy extremely seriously. All student data is safely encrypted during all communications.

Staff Roles and Permissions

Full control over which of your staff members are authorized for specific tasks and specific data.

Security Audits

To prevent unauthorized access and data breaches, we continuously perform security audits against our own servers, looking for flaws, users with weak passwords, etc.

Integrated Support Tickets

Have students ask policy questions through a secure, FERPA-compliant web portal. Simplify responding to them by having designated staff monitoring new questions in one location.

FAQ Manager

Maintain a listing of frequently asked questions on your support page, to help students learn about your placement policies.

Schedules and Reservations

Easily create schedules for proctored exams and integrate them into your website. Allow students to make reservations for exams, notify them upon cancelations, etc.

Feature Requests and Input

We're still developing Place for Success. Not only will we be adding new features, but we want to know what features you'd like to see. Working with us early means input on development!

Place for Success is currently in Closed Beta Testing.

Want to hear more about our placement system, or request a demo?
Want us to let you know when we're available at your institution?
Just fill out the form below and we'll be in touch!

Place for Success

Place for Success is a full featured, multiple measures math placement and skills assessment solution for students transitioning to higher education.

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