The CPE and the ACT

There are two main writing examinations that CUNY students must pass: the CUNY Proficiency Examination (CPE) and the ACT. The CUNY Proficiency Exam (CPE) requires students to demonstrate academic literacy. The CPE tests: reading and interpreting textbooks and material of general interest; organizing and presenting ideas and connecting those ideas to other information or concepts; writing clearly and effectively for an audience; and interpreting and evaluating material presented in charts and graphs. The ACT is used in determining students' readiness for college-level courses, initial course placements, and readiness to exit from remedial, developmental, and English as a Second Language (ESL) course sequences. Students cannot enter senior colleges unless they have passed all three ACT exams: reading, writing, and math.

The ACT

What is the ACT Exam?

The CUNY/ACT Skills Tests in Reading and Writing are replacing the skills tests (CUNY WAT and RAT) that were used in these subjects before 2000.

The CUNY/ACT Basic Skills Tests in Reading and Writing include three parts:

1. There is a 24-item, 25-minute Reading Skills Test. This part of the ACT uses reading passages from several texts and has multiple-choice questions based on them. The texts are college-level and are selected from existing textbooks or other appropriate materials.
2. There is a 36-item, 25-minute Writing Skills Test. This part of the ACT is a test of editing skills. Students are asked to choose best versions of sentences for particular purposes.
3. There is a 60-minute Writing Sample. In this part of the ACT, students must compose an essay in response to a prompt that asks them to choose one of two alternative proposed solutions to a problem and to present an affirmative argument for it.

Students who do not pass the Reading and/or Writing Tests will be placed into appropriate developmental or ESL courses to acquire the necessary skills before being retested. No one can take the test again without taking a course. Students who achieve a passing score on one test will be retested only on the test they did not pass.

For more information on the ACT Exam, visit the CUNY writesite. You may also pick up a copy of a very comprehensive resource guide to the ACT in the Testings Office, which is located in M149.

What can students do to prepare for the ACT?

There is currently far more support for students preparing for the ACT than there is for those gearing up for the CPE.

Students can visit the CUNY writesite. At the writesite, they will find detailed information about the test as well as sample exams. Also, students can receive assistance at the Writing Center

The CPE

The Writing in the Disciplines committee aims to help professors find ways of ensuring that students are prepared to excel on the CPE.

Basic information about the CPE:

• Students must pass the CPE in order to graduate from LaGuardia.
• Students must take the CPE for the first time between the 45th and 60th credit.
• New transfer students with 45+ credits take the CPE in their first semester at CUNY.
• Students may take the CPE for the first time during the semester in which they are registered for their 45th credit.
• Students must be in good academic standing. If their gpa is below 2.0, they will not be allowed to take the exam.
• Students are allowed to take the CPE 3 times.

Frequently Asked Questions about the CPE:

What does the exam require of students?

During the first two hours of the exam, students compose essays that require them to demonstrate their analytical reading and writing skills. Approximately two weeks before the exam, students receive a 6-8 page reading selection to be studied in advance. At the time of testing, students are given an additional 1 to 1 ½ page selection. Students at that time also receive an essay assignment that is in paragraph form. One sample topic is as follows: With these reading selections by Howard Gardner and Lewis Thomas in mind, write an essay in which you discuss error and learning. In your essay summarize Howard Gardner's criticism of the schools. Draw a relationship between Gardner's ideas and what you have just read about the value and utility of error. In light of the reading selections, describe your own experience or observations of learning, either in school or out. Discuss the degree to which your experience does or does not reflect the ideas of Gardner or Thomas or both. You may address these points in any order, but be careful to respond to all parts of the assignment and to connect your thoughts into a single, clearly organized essay. Make specific references to the readings to support your ideas. In the last hour of the exam, students are given two charts and a brief reading passage-on the same or similar topics. This part of the CPE tests students' abilities to analyze and integrate material from graphs and text. In a short written response, they must state the major claim(s) of the reading selection and discuss the extent to which the data support or challenge the major claim(s).

Where can faculty members and students get more information about the CPE?

For sample student essays, explanations of the scoring process, and a sample examination, visit http://www.cuny.edu/cpe. Students may obtain a copy of the CPE information booklet (which contains exam administration information as well as a sample exam, sample student essays, and an explanation of the scoring process) at the Testings Office M149.

Has the university come up with official guidelines for helping students prepare for the exam?

Yes! Here they are:Faculty members and tutors may: Analyze and explain the test requirements and vocabulary (e.g., summary, paraphrase, attribution, reading graphs and tables). Help students become aware of skills and strategies that they already have. Model effective practices, using materials not related to the test. Teach outlining and other strategies students might use to gain understanding of the long reading selection. Organize peer study groups in which students preparing for the exam discuss, outline, or study the reading on their own. Develop practice tests. Explain the scoring scales and help students to consider their own practice attempts in light of the scales. (Terms like "focus" and "link" can be elucidated). Offer techniques for stress reduction. Responsible help precludes: Predigesting materials (e.g., preparing summaries or outlines) of the test readings distributed in advance by CUNY. Teaching, presenting, or discussing the content of the readings distributed in advance. Using any actual CPE test materials, either past or current, for practice unless they have been released by CUNY specifically for that purpose. Evaluating practice answers as `passing' or `failing.' Teaching all-purpose `formulas' for essays.

What are some suggestions for helping students prepare for the CPE Task I?

Preparing the Reading Selection Suggest that students reread the selection several times if possible and mark up their copies. Outlining is an effective way to study the material (however, students may not use previously prepared outlines or notes during the test). Checking the meaning of unfamiliar words in advance, especially if they seem important, will increase understanding of the selection and may save time during the test. Knowing What is Expected Students will benefit from an explanation of the exam format. They must answer all parts of the question. Although the writing assignment asks them to discuss several points, this must be done in the form of a single, unified essay. The writing assignment asks the students to summarize sections or points from the readings. Students need to know that it is not to their advantage to summarize the entire reading; in fact, it will count against them if a large portion of an essay is unfocused summary. The prompt asks for discussion of some aspect of both reading selections, and students should be careful to do that. They should be aware that in order to `draw a relationship' they must state what the second author says. The assignment also asks students to discuss the topic in light of their own knowledge or understanding and to compare their ideas to those of one or both authors. This analysis should constitute a substantial portion of the student's essay. Good essays have a focus that is made clear to the reader and that holds the different parts of the essay together. Linking ideas clearly and effectively strengthens the essay. The purely mechanical use of ordering or transitional words, however, does not substitute for genuine linking. Since the writing assignment requires students to discuss and refer to the readings to support their own ideas, they are expected to know how to select appropriate references and when and how to quote and paraphrase, as well as to identify their references. It is not necessary to use formal citation; however, it is essential to identify the source of quoted or paraphrased material or ideas. The criteria for scoring indicate clearly what the readers will look for. As the scoring scale makes clear, the readers will not expect error-free prose. In-class writing, even by experienced writers, is rarely totally free of errors. Readers will expect, however, that students take the time to check their writing to make it as clear and correct as possible. Students may find it helpful to: Use other readings (or the topic in the information booklet) to plan a practice essay. Develop a plan for using their time when they take the exam. In particular, develop a strategy for approaching the second reading. Break down the scoring rubric. Look at the samples and the commentary in the information booklet and discuss how the essays could be strengthened.

What are some suggestions for helping students prepare for the CPE Task II?

Working with Charts and Graphs The charts and graphs used for the CUNY Proficiency Exam have a limited number of variables and have been pre-tested for readability and level of difficulty. Unlike the material students might find in a textbook, however, where graphs and charts are typically used to illustrate the text, the graphs or charts they encounter on the CPE will be from different sources and may present conflicting data. Students might find it helpful to: Identify where and how they encounter or have used graphs and charts. They might begin with text books, and also look at newspapers, news magazines, and data available on the internet, for example, from sites like the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Understand that charts or graphs provide a different medium for information that may also be expressed in words. It may be useful to `translate' from one of these forms of expression to the other to identify the possibilities and limitations of each form. Make sure that they understand the difference between whole numbers and percentages and are alert to which of these a particular chart or graph represents and how that affects interpretation. Review these terms used in the question: claim, support, challenge. Practice identifying the "main claims" of some practice readings. Discuss what kind of evidence might be used to support these claims. Practice constructing a chart or graph from information given in a text. Practice interpreting charts or graphs in a collaborative group. Ask themselves, "How many things is this graph telling me?" Review the scoring scale, noting particularly that the higher scores require the student to make several points about the data and to go beyond the prompt to analyze the data. Review the sample answers and the commentary. Review one another's practice answers for completeness and clarity.

Are there specific tips for creating writing projects that prepare students for the CPE?

Take a look at the writing activities you already assign to students and assess whether or not they require students to summarize a particular reading or concept, compare and contrast texts or ideas, and relate their own experience to readings. If your writing assignments require students to do these things, you can point out to your class that these are the same type of skills they are going to be evaluated on when they take the CPE. Integrate summarization into your course by having students write weekly summaries of the key concepts you've covered. For example, you could give students a choice of three concepts from class textbook. They would have to condense and put into their words the concept they have chosen. Some weeks you could give students five or ten minutes during class to compose their summaries. Other weeks you could have students write their summaries at home. Such assignments would serve as a review of the course material while at the same time ensuring that students have the skills they need to do well on the exam. These summaries could also replace quizzes on course material. See the CUNY WriteSite for more information about what it means to summarize written material. Integrate compare and contrast writing activities into your course by occasionally supplementing textbook readings with short articles or essays on related issues. You could then compose an essay topic that encouraged students to draw a relationship between these two texts. In fact, the first stage of this assignment could involve students summarizing a main idea in the textbook. Then, once they have completed the summary, you could give them the shorter reading and, at the same time, distribute the essay topic (perhaps similar in format to the sample CPE assignment) requiring them to draw a relationship between the two readings. Such an assignment would probably be most appropriate for concepts or issues that are particularly important for students in your course to master. The essay could be composed at home or in class. It could even be an essay exam question. When assigning writing projects, encourage students to use examples and quotes from their readings. If students need help learning to integrate examples and quotes into their writing, they can go to the Writing Center to work with a tutor. The student should bring the assignment, the source she is quoting from, and a rough draft of her paper. If there are graphs in the textbook you are using, try to find a way to encourage students to review them and assess them in writing. For instance, you might ask them to summarize what they think the graph is saying. Or you might ask them to write about the information itself (e.g., Who has assembled the graph? What age or professional group is being studied? What groups have been excluded?).

Is there any other support available for students?

The college is currently in the process of developing ways of more formally supporting students as they ready themselves for the CPE. In the spring semester, a series of CPE orientation sessions were held in order to help students understand how the test is structured, what the graders look for, how to shape their responses to the CPE, how to manage their time during the exam, and how to respond to Task II. Check back here for a listing of the orientation sessions to be offered during the fall of 2002. We are also in the process of designing an on-line discussion board for students wishing to converse with other students about the reading distributed prior to the exam. Check back here for more details about the status of this project. The Writing Center is not, at this time, able to provide support to students in their preparation for the CPE.