What is COMPASS?
The COMPASS program is a series of basic skills assessments completed on a computer. Developed by American College Testing (ACT), COMPASS stands for COMputer-adapted Placement Assessment and Support Services. This assessment allows you and Northwest Iowa Community College to work together to help you succeed in your courses. The COMPASS scores indicate your reading, writing and math levels to ensure the appropriate course selection.

Who takes the COMPASS?
COMPASS is required of all students who did not take the American College Test (ACT) in the past 5 years. If you did take the ACT you must forward your scores to the NCC Admissions Office. If we do not receive these scores, you will be required to take COMPASS before registering for your courses.

How do I schedule a COMPASS appointment?
The COMPASS assessment is offered several times per month. Please contact the NCC Admissions Office to schedule a time that works for you. Call 1-800-352-4907 or 1-712-324-5061.

What is the cost of the COMPASS Assessment?
The COMPASS Assessment is free. There is a $25.00 charge to report the COMPASS results to another college or university.

But what if I have no computer experience?
COMPASS is user friendly and was designed for individuals with little or no computer experience.
Our staff will assist you in getting started. COMPASS is self-directed. You will use a few keys to select your choices or you will highlight your responses as you move through the different tests. COMPASS is untimed! You can work at your own pace.

What will I be tested on?
The COMPASS will focus on reading, writing and math skills. We have provided some sample questions in this brochure. What makes COMPASS unique is that it adapts to your abilities...questions increase in difficulty depending on your skill level.

COMPASS reading focuses on items that assess reading comprehension through passages of varied topics. The COMPASS writing passage allows the student to edit text that has a variety of errors. Writing skills include grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure as well as strategy, organization and style in effective writing. In COMPASS mathematics, a variety of items are covered within five content domains: numerical skills/prealgebra, algebra, geometry, and trigonometry. Dependent on your answer, the computer determines the appropriate domain or domains of testing. Calculators are allowed for the mathematics assessment.

What if I fail COMPASS?
COMPASS is not a pass-fail test. It was developed to
assist in college academic advising and course selection. The results help you choose courses and make appropriate career choices. In other words, your scores will indicate where your academic strengths and needs lie in relation to college level work for your chosen major. Should you require assistance, NCC offers developmental courses as well as free tutoring in our Learning Center.

Tips
1. Relax! The COMPASS tests are designed to help you succeed in college. Once you identify your strengths and weaknesses you can select the appropriate courses to help you improve your skills.
2. Arrive a few minutes early so you can locate the assessment area, rest rooms, and “gather your thoughts” before testing.
3. Ask questions if you do not understand the process for COMPASS. NCC staff is available to assist you!
4. Read each question carefully until you understand what the question is asking.
5. Try to respond to all items presented to you even if you are not certain of the answer.GOOD LUCK!

Samples

Reading Skills

Passage
Adapted from Gretel Ehrlich, The Solace of Open Spaces,
Copyright 1985 by Gretel Ehrlich

When I’m in New York but feeling lonely for Wyoming I look for the Marlboro ads in the subway. But the men I see in those posters with their stem, humorless looks remind me of no one I know here. In our hell-bent earnestness to romanticize the cowboy we’ve ironically disesteemed his true character. If he’s “strong and silent” it’s because there’s probably no one to talk to. If he “rides away in the sunset” it’s because he’s been on horseback since four in the morning moving cattle and he’s trying, fifteen hours later, to get home to his family. If he’s a “rugged individualist” he’s also part of a team: ranch work is teamwork and even the glorified open-range cowboys of the 1880’s rode up and down the Chisholm Trail in the company of twenty or thirty other riders. It’s not toughness but “toughing it out” that counts. In other words, this macho, cultural artifact the cowboy has become is simply a man who possesses resilience, patience, and an instinct for survival. “Cowboys are just like a pile of rocks—everything happens to them. They get climbed on, kicked, rained and snowed on, scuffed up by the wind. Their job is “just to take it”, one old timer told me.

According to the passage, cowboys are probably “strong and silent” because:

A. Their work leaves them no time for conversation.
B. They have been cautioned not to complain.
C. They are stern and humorless.
D. There is no one nearby to listen to them.
E. Their work makes them too tired to talk.

Answer:
D

Writing Skills
Sample section of an ACT writing essay Copyright 2000 by ACT
COMPASS participants use the mouse to click on each section of the essay that may be problematic. From the list of alternative text selections, participants select the “best fix” for the problem.
An increasing number of lakes and rivers in the northern United States invaded are being by a mussel no larger than a fingernail.
The zebra mussel probably steamed aboard a transatlantic ship sometime in the mid-1980s from the Caspian Sea into U.S. waters. Despite its growth was explosive, partly because the species was preyed upon by very few native predators in its new environment. As a consequence, the zebra mussels did find a plentiful food supply. They eat huge amounts of phytoplankton, which tiny free-floating sea organisms that swell in water. Scientists are concerned when the mussels may compete aggressively with other species that depend on the same food supply.

Question 1
A. was preyed upon by very few native predators in its new environment.
B. found very few predators in its new environment.
C. found very few native predators and was seldom eaten in its new environment.
D. was preyed on by very few native predator species in its new environment.
E. was seldom eaten or preyed on by native predator species in its new environment.

Question 2
A. Scientist are concerned when the mussels
B. Scientist are concerned that if the mussels
C. Scientists are concerned wherein the mussels
D. Scientists are concerned that the mussels
E. Scientists are concerned as if the mussels

Answers:
1. B
2. D

Math Skills
1. What is the average (arithmetic mean) of 8, 7, 7, 5, 3, 2, & 2?
A. 3 4/7
B. 4 5/6
C. 4 6/7
D. 5
E. 6 4/5

2. Linda is making toys for the next arts and crafts sale. Each toy costs Linda $1.80 to make. If she sells the toys for $3.00 each, how many will she have to sell to make a profit of exactly $36.00?
A. 12
B. 20
C. 30
D. 60
E. 108

3. What is the equation of the line that contains the points with (x, y) coordinates (-3, 7) and (5, -1)?
A. y = 3x - 2
B. y = x + 10
C. y = -1x/4 = 8
D. y = -3x/4 + 11/4
E. y = x + 4

Answers:
1. C
2. C
3. E