TABE Test

The TABE (Test of Adult Basic Education) is actually a set of tests given to adults to quantify their suitability for continuing education and training. The tests are designed to test adults who have had nontraditional educational backgrounds applying for continuing education or who are in the process of getting a degree or a certificate. They are used by admissions officers at technical colleges, degree programs, and certificate programs. They are also used to determine a candidate's improvement over the length of a program through testing at multiple points.

The TABE 9&10 is one of the most frequently taken TABE exams. It tests basic academic skills at a high school level with the goal of determining a candidate's ability to thrive at post-high school educational institutions. The content areas cover reading, math, language arts, grammar, vocabulary, and spelling. The math section tests knowledge from basic computation-adding and subtracting-to some operational algebra. There is also an applied mathematics component in which candidates must answer questions about estimation and ratios and even do some spatial reasoning. The reading section asks test takers to recall important information and draw conclusions and inferences from what they have read. There is a large focus on written expression. Grammar and usage are covered, but there are also questions about punctuation and style. There are also advanced-level exams and a CLAS-E (Complete Language Assessment System-English) exam for speakers of English as a second language.

Each TABE test has various levels from Literacy through Easy, Medium, Difficult, and Advanced. Literacy involves items associated with prereading, like identifying letter-to-sound relationships. Advanced more closely matches a high school curriculum. There is a screening test to determine which level a candidate should take to achieve the most accurate results. Tests are available on paper, via computer, or online to allow candidate's flexibility in taking the tests.

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