ARCA Certification
Testing for comprehension.
The Academic Reading Comprehension AssessmentTM (ARCA) is a state-of-the-art assessment designed to measure the ability to analytically read and synthesize information from scholarly resources, draw inferences and infer author intent, and produce idiomatic translations of brief excerpts; it is used as the final for all Reading for Research seminars.
ARCA: ASSESSING REAL WORLD READING SKILLS
What makes the ARCA distinctive?
Methodology
ARCA does not utilize selected-response tasks (e.g. multiple choice, fill in the blank) in contrast to almost all existing conventional reading comprehension tests. Instead, test takers demonstrate their comprehension by completing tasks that demand they construct their own meaning of the text. These tasks include analytical reading, taking notes and summarizing; responding to open-ended questions that probe comprehension of inferential meaning and author intent; and translating a short excerpt into idiomatic English.
Authenticity
Because ARCA’s innovative test tasks were designed based on research defining the skills needed to access and read secondary literature in another language, test takers are assessed on skills that connect to the real world. The texts used in ARCA exams are excerpted from actual academic and professional resources. Furthermore – and entirely unique in reading comprehension assessment – test takers are matched with texts in their disciplines.
Meaningful results
ARCA results are not simply numbers. Because of the test’s design and methodology, the results are a representation of test takers’ real-world skills, and thus an accurate and reliable predictor of how well an individual will be able to read in a world language for academic or professional purposes.
Highly-trained test developers & graders
All ARCA developers and graders undergo rigorous training in test design and grading and an extensive certification process. This ensures that all ARCAs meet the highest quality standards, and that grading processes are fair, consistent, and reliable. All developers and graders also hold postsecondary degrees, and thus an understanding of how and why one reads for research purposes.
To learn more about the ARCA format and view sample exams, visit our ARCA Format page.