Assessment in ALEKS is an important and serious event. It is essential that assessments be conducted according to certain guidelines and in the proper spirit. If there is an atmosphere permitting disturbances or distractions, students will not obtain the benefits the system is capable of providing. If assessment results are inaccurate, the system will give the student inappropriate problems and progress will initially be impaired. The system will recover and find the right level, but the student may still experience a degree of frustration. In order to avoid this, it is strongly recommended that the first assessment be taken under the instructor's supervision (See Sec. 3.9).

All students being assessed need paper and pencil. No calculators are permitted in assessments for Basic Math, but simple calculators without symbolic or graphing functions should be available for students being assessed in Algebra. A basic calculator is part of ALEKS. Most important, no assistance may be given---not even to the extent of explaining or rephrasing a problem. Students should be encouraged to use the "I don't know" button when they do not know what to do. It is not possible to return to previous assessment questions; students should not click their browser's "Back" or "Forward" buttons when using ALEKS.