What are the important dates for this exam?

September 1 - October 28: Regular Registration Window
October 30: Test instructions sent out via email by Quia
November 2: Exam window opens and payment must be postmarked.
December 11: Exam window closes.
End of January: Results mailed to sponsors

Do I need to be an NJCL to participate in this exam?

No. Any school, chapter, or organization may participate regardless of whether they are members. However, NJCL chapters pay no additional fee for shipping and handling, which is $15 for all other participating organizations in the U.S. and $25 for those outside the U.S.

Who may register or proctor students for this exam?

Those registering for this exam and/or proctoring this exam must be adults over the age of 21.

What is the best way to prepare my students for the exam?

Please see our Exam Preparation Page for more details on methods of studying and practicing for the exam, as well as materials for you and your students to download. For the most part, students will already be prepared for many of the questions, having learned some of the material in English classes, from lessons in derivatives and etymology, and through practicing for standardized tests. We highly encourage students to download the free exams and exercises. As an organization, the NJCL has been administering derivatives exams to students for almost 50 years.

How long has the National Junior Classical League (NJCL) been administering this exam?

The NJCL has been offering the National Classical Etymology Exam (NCEE) since 2011. As an organization, the NJCL has been creating and administering Latin and Greek derivatives tests to students for almost 50 years. Our organization was founded in 1936, and our member teachers are some of the most knowledgeable and dedicated. They excel in creating exams suited for the classroom environment and for preparing students for standardized tests.

Are there awards for students who have not taken Latin or Greek classes?

Yes. The NCEE has an entire division just for students who have never taken a Latin or Greek class. These students will receive their own awards, which will be divided into three levels, the Novice (grades 8 and below), the Intermediate (grades 9 and 10) and the Advanced (grades 11 and 12). During the registration process, under the Level of Latin or Greek, select the choice "0 (no Latin or Greek)" and the student will automatically be entered into this new division. Last year many hundreds of non-Latin or Greek students took the exam.

Who creates the exam?

The exam is is created and edited by a select committee of teachers and educators. Their goal is to create an exam that fairly tests a student's knowledge of Latin and Greek derivatives and that provides an accurate measure of how that student will perform on the English portion of standardized tests. For more information, see our page about the NCEE Committee.

Is late registration available?

We have extended the regular registration to include the time formerly open for late registration, but schools already registered can add students throughout the exam period with no penalty. Schools who have not registered during the assigned period should contact us. The cost for late school registration will include an additional $4 per student.

I want to sign up for 20 exams early, but I will not know until later which students will actually be taking the exam. Can I register now or do I need to wait and pay the higher registration fee once I know the names?

You should register in the early period for the number of exams you think you will need and use placeholder names like Student 1, Student 2, Student 3, etc. You will be able to log into the system later and change the names through December 5.

Help! I have already registered X number of students, but I would like to add more. How do I do that?

In order to add students (or modify existing information) during the registration period, go to the NCEE registration page and enter the email address that you used in order to create your account. At that point, you will be provided an option to "Update an existing registration." Click the button to modify or add your students.

I have already registered for the exam, but now I would like to add more students. Can I do that, and what is the additional cost per student?

During the registration period, you may log into your Quia account and add students for $5.00 each. Once the registration period is over, you may still sign up students to an already existing account until the last day of the exam period, but you MUST follow the instructions contained in the email from Quia. The email containing this specific information is going to be sent to you just before the examination window opens (see top of this page for exact dates).  If you want to register a new school after the registration period, you need to contact us. 

We are a homeschool group. What method of proctoring the exam should we use?

If you are a homeschool parent, group, or organization, please use your last name and homeschool as the school - i.e. Curler Homeschool. You should select a proctor who is NOT the teacher of the student(s), such as a neighbor, friend, or non-teaching parent. If you have any further questions, please contact us.

I would like to change the name of a student. How do I do that?

If you wish to change the name of students during the registration period, log into your Quia.com account at any time to change or substitute the names of your students.If you wish to change the name or information of a student after the start of the examination window, you must follow the instructions contained in the email from Quia. The email containing this specific information is going to be sent to you just before the examination window opens (see top of this page for exact dates).

I added students during the November-December testing period. How do I pay the NJCL the $5 registration fee per student?

At the end of the testing period, you will receive an electronic invoice by e-mail from the NJCL for any additional students who were added during the testing period. The remaining balance must be paid in full to the NJCL prior to the dispensing of all results and awards to your school.

HELP!!! I am trying to get to the registration website, but I am unable to access it. What do I do?

Both the registration and the administration of the exam are hosted by Quia.com. If you cannot access the registration website, it is likely that your school or district's firewall is blocking this site. You should contact your technical support department and request that quia.com be granted access through the firewall. If your technical support department affirms to you that quia.com has been granted access and you are still having issues, you should contact us at OnlineTests@njcl.org as well as inform Quia of your difficulties at help@quia.com to see if they are able to remedy the situation. We will do whatever we can to help in your situation, but we if we are to help, we must be informed of the issue.

The website states that all students should take the exam at the same time. That is not really possible in our situation. What should we do?

We understand that everyone is under different constraints based on their local situations so we are trying to be flexible. All we ask is that teachers try to stay as close to the official expectations as possible. In some cases, that means that the exam is administered each period of the day. In some home-school situations, that means that the exam is given at a location with a wireless connection and individual laptops. In some circumstances, the parent of a home-school student has arranged to proctor the exam. If you are uncertain about your proposed plan, please e-mail us at OnlineTests@njcl.org

I have a student with special needs or a disability. Can this student take the exam, and if so, how do I coordinate properly?

Yes, this student may take the exam. If you think that your student requires extra time or help from a testing proctor to key in the answers on the computer, we require at least 5 business days of notice. This allows us time to work with Quia in order to make the necessary changes to your student's testing account. For more information, or to set this up for your student, please e-mail us at OnlineTests@njcl.org.

Help! I am giving the exam and having problems. What should I do?

You may e-mail technical support at help@quia.com.

When will I receive information about my student accounts?

Quia will e-mail account information, passwords, and testing instructions two days before the exam window opens. If you have not received an e-mail by the day before the exam window opens, contact help@quia.com.

Is a practice exam available?

Yes. Go to the NCEE Preparation Page.

What are the technical requirements needed to be able to take this exam?

Quia has technical requirements available at http://www.quia.com/help/tech/system-requirements.html

Is it possible to pay by credit card, or must a check be mailed?

Go to the ONLINE TESTS sectino of the payment page. You need the confirmation nymber from Quia.  

I have not paid my NJCL dues for this year. Is my school eligible for the chapter discount?

Yes! If your school was an NJCL Chapter last year. Please renew your membership prior to January 15 to retain your eligibility for the discount on the National Roman Civilization Exam and the National Latin Vocabulary Exam, which are to be administered in February and March.

Are there different exams for the various levels (Novice, Intermediate, Advanced), or is it only the scoring that differs?

The exam is the "same" for all students (each actually gets an individualized exam due to the randomization that takes place), but we divide the groups into two divisions and three levels . We then use the scores within those two groups to determine the results for each group. Students who have not had a Latin or Greek class will compete in their own division.

We want to offer the exam to our non-Latin students as well as our Latin students. Can they take the exam?

Absolutely! The exam is open to all students, regardless of whether they are taking Latin or Greek. If your school has an NJCL chapter, then you are eligible for the NJCL chapter discount. We encourage all of your students to become JCL members and participate in our members-only activities as well.

The registration website requires me to enter a level of Latin (or Greek) for my students, but my students are not taking Latin (or Greek). What should I enter?

Select 0 (no Latin or Greek) for their level.

The registration website requires me to enter a grade level for my students, but my students are home-schooled or do not have a standard grade level. What should I enter?

Enter the grade level that would be appropriate for each student if he or she were in a standard classroom. For example, if the student is age 14, enter grade 9. You may use your best judgment.

We have two teachers at the school registering for the exam separately. When we printed the two invoices, we were charged the school fee twice. What should we do?

If you want NJCL to make two shipments of results, one package per teacher, then both school fees would apply so that NJCL can cover the shipping costs.

If you want NJCL to put all the results in one package for your teachers to sort out and distribute to your respective students, then submit both invoices together with one payment from the school, crossing off one of the school/organization registration fees and adjusting the total amount accordingly.

Do I need to notify Quia if I am running multiple testing sessions throughout the day?

No.

We have a group of students who will be gone on the day we have selected for our administration of the exam. Can we give the exam on multiple days?

We greatly discourage this if there is any way around it, but we are also trying to be as flexible as possible. We would ask that schools doing so issue a warning to their students similar to this one: Any cheating that is discovered will not only affect you and your score, but may also result in the disqualification of all scores from this school.

Can we choose any date during the examination window to administer the exam?

You may choose any date during the examination window to administer the exam. We suggest choosing a date at least a week before the end of the exam period so you have time to solve any issues that might arise.

The website says that the deadline for registration is October 27, but payment is made later, once the invoice is sent. Is that correct?

Registration ends a few days before the examination window in order to give Quia time to generate usernames and passwords and to distribute the information. Wait to send your payment until you receive an invoice from NJCL.

Although there is a registration deadline, you may add students during the testing period, by following the directions in the Username and Password email sent by Quia. An invoice will be generated by the NJCL and emailed to you for any students added during the testing period. The remaining balance must be paid in full to the NJCL prior to the dispensing of all results and awards to your school.

I could not access the PDF files listed in the sources. Where can I get those files?

Latin Derivatives Dictionary

Greek Derivatives Dictionary

Do I need to stop my students after a certain time?

When your students finish the exam, they should click the button to submit their answers. If they fail to complete the exam within the allotted time, the system should automatically submit their answers at the end of the 45-minute testing window.

My students just finished the exam and are eager to find out if they have earned an award. When will they learn whether and what type of award they have won? What exactly are the awards, and how are they determined?

Once your students are finished with the exam, you will be able to log into your teacher account at Quia.com to view your students' raw scores. This will provide you with some information. The full results of all of your students will be opened in your Quia account approximately 10 days after the close of the exam window, at which time you may log back into your Quia account to view the full results. While this will give you an overall idea of how each student performed on the exam, you will not know the exact awards until they are announced in early January. The reason for this is that we are unable to begin to determine the award winners until after all of the results are registered and sorted.

There are two divisions of awards, one for students who are taking Latin or Greek classes (or have previously taken them) and one for those who have not taken a Latin or Greek class. For each division, there are three levels of awards. The groups are divided into Novice (8th grade and below), Intermediate (9th and 10th grades), and Advanced (11th and 12th grades). We then use the scores within those two groups to determine the results for each group. There are three levels of awards within each division: gold, silver, and bronze. Each level is calculated on a percentile basis based upon the final results. The exact percentiles will be determined after all of the scores are in.

If you have not received your individual results and medals by late January, please contact the NJCL office to make sure that your invoice has been paid.

Will the complete set of results be published at njcl.org?

No. In order to preserve the security of students' names, the results and medals will be mailed to each individual teacher in early January. We currently do not plan to publish the complete list of results online. We will, however, publish the score ranges for the medals as well as some basic statistical information. To view that information, click HERE.

I would like to print out certificates for my students. Where do I find those?

The certificates may be downloaded from the NCEE Main page