Testing

Despite all the recent controversy you have heard about the SAT, national college entrance exams are still required by most colleges and universities for admission consideration.  It is important to keep perspective and remember that standardized test scores are only one of the criteria for getting into college.

Traditionally, 10th or 11th grade students take either the PSAT/NMSQT or the PLAN before taking the SAT or the ACT.   These tests serve as practice tests for the SAT and ACT; they are qualifying exams for various merit scholarships; and they provide valuable information regarding academic strengths and weaknesses that may need remediation.

ACT or SAT?
You might wonder why your teen has to choose between the SAT and the ACT.  Until recently, the ACT was traditionally required by colleges in the Midwest, and the SAT was the test of choice in the northeast and on the east and west coasts.  But now an increasing number of students are taking the ACT, and the majority of schools in the United States now accept both SAT and ACT test results.  While the SAT and ACT are very different tests, they both fulfill the same role in the admissions process.  (However, students should check the admission requirements at each school to which they are applying.)

This increased acceptance of the ACT gives today’s students a strategic advantage.  The SAT and ACT are significantly different tests, and in many ways, they measure different skills.  So depending on your teen's particular strengths and weaknesses, he/she may perform much better on one than the other.  As a result, many students are now considering both the SAT and ACT and taking the test that provides a better showcase for their abilities. 

The SAT measures verbal and mathematical reasoning abilities.   The ACT measures English, mathematics, reading, and science reasoning abilities.  The ACT is a content-based test, whereas the SAT tests critical thinking and problem-solving.  This perception is one reason many educators (off the record) express a preference for the ACT, because they believe that the ACT is closer to testing the “core curriculum” taught in most school classrooms.  Many questions on the ACT do test critical thinking, but the SAT and ACT reward different attributes.

Some Differences

The ACT includes a science reasoning test; the SAT does not.

The ACT math section includes trigonometry.

The SAT tests vocabulary much more than the ACT.

The SAT is not entirely multiple choice.

The SAT has a guessing penalty; the ACT does not.

The ACT tests English grammar; the SAT does not.

Approximately 500 colleges also require three SAT Subject Tests.  Students should take these exams at the completion of a subject rather than waiting until the fall of senior year.

SAT Reasoning Test

Your teen may need to take the SAT because it is an admission requirement of the college he/she is interested in attending.   Many colleges require the SAT for admission because it is a standard way of measuring a student's ability to do college-level work.  Because courses and grading standards vary widely from school to school, scores on standardized tests, like the SAT, help colleges compare your teen's academic achievements with those of students from different schools.  But remember that your teen's SAT test score is just one of many tools that help colleges make admission decisions. The new version of the test eliminated the verbal section, replacing it with a critical reading section and a writing section.  Each section is scored out of 800 possible points and, combined with the math section, brings the total points possible to 2400 instead of 1600. According to the College Board, "the test is more closely aligned with what students are learning in high school and in college.  It will continue to be a good indicator of students' reasoning skills. There's a high level of comparability between the old and the new." The critical reading section includes both short and long reading passages featuring the same kinds of questions as before. Reading passages don't just test reading but require extended reasoning in order to answer the questions related to the passage.  This means that your teen has to be able to make inferences, assumptions, and interpretations based on the passage provided, in order to understand what the author is trying to say.  The analogy questions have been completely eliminated from the test and have been replaced with a new writing section.  In this section, students are asked to write an essay that requires them to take a position on an issue and use reasoning and examples to support their position.  Students will also answer multiple-choice questions that measure a student's ability to identify sentence errors and improve sentences and paragraphs.  The types of questions on the writing section are similar to those on the former SAT II Writing test, so the College Board will be discontinuing that subject test.   The math section now includes topics from third-year college preparatory math, including exponential growth, absolute value, functional notation, and negative and fractional exponents.  Many math items can be answered by using complex equations, but they can also be answered correctly by reasoning through the problem.  The test takes three hours and forty-five minutes and is given seven times per year, although it is given in Santa Clarita during certain months only. No test can accurately predict with 100 percent certainty what your teen's grades will be in college. That's because many factors, including personal motivation, influence college grades.  However, colleges use SAT scores to help estimate how well students are likely to do at its school.  For example, a college looks at the SAT scores, high school grade-point average (GPA), and college grades of its freshman class. Knowing your SAT scores and high School GPA helps the college make a decision about how likely it is that a students will do well at the school. When your teen requests score reports to be sent to colleges, his/her copy of the report will show the SAT score ranges for the middle 50 percent of enrolled freshmen for those colleges, if available. In the spring of 2016, there will be a redesigned SAT that will focus on the knowledge and skills that current research shows are most essential for college and career readiness and success. The exam will reflect the best of class work and will include evidence-based reading and writing with a reading test, a writing and language test, math, and an optional essay.   SAT Subject Tests Subject Tests (formerly SAT II: Subject Tests) are designed to measure your child's knowledge and skills in particular subject areas, as well as his/her ability to apply that knowledge. Students take the Subject Tests to demonstrate to colleges their mastery of specific subjects like English, history, mathematics, science, and language. The tests are independent of any particular textbook or method of instruction. The tests' content evolves to reflect current trends in high school curricula, but the types of questions change little from year to year. Many colleges use the Subject Tests for admissions, for course placement, and to advise students about course selection. Used in combination with other background information (high school record, scores from other tests like the SAT Reasoning Test, teacher recommendations, etc.), they provide a dependable measure of academic achievement and are a good predictor of future performance. Some colleges specify the Subject Tests they require for admissions or placement; others allow students to choose which tests to take.   All Subject Tests are one-hour, multiple-choice tests. However, some of these tests have unique formats: The Subject Test in Biology E/M contains a common core of 60 general-knowledge multiple-choice questions, followed by 20 multiple-choice questions that emphasize either ecological (Biology E) or molecular (Biology M) subject matter. Before testing begins, your child must choose which test he/she will take, either the ecological or molecular. Students are not allowed to take both tests in one sitting. The Subject Tests in Mathematics (Level 1 and Level 2) have some questions that require the use of at least a scientific or graphing calculator. Mathematics Subject Tests are developed with the expectation that most students will use a graphing calculator. There are no plans to discontinue or change the content of the Subject Tests in Mathematics Level 1 or Mathematics Level 2. The Subject Tests in Languages with Listening (Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish) consist of a listening section and a reading section. Students taking these tests are required to bring an acceptable CD player with earphones to the test center.   Which Subject Tests should your child take? Before deciding which tests to take, your child should make a list of the colleges he/she is considering. Then he/she should review school catalogs, College Search Engines, or College Handbooks to find out whether the schools require scores for admission and, if so, how many tests and in which subjects. Your child should use this list of colleges and their admissions requirements to help plan his/her high school course schedule. He/she may want to adjust his/her schedule in light of colleges' requirements. For example, a college may require a score from a Subject Test in a language for admission, or the college might exempt a student from a freshman course requirement if he/she does well on a language Subject Test. Many colleges that don't require Subject Test scores will still review them since they can give a fuller picture of your child's academic background. If your child is not sure which Subject Test to take from a subject area, he/she should talk to a school counselor. Most students take Subject Tests toward the end of their junior year or at the beginning of their senior year. Your child should take tests such as World History, Biology E/M, Chemistry, or Physics as soon as possible after completing the course in the subject, while the material is still fresh in his/her mind. Foreign language tests should be taken after at least two years of study.

 

PLAN helps tenth graders build a solid foundation for future academic and career success and provides information needed to address school districts' high-priority issues.  It is a comprehensive guidance resource that helps students measure their current academic development, explore career/training options, and make plans for the remaining years of high school and post-graduation years.

PLAN can help students who are college-bound as well as those who are likely to enter the workforce directly after high school.

As a "pre-ACT" test, PLAN is a powerful predictor of success on the ACT Assessment, which is broadly used for college entrance and placement decisions.   At the same time, many schools recognize the importance of PLAN testing for all students, as it focuses attention on both career preparation and improving academic achievement.

Typically, PLAN is administered in the fall of the sophomore year.  The Achievement Tests are English (50 items - 30 minutes), Mathematics (40 items - 40 minutes), Reading (25 items - 20 minutes), and Science Reasoning (30 items - 25 minutes).  These curriculum-based tests cover the skills and knowledge that are commonly taught in the nation's schools and are judged to be important for success in both high school and college. The tests measure what students know and what they are able to do with their knowledge.

 

 

 

For students, PLAN can:  

stimulate thinking and planning for life after high school

assess status of academic preparation for postsecondary education

support meaningful high school course selection for junior and senior years

relate personal characteristics to educational and career options

help focus test preparation to improve ACT scores

provide an estimated ACT Assessment Composite score

ACT

The ACT Assessment is designed to assess high school students' general educational development and their ability to complete college-level work.  The multiple-choice tests cover four skill areas: English, mathematics, reading, and science.  The thirty-minute writing test, which is optional, measures skill in planning and writing a short essay.  The ACT Assessment measures the knowledge, understanding, and skills that your teen has acquired up to now.  Although the sum total of this knowledge cannot easily be changed, performance in a specific subject matter area can be affected by adequate preparation.

 

Students should familiarize themselves with the content of the ACT tests, refresh their knowledge and skills in the content areas, and identify content areas they have not studied.  The tests emphasize reasoning, analysis, problem-solving, and the integration of learning from various sources, as well as the application of these proficiencies to the kinds of tasks college students are expected to perform.

 

Your teen should be sure to check whether the ACT is required or recommended for any of the colleges to which he/she is applying.  He/she should check application and scholarship deadlines and pick a test date that is at least two months ahead of these deadlines.  It typically takes four to eight weeks after a test date to receive score reports.  In addition to providing a composite score and scores for each of four skill areas, the ACT Assessment also provides two subscores in English, three subscores in mathematics, and two subscores in reading. Two scores are reported for the optional Writing Test: a Combined English/Writing score and a Writing Test subscore. ACT also provides some comments about each student's essay.

There are advantages for your teen to take the ACT in his/her junior year.

He/she has probably completed the coursework corresponding to the test material.

He/she will have test scores and other information in time to influence the senior year. (For example, he/she may decide to take an additional class in an area in which the test score was low.)

Colleges will know of his/her interests and have scores in time to contact him/her during the summer before senior year, when many of them are sending information about admissions, course placement, scholarships, and special programs to prospective students.

Your teen will have the opportunity to retest if he/she feels the scores don't accurately reflect ability. ACT research shows that of the students who took the ACT more than once:   55% increased their composite score 22% had no change in their composite score 23% decreased their composite score

You can get more information about the ACT Assessment below:

	Preparing for the ACT Assessment—A free booklet available through most high schools and colleges which includes valuable information about the test and a complete practice test with scoring key.
	You can find a full set of sample test questions, along with complete answer explanations, test-taking strategies, and detailed analyses of each section of the ACT Assessment in the ACT's Student Site.

 

The PSAT/NMSQT (Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test) is a preliminary version of the SAT.  Although it's shorter, the PSAT has all the question types and tests the same knowledge as the SAT.  In fact, virtually all of the techniques and strategies that apply to one, apply to the other.  Scholarship committees look at your teen's PSAT scores from their junior year when determining award eligibility.  However, many students take the PSAT as sophomores for practice to give themselves risk-free exposure to the exam's format, question types, and content.

The PSAT serves as an invaluable practice opportunity for the SAT.  In addition, students can compare their test score to SAT scores achieved by students at colleges on their wish list. If their scores are low compared to the college averages, they may want to begin formal preparation for the PSAT and SAT.  Since the exam is designed to test skills acquired over a period of time, early preparation is often the only way to see a significant increase in test scores.

The PSAT is slightly more than two hours and is made up of two 25-minute critical reading skills sections, two 25-minute math problem-solving sections, and one 30-minute writing skills section.

Within the math sections, there are three question types: Regular math (20), quantitative comparisons (12), and grid-ins (8) —just like the SAT. This section is designed to test a student's ability to solve problems and make quantitative comparisons between equations and numbers. It is also designed to test a student's grasp of the basic principles of arithmetic, algebra, and geometry.

Within the verbal sections, there are three question types: Sentence completion (13), analogies (13), and critical reading (26) — just like the SAT.  This section is designed to test a student's vocabulary, thinking, and reading skills.  It's important for your teen to read actively and work diligently to build his/her vocabulary by reading books, newspapers, and magazines in and out of school.

The 30-minute writing skills section includes 39 multiple choice questions, dealing with identifying and correcting grammatical errors. This section includes three question types: Usage (19), sentence correction (14), and revision-in-context (6).