On February 24th, I wrote a post on whether college entrance
exams predict college success, citing evidence that they do not. However, they
still remain a fact of life for many aspiring college students since a
significant number of colleges still use them as one criterion for admittance. (The
list of colleges that don’t require them is here: http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional.)
Although written in 2009, an excellent article on testing
and prep was published in Westchester Magazine and can be found here: http://www.westchestermagazine.com/Westchester-Magazine/November-2009/To-Prep-or-Not-to-Prep/.
This section is pretty interesting: “Prep can include learning (or re-learning) actual
material, but what many in the test-prep industry mean when they talk about
prep is a “method”—or, some might say, tricks. These include taking practice
tests to become comfortable with the format (and save time by dispensing with
name-writing and rule-reading quickly), concentrating on early questions (which
are easier but have the same point values), eliminating answers that are clear
“traps” (for instance, math questions requiring multiplication to solve often
have false answers that seem correct and which you could get from simple
addition), and guessing rather than leaving answers blank (after omitting just
one answer choice, a student is statistically better off guessing than leaving
a question blank). “There’s no doubt that familiarity with the peculiarities of
the test and how they can be handled can make a big difference,” says Lee Hart,
a private math tutor in Purchase.”
As parents, what can we do to help our children
perform as well as possible? First, work with your child’s guidance counselor
to plan out a reasonable testing schedule so that it takes into account when
students have the most content knowledge and when it accommodates the many
other important activities in which the child is involved. For example, if the
student might be looking at quite rigorous schools, taking SAT II’s at the end
of sophomore and junior years when content knowledge is still fresh may be
helpful. In the fall of junior year, thinking about a schedule for SAT’s and
ACT’s can allow for planning of desired test prep and lessen the stress of
taking all of the tests in a short time-frame.
Second, think about the type of test prep that
works for your family. It could be a local test prep company, entering the
lottery for MIT’s reduced-price test prep (ati.mit.edu), or self-studying
(check out http://ineedapencil.ck12.org/
and others).
Finally, help your child with the registration
process (watching those deadlines so you’re not paying late registration fees
or being closed out of local seating, requiring searching for geographically
distant test locations). Encourage them to be ready the night before with their
ticket, ID, pencils, etc. – and talk about the no-electronics policy and how
the child will survive for four hours without sending/receiving a text :).
A good night’s rest, a solid breakfast
and a couple laps around the block wouldn’t hurt to be ready either. (I know, I
know – they are teenagers – but we do the best we can!)
Now is a great time to check in with MHS guidance
counselors to start thinking about next year’s plan – especially since school
staff are working to help your child finalize their schedules. They are ready
and willing to partner with you on behalf of your child!
