As the long, lazy days of summer fade into the cool, crisp autumn days of homework, schoolwork and football, many parents and students are beginning to think about the next step toward college -- SAT or ACT testing.
Watching “Gameday” on Saturday during the fall excites juniors about the next step in their schooling, while it may stir different emotions in their parents. Both groups know that there are many factors that will determine where a student goes to college. Such factors include grades, activities during Upper School, AP and Honor classes, and yes, SAT and ACT scores.
While students spend many hours balancing school work and extracurricular activities, they do not spend as much time learning how to take standardized tests. They will often see a discrepancy between their academic performance and their SAT scores and feel they have failed in some way. The most common comment made by many parents is that “I was not a good test taker and neither is my child!” Although there exists some truth that test anxiety depresses scores, there is not identified test-taking gene.
Research shows that the SAT scores increase when a student takes a prep class. The amount of increase is due to many factors. The classes teach testing taking strategies and, thus, lower test-taking anxiety. These courses help students to become familiar with the testing room, procedure and types of tests. This helps to reduce some of the apprehension that students feel. Scores improve drastically for students who have no underlying learning gaps. A combination of test prep classes and a private tutor may benefit students with content gap more than just test prep classes alone.
As director of the Glenn Teaching & Learning Center, I talk with parents each week who want more information on ways that their child can improve standardized test scores. Our learning specialists, Jean Bonnyman and Anna Yarborough, often work with students to identify the best preparation methods. We also work with private tutors and with AppleRouth ® Tutoring Services to offer a series of tutoring classes this fall. AppleRouth allows students to participate in mock tests and experience test preparation. I strongly encourage your child to enroll if you meet one of the following criteria:
· Your child may not be self-motivated enough to do the studying on his/her own.
· Your child is an anxious test-taker (confidence translates to real score increases!)
· Your child is having trouble finishing the test during the time constraints.
· Your child has a goal of a particular score and is having trouble making that score.
Fall classes will fill up soon, so reserve your child's spot now. To register, simply visit applerouth.com/signup and enter the event code SAT1558.
