Even though 2020 is changing some college admission standards, I see the ability to perform well on standardized tests a money-saving endeavor. As a teacher who has been in the K-12 classroom and a parent of multiple children, there are some things I’ve learned about the ACT that have helped the kids in my house do well. Please note, this is not advice or a formula-many people succeed with other scenarios and methods. This is a snippet of what we’ve done in this household, what I believe, and what seems to be working well.
It is difficult to score well on any standardized test if a student is not in a regular habit of reading. Therefore, I believe the single, most determining factor in my children’s success was the love of reading formed in the early years that led to actively engaging in texts later on. My son never “sat” to read a book until 3rd grade--he was always in motion, enjoying driving his truck across the floor while my husband or I read to him. The girls climbed in or cuddled in our laps. The point is, reading was an enjoyable and pleasant experience where many questions were asked of them and asked by the kids to us. All of our children were vibrant/every day readers until middle school, when the love of friends or technology took precedence. Though they don’t read as often as they once did, the skills are embedded and they may occasionally read for pleasure.
I started with my oldest child taking the ACT in 8th grade. I wanted a baseline to measure how my kids were improving each year. This was my plan for all the kids, but the younger ones were highly motivated to keep up with their older sibling: the middle child took it as early as 6th grade, I held my youngest off until 7th grade, and my oldest skipped her junior year which changed my plans. About 40% of the math skills incorporated in the ACT are taught before high school, so I wanted the first test to be right before or during Algebra 1. (Math is often the subject most students want to raise and the one I’m most familiar with, so I’ll use it as an example.) As a teacher, I can only pinpoint the weak areas of a specific student if I have data. It’s my role as a parent to sign my kid up for this ACT multiple times in effort to take that data and do something strategic with it. Strategically moving ACT scores can be done by pinpointing the detailed score report which can be found in the student’s act.org account. These are the comparative results of one of my kids over 3 consecutive years:
During Algebra 1 During Geometry During higher Algebra
Having this data from each year during a high school math course tells me several things. The student is retaining the knowledge that s/he is practicing every day in the classroom and losing a little in the content areas s/he isn’t enrolled in. “Number & Quantity” is hit or miss and not consistent-therefore, that is an area to work on.
3. Junior year is the time to get academic achievements solidified. Though seniors can still take the ACT, many highly competitive scholarships take transcripts and ACT scores that are completed by the summer of 12th grade. For my kid above, having yearly data gives time junior year to focus on the weaker sub areas, instead of the whole standardized test.
4. Content knowledge and Test-taking strategies are 2 sides of the same coin. There is no substitute for having academic knowledge. For example, students without learning disabilities who are actively engaging with texts will usually have good basic grammar usage. Test-taking strategies are clearly important, but I believe are secondary to content knowledge and critical thinking skills. For example, one child could score a 22-24 on English with no “studying”, and s/he did so 2 or 3 times in the early high school years. A 10th grade teacher practiced a few questions each week with the students which improved familiarity. My teen read for 45 minutes a short book on English strategies, and improved the English score to a 35, which s/he scored 4 times in a row. The main points that improved the already “good” score:
If there were 2 answers that seem correct, pick the shortest, most concise answer.
If it’s not broke don’t fix it. If the answer “NO CHANGE” works, that is the answer.
About 25% of the answers in the English section are “No change”. Therefore, s/he would finish the test with 6 or 7 questions not so sure about, calculate how many “no change” answers were needed, and pick the questions most likely to fit that criteria.
5. The ACT tests offered in December, April, or June can be bought back. This means you can pay extra when you register for the ACT or 3 months after the test to get back the copy of the test, the test answers, and what the student answered. These are great study tools if students are willing to figure out why they got answers wrong.
6. Practice, practice, practice. I bought a huge ACT practice book, and I didn't think middle school was too early to start working on it. However, we don't spend tons of time or make this a stressful thing. The $20 book has gone a long way with all three kids, and we get to it when there is extra time in the schedule, or a test is coming up in the next month.
While these are a few tips I have implemented along the way, none of this works if I, the parent, am the only one motivated to get high scores. It’s the one taking the test who has to put in all the work over a long period of time. Cramming the night or week before a test isn’t effective in the long run. I see my job as the parent to give them every tool available, maximize their capabilities, put them in an environment where they can learn, and pay for the resources they are willing to use to study on their own. The end result is up to them.
