There are many people that capitalize on the fear and stress that these little acronyms represent. High-stakes testing is important, necessary, and a decent measurement of college readiness. However, giving in to all the stress, anxiety, and fear is not beneficial for students or parents.
I want to offer another approach: A love for reading and learning the structure/rules of the test. So it's like this….If the SAT were compared to an arcade game, it would be like Arcade Hoops or Dance, Dance Revolution! Consider that if you are a high scorer in arcade hoops, you probably have some basketball shooting skills. Likewise, if you score high in dance revolution, you probably have played many times, have lung capacity, and have dance expertise. The same is true for the SAT & ACT. Both tests cover what you have already learned in high school. The key is reading and analyzing fast.
Let me say that again: Essentially, high-stakes tests are speed reading, comprehension, and analyzation tests. The crux of these tests is the fact that they are timed.
The way to score high is to become an expert reader, learn to comprehend what you are reading, and quickly apply what you have read.
Students take note! It pays to actually learn while you are in school. It pays to study for your tests and quizzes. It pays to retain the information you are learning. It really pays to learn to love reading books of all kinds. Start as soon as possible. Begin to define yourself as someone who enjoys reading. When you practice reading, you will begin to understand what you read. When you understand what you read, you can apply what you have read. If you can apply what you read, then you become a powerful person who is confident in learning independently. This is the first step to becoming an excellent high-stakes tester!
More Pro Tips for SAT/ACT:
- Start reading- subscribe to a book club, get a library card, and find topics that interest you
- Set a timer. Put all devices away. Begin at 15 minutes. Build up to an hour. Write a written reflection of what you learned.
- Invest in a course that will teach you the structure and rules of each test.
- Take PSAT seriously
- Take the test twice as a Junior
- Plan on taking the test twice as a senior
- When you have increased your score by 100-200pts, stop testing. You have hit the average increase.
- Take the test when you are able to get 7-8 hours of sleep the night before.
- Decide which test you feel most comfortable taking, and focus on that one test.
- Push yourself academically throughout your high school career, especially 9th-11th grade and the first semester of your senior year. Taking easy classes is not the way to increase your academic skills. The more you challenge yourself academically, the more curriculum you will have plowed through, which means more exposure to tested content.
