princeton review assessment. introductions presenter: donevera evans contact information: jennifer...
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Princeton Review
Assessment
Introductions
Presenter: Donevera Evans
Contact Information:Jennifer Anderson, College Readiness
Office Phone number: 800.273.8439 x5748
www.PrincetonReview.com
Who We Are
• The Princeton Review helps students at every stage of their educational careers.
• Classroom courses in 41 states and 21 countries.
• Private and Small Group Tutoring programs.
• We provide PSAT, SAT, SAT subject tests, ACT, AP subject, GMAT, GRE, LSAT, MCAT, USMLE, and TOEFL preparation.
• We publish a series of test preparation books, including the best-selling Cracking
the SAT.
• New software technologies such as handhelds, iPhone applications and podcasts.
What We Do Best
• Our entire business is focused solely on knowing the tests inside and out.
• We spend millions of dollars to make sure this happens. Tests change on a constant basis.
• It’s one thing to know how to increase scores, it’s
another thing to teach it so that students can put it into practice.
SAT ACT
3 hours and 45 minutes 3 hours and 35 minutes
10 sections: 3-Math, 3-Critical Reading, 3-Writing
(including an essay), 1-Experimental
5 sections: 1- English, 1-Math, 1-Reading, 1-Science,
1-Writing (with optional essay)
200-800, total score between 600 and 2400
1-36
Required for college admissions by most schools
Required for college admissions by most schools
Tests at a Glance
Tests at a Glance
SAT ACT
Math Basic Arithmetic, Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry
Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry
Science
None Charts/Experiments, Conflicting Viewpoints
Reading
Sentence Completions; short and long Reading Comprehension
Four long Reading Comprehension passages
Writing
Essay and Grammar
Essay (Optional) and Grammar
SAT Scoring
• Each section (Math, Reading and Writing) is scored on a scale of 200-800.
• The mean is around 500 for each section.
• The Writing score is a combination of Grammar (20-80) and Essay (2-12).
• The Grammar makes up about 70% of your Writing Score.
SAT Scoring
• Each correct answer earns 1 full point, regardless of level of difficulty.
• Each unanswered question earns a student 0 points.
• Each incorrect answer to a Student-Produced Response question earns a student 0 points.
• Students lose 1/4 point for each incorrect answer to a multiple-choice question.
ACT Scoring
• Each section (Math, Reading, English and Science Reasoning) receives an individual score from 1-36.
• The four scores are averaged into your Composite Score (1-36).
• There is no penalty for wrong answers. Do not leave anything blank! Use a “letter of the day”.
• English + Writing = 2/3 English + 1/3 Writing.
The Evil SAT “E” Section
• There are 10 sections on the SAT:– 3 math– 3 writing– 3 reading
3 + 3 + 3 = 10???
How do I interpret results?• Add your SAT Math, Reading, and Writing scores together from your PRA
score report. • Find the combined SAT score on the bottom of the chart. Draw a vertical
line up from that point.• Find your ACT Composite score on the left side of the chart. Draw a
horizontal line across from that point. • Look at the spot where the two lines intersect. If it falls in the white
area, the scores on the two tests are about the same. If it falls in the darker gray area, your ACT score is stronger. If it falls in the lighter gray area, your SAT score is stronger.
Reading Your Score Report
ACT Scores SAT Scores
PRA Scoring Chart
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
600
750
900
1050
1200
1350
1500
1650
1800
1950
2100
2250
2400
Your Combined SAT Score
You
r A
CT
Sco
re
Your SAT score is significantly higher than
your ACT score.
Your ACT score is significantly higher than
your SAT score.
Everything You Need to Know About the
SAT and ACT
What do SAT and ACT Scores Really Measure?
How well you take the SAT and ACT!
•Don’t take your scores personally.
•Scores are NOT a measure of your intelligence.
•Anybody, with the proper coaching, can learn how to increase their scores.
The Reputations
• Is the ACT really the lesser of two evils?
• Both are standardized tests and both are designed so that students will find them difficult to take.
• The ACT is still a tricky test. It is just more content based and a little friendlier!
Why Students Struggle with the Tests
SAT/ACT High School
Number of Questions on the exams
Designed so you can’t finish or you really have to rush to finish
Designed so you can finish
Answer Choices Written to trick students and filled with common errors
Goal is to assess strengths and weaknesses, not to try to get a student to answer all questions incorrectly!
Essay 25 min Hours & weeks
Reading Under serious time constraints
Read at home
Writing GRAMMAR! Grammar has little emphasis in most schools
Math Intentionally hard to understand and convoluted (especially on the SAT)
Straight forward
The Answer Choices
• The test writers are at their best when writing answer choices they know will lure you in!
• How do they know which choices you’ll like/not like?
– Students showed them in past experimental sections.
– People are PREDICTABLE!
Say hello to Joe
• Meet Joe Bloggs!
Test writers spends a lot of money getting to know JOE!
Joe Knows
Let’s see Joe in Action:
Pick a Number – any number!
• There is a little bit of Joe in all of us
• The answer choices on the tests are written for JOE!
Basic Strategies
Practice Makes Perfect• Students should take numerous practice tests!• Students should not under any circumstances
take the tests for the first time when it counts towards their admissions!
By taking several practice exams students
will • Increase their confidence & decrease test
anxiety by becoming familiar with the test• Increase their overall speed and accuracy
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Basic Strategies
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Study Practice Test Results
Too often we see students take one practice test, receive a score, and do nothing with that information.
Our practice test score reports give students a detailed breakdown of their results, not just their score in each section.
Take a practice test & dive deeply into the specific sections that you need to improve upon.
Basic ACT Strategies
There is no penalty for wrong answers on the ACT
• Pick a letter of the day and use that letter
every time you guess
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Answer Every Question
A A A A A A Not
A B A C D E A
Basic Strategies
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Use P.O.E.Process of Elimination
• Get in the habit of placing a line through the answers you know are wrong in the test booklet
NEXT Let’s review a sample problem to demonstrate P.O.E.
Guessing
What is the capital of Malawi?
Guessing
What is the capital of Malawi?A. Washington, D.C.B. ParisC. TokyoD. LondonE. Lilongwe
On the ACT, you want to use POE to guess, but when you run out of time at the end of a section, pick a letter of the day and GUESS!
Don’t do it on the SAT!
SAT Math
• Not difficult math. Everything you need to know for SAT math you’ve learned by the end of your sophomore year!
• Questions in 2 math sections of the SAT will be in order of difficulty. The first third will be easy, the middle third will be medium difficulty, and the final third will be hard.
• Keep in mind that easy questions will have easy answers. Difficult questions will have difficult answers.
• Knowing the order of difficulty in a test section helps you significantly when eliminating answer choices and determining your testing strategy.
ACT Math
• All the usual suspects are here; Geometry, Algebra, Arithmetic.
• The ACT also includes 4 Trigonometry questions. • Don’t let it scare you - SOHCAHTOA is all you need.
• The real scary part of the ACT is 60 multiple choice questions; 60 minutes – that’s 1 minute per question!
Let’s Do Some Math!
18. In the figure below, what is the GREATEST number of nonoverlapping regions into which the shaded region can be divided with exactly two straight lines?
A. 6B. 5C. 4D. 3E. 2
SAT Math
18. In the figure below, what is the GREATEST number of nonoverlapping regions into which the shaded region can be divided with exactly two straight lines?
A. 6B. 5C. 4D. 3E. 2
18. In the figure below, what is the GREATEST number of nonoverlapping regions into which the shaded region can be divided with exactly two straight lines?
A. 6B. 5
C. 3D. 2
SAT Math
18.In the figure below, what is the GREATEST number of nonoverlapping regions into which the shaded region can be divided with exactly two straight lines?
A. 6B. 5
SAT Math
18. In the figure below, what is the GREATEST number of nonoverlapping regions into which the shaded region can be divided with exactly two straight lines?
• B. 5
SAT Math
SAT & ACT Passage Based Reading
• These are little, open-book tests. Make sure you go back to the passage and come up with your own answer before looking at the answer choices.
• On long passages, the questions will appear chronologically. Speed up your search for an answer by knowing where to look!
SAT Sentence Completions
2. Although the beginning of the campaign was ______, later victories ______ the initial disappointments.
SAT Sentence Completions
2. Although the beginning of the campaign was ______, later victories ______ the initial disappointments.
(A) propitious . . nullified(B) unsuccessful . . complicated(C) inauspicious . . eclipsed(D) foreboding . . confirmed(E) unexpected . . magnified
SAT Sentence Completions
2. Although the beginning of the campaign was ______, later victories ______ the initial disappointments.
(B) unsuccessful . . complicated(C) inauspicious . . eclipsed(D) foreboding . . confirmed
SAT Sentence Completions
2. Although the beginning of the campaign was ______, later victories ______ the initial disappointments.
(C) inauspicious . . eclipsed
ACT Science Reasoning
Think of it as Technical Reading – you don’t need to be a science whiz!
• Basic understanding of the scientific method will help you out.• Not much science knowledge is needed.• Reading and understanding charts and graphs.
There are 3 types of science questions:1. Charts and Graphs: consists only of charts and graphs.2. Experiments : combination of reading text and charts and graphs in the
same question.• Fighting Scientists : much like the reading section, only reading text, no
charts and graphs.
This is a GREAT section to work out of order. Usually students find charts and graphs easiest of the questions.
Do those first!
SAT Writing/ACT English
Don’t believe your ears. Memorize the rules.
In the year 1492, Columbus discovered the New World even though he was actually trying to reach India.
SAT Writing/ACT English
Each night, the majority of people goes hungry.
The Essays
• How long do you think your English teacher takes to grade your essays?
• How long do you think your SAT and/or ACT graders will take to grade your essays?
No Joke!
Essays are graded in approximately 60 seconds
The Essays
SAT ACT
Scored on scale of 1-6 each essay, 2-12 combined
Scored on scale of 1-6 each essay, 2-12 combined
Not optional Optional
First section on the test Separate section, given at the end and is optional
Make a statement and defend it You MUST consider the opposing viewpoint
The biggest difference between the essays –
the question content!
Sample SAT Essay Prompt
A colleague of the great scientist James Watson remarked that Watson was always "lounging around, arguing about problems instead of doing experiments." He concluded that "There is more than one way of doing good science." It was Watson's form of idleness, the scientist went on to say, that allowed him to solve "the greatest of all biological problems: the discovery of the structure of DNA." It is a point worth remembering in a society overly concerned with efficiency.
Adapted from John C. Polanyi, "Understanding Discovery"
Assignment:Do people accomplish more when they are allowed to do things in their own way? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
Sample ACT Essay Prompt
In some high schools, many teachers and parents have
encouraged the school to adopt a dress code that sets
guidelines for what students can wear in the school
building. Some teachers and parents support a dress code
because they think it will improve the learning environment
in the school. Other teachers and parents do not support a
dress code because they think it restricts the individual
student’s freedom of expression. In your opinion, should
high schools adopt dress codes for students?
Essay Academics
Straight five-paragraph essay:– Intro: Take a FIRM stand! “I believe schools should require foreign language
because…” Explain your view, and why you believe it. Give examples!
– Body 1: Reason 1– Body 2: Reason 2– Body 3: Reason 3 (ACT only!) Address opposing view,
but show your side is better!– Conclusion: MUST have!
Essays – First Impressions Count
• Using the graders to your advantage:
1. Length counts. Use those lines2. Think before you write!3. Neatness will count4. Answer the question5. Conclusion6. Triumph of style over substance7. Keep it simple8. If you can’t spell it, don’t use it
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What does The Princeton Review do?
We provide a variety of comprehensive prep solutions.
• Private tutoring
• Live classes
• Online classes
• Books and software
Our most popular options are our 2 live courses.
SAT / ACT Course Differences
ULTIMATE!• 30 hours of prep, starting
at $999• Extensive in-class review
of homework, practice tests
• More time devoted to math drills, reading review, and vocabulary builder exercises
• Personalized feedback on your essay with Online Essay Grader
• Admissions and Financial Aid Primer
CLASSROOM!• 18 hours of prep, starting
at $599• Covers the most important
questions and information covered in the SAT or ACT
• Personalized feedback on your essay with Online Essay Grader
• Most of the manual is covered by the instructor, but students take more responsibility to go over some material at home
An Ultimate Student vs. Classroom Student
An Ultimate Student…• Needs more time over a
longer period• Prefers in-class practice with
instructor• Receives more precise focus
& guidance from instructor• Will receive comprehensive
fine-tuning of test taking techniques in the manual
• Wants additional support in demystifying the admissions and financial aid process
A Classroom Student…• Can do prep in a shorter time
span• Prefers to work on his/her own • Is fine with less personal
interaction & fine-tuning of skills with instructor
• Can take initiative to complete course work not gone over in class
• Would prefer less time spent in class due to busy schedule
Benefits
In our Ultimate course…
• TPR’s most comprehensive SAT course, including admissions and financial aid support
• Greater fine tuning of skills presented in class in all sections – but particularly in reading
• More individual attention from instructor
• Build endurance for a 4-hour long test with 4 proctored practice tests
In our Classroom course…
• TPR’s best value for test prep!• Gain confidence in testing
abilities & pacing• Flexible classroom options and
schedules• Build endurance for a 4-hour
long test with 4 proctored practice tests
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So how do I decide what course is best?
The Answer – What are your goals?– Preparation is a personal decision.
– Decide what is going to work best for you. – More is usually better but not always.– Make the commitment whatever you choose.– Choose the solution that will give you the greatest
chance to succeed with us. – Remember that preparation is the key to success.
Page 55
Let TPR be your guide
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