Test Prep� Who Needs It?
Thursday, September 20th, 2007
With the fall calendar of college entrance testing fast approaching, I am hearing a lot of conversations about the need to do something to prep for �the test.� While I am not a fan of standardized testing, it still looms prominently on the horizon for most students as they assemble college application credentials. Even though 741 colleges and universities have made the submission of test results optional (topic for another day!), testing is still something you will have to deal with at most colleges.
So, what about test prep? Can it make a difference? If so, how/when do you get involved?
There is an emerging consensus among college access professionals that supports the long-held contention of the folks in the test prep world that tests are coach-able. In other words, students can usually improve their scores through exposure to a range of exercises including tutoring, practice tests, instructor-led programs and on-line courses. The key word here is exposure. If the first time a student experiences the SAT or the ACT is on a Saturday morning with the clock ticking and the results counting toward college admission, the outcome may not be a good indicator of that student�s true ability to handle the content of the test.
Good test prep will provide exposure in three critical areas. The first is an orientation to the dynamic of the testing situation. It is important to establish a comfort level with the format and pacing of the test as well as the rules of the test environment and the style of the questions that will be asked. Second, students should be exposed to question content that is similar to that which they will encounter on the actual test. Some test prep programs use �retired� tests for this purpose while others create close replicas intended to serve the same purpose.
Finally, good test prep programs teach students how to take the test. On the surface, this may not seem like a big deal. However, the ability to apply strategies that reduce the degree of uncertainty in some testing situations can make a substantial difference in the outcomes. The SAT, for example, is scored on the basis of correct answers and it can be argued that making �educated guesses� is better than leaving questions unanswered.
The trick is to find a right test prep solution that provides exposure in each of these areas and that provides a style of instruction that is best suited to how the student learns most comfortably as well as her/his degree of self-motivation. On-line courses work very well for some students and tend to be less expensive whereas other students benefit from the presence of a �live� instructor or even a one-on-one approach.
Important Tips for Considering Test Prep:
1.) Engage in instruction during the period that immediately precedes the actual test.
2.) Be discriminating about the claims of test prep companies to improve scores. Make sure the score improvement they reference is from one actual test to another, not from an actual test to the results of a practice test taken at the end of the course.
3.) Maintain perspective as there is a point of diminishing returns for involvement in test prep. Repeating test prep over and over won�t continue to bring incremental improvements.
4.) Prep the old-fashion way�read and write as much as you can and make sure you are well rested the night before the test.
