In a broader context, learning analytics is envisioned as a tool for improving education in nearly any environment. One new company, Junyo, was created to “make learning data actionable and fun to improve each student’s achievement.”
With so little time available for yet more studying while school is in session, summer is perhaps the most popular time to prepare for standardized tests. In particular, summer is the perfect time for high school juniors to begin preparing to take the ACT or SAT test in the fall. The same goes for seniors [...]
Many college-bound students will be spending time this summer prepping for SAT or ACT exams, either with private tutors, in group settings or on their own. … With sympathy for their plight, I searched online for some low-cost ideas on how to make preparing for the SAT or ACT over the summer “fun” – or at least a little less boring.
An article this week in the New York Times highlights how the high-stakes, testing-driven competition for a top-rated education continues to intensify in the US – and how tutoring is deemed crucial to students’ success.
As you probably know, The College Board (creators of the SAT test) and ACT, Inc. (creators of the ACT test) both now have “benchmarks.” These benchmarks are reported to serve as predictors of college and career performance, based entirely on how students score on the tests.
As a tutor or teacher you might well be asked: What’s a good SAT score? That depends on a student’s goals and the college(s) she or he wants to go to.
College-bound high school students face intense pressure around preparing for standardized admissions testing – including choosing whether to take the SAT or the ACT. While it’s generally recognized that neither test is “easier” or “harder” than the other overall, their formats are different – so one might be better suited to a particular student than the other. But which?
In the US, mandatory standardized testing on the national level has primarily been put forth as a public policy strategy, with the aim of establishing stronger accountability measures for public education. … But what has not been a credible part of the standardized testing debate in the US is the idea of making such a test a high-stakes, make-or-break determinant of students’ professional aptitude, college admissions, etc. … In stark contrast is the situation in China…
But is this “holistic” approach to admissions really about students? Or is it about the competitive marketing to college-bound students among the schools themselves? … And are test scores really optional at top-tier institutions just because the school’s policy says so?
At what point in the junior year is it best to take the SAT or ACT? Here the answer can be different for every student.
