Sophomore Parent Meeting Amy Piazzon Collegiate Counselor Shrine High School 3/5/15

Sophomore Parent Knight Your cherub is ½ way though with his/her evaluable grades for the application process! Shocking but true! 3/5/15

A little history on standardized testing – In the Dark Ages- Colleges/Universities were test specific: Ex: Indiana- SAT vs Michigan ACT Coasts were predominately SAT vs middle America veered toward the ACT – Early 90’s colleges were less specific about which test they favored. Most schools accepted both. 3/5/15 Sophomore Parent Knight

– 2005 “optional” writing component added to both ACT and SAT. – 2006 concordances published for colleges to equate ACT /SAT scores – 2011 First time ACT surpassed SAT in market share for standardized testing. 3/5/15 Sophomore Parent Knight

ACT/MME/ Promise Award in Michigan – MME - 3 day standardized test sequence mandated in Michigan public schools. – Day 1 of MME: Free ACT – Prior to 2011, Promise scholarship made MME appealing to private and parochial schools – 2011 Promise reward was revoked resulting in most parochial/privates withdrawing participation. 15 Sophomore Parent Knight

MME at Shrine – Shrine continued to proctor the MME for the free ACT and opportunity to simultaneously test the entire class – Negative of the MME - 3 days of missed instructional time and 120 minutes of pre-testing “bubbling” for registering – Spring of 2014, Shrine decides to forgo MME due to increased lost curriculum time and gut feeling that something was awry with the “free standardized test.” 3/5/15 Sophomore Parent Knight

What this really means for you – Responsibility shifts to the family to register for standardized tests. You are quite capable! ACTstudent.org Collegeboard.org – Testing proctored on a Saturday-not a school day. – Accommodations are solicited by the family and verified by a school official 3/5/15 Sophomore Parent Knight

ACT vs SAT – Both are standardized admissions tests accepted universally and interchangeably by colleges and universities ACT – Comprised of 4 subsections and a writing section English, Math, Science, and Reading Composite score is an average of the subsections High score is 36 in each section/ 12 in the writing section There are 6 test dates annually: Sept*, Oct*, Dec, February*, April, and June* - * proctored at Shrine High School 3/5/15 Sophomore Parent Knight

SAT Multiple smaller sections, but main scoring divisions are critical reading, math and writing. Scoring ranges from for a max score of 2400, but the primary evaluable scores are the critical reading and mathematics sections which have a combined max score of SATs are offered in: Jan, March, May, June, Oct, Nov, and December Currently Shrine is not a national testing site for the SAT 3/5/15 Sophomore Parent Knight

SAT – Recent Announcement by the press that the State of Michigan is now an “SAT State” has no bearing on your cherub’s standardized test options. This is a reference to the free SAT offered as part of the MME. – Change was a financial decision. Rumors are circulating that SAT underbid ACT by $15 Million. ACT actually tried to appeal the decision. – Business decision for the state: war for market share within a multi-million dollar industry – Rumor has it that it is a one year contract 3/5/15 Sophomore Parent Knight

Previous Standardized Test Schedule at SHS 8 th Explore- Pre-ACT 9 th Plan- Pre-ACT 10 th PSAT 11 th PSAT- National Merit Scholarship consideration New Test Schedule 8 th HSPT 9 th Aspire- ACT’s newest pre-ACT format 10 th PSAT 11 th PSAT-National Merit Scholarship consideration Thus, our students are exposed to both test platforms prior to the Junior/Senior testing window 3/5/15 Sophomore Parent Knight

As if this wasn’t confusing enough…… The Class of 2017 will be the first class exposed to the Redesigned SAT which will launch in the March of 2016 Launch Dates March Free PSAT available on line May 2015-Khan Academy will have free PSAT, review and lessons for the new SAT October 14, National Test Date for New PSAT (which is the evaluable test for the National Merit Awards) November KHAN academy offers free customized SAT practice and review for students who upload their PSAT scores into their system March of 2016 –1 st administration of new SAT 3/5/15 Sophomore Parent Knight

Basic Changes to SAT -Redesigned to align with Common Core Curriculum 8 key changes: -relevant words in context -command of evidence -essay analyzing a source -math focusing on three key areas -problems grounded in real-world contexts -analysis in science and social studies -founding documents and global conversation -no penalty for wrong answers 3/5/15 Sophomore Parent Knight

Deliveringoppotunities.org  Offers 204 pages of explanation of changes  Provides full test specifications-including the exact number of questions per section  College Board’s attempt to be very transparent about the test content and the rational for the changes 3/5/15 Sophomore Parent Knight

Test Fees ACT+ Writing- $54.50 ACT No Writing-$38.00 SAT+ Writing-$54.50 SAT No Writing $43.00 Both ACT and SAT offer fee waivers for students who meet NACAC requirements 3/5/15 Sophomore Parent Knight

3/5/15 Sophomore Parent Knight Students who qualify for an SAT fee waiver will automatically receive 4 college application fee waivers uploaded to their SAT account.

Summary  -The standardized testing environment is rapidly changing and will continue to change.  -The best recipe for success is a challenging college preparatory curriculum  -Shrine students will continue to be exposed to both test platforms  -Students can take either or both tests for college admission consideration. THEY ARE VIEWED EQUALLY, but some students test more favorably on one of the formats  -The Class of 2017 will all experience the new PSAT and SAT- Burden of assessing those scores will fall to the Collegiate Admissions Counselors- concordances are being developed.  Standardized tests are only one factor in a holistic admissions review. 3/5/15 Sophomore Parent Knight