Review: The Perfect Score Project: Uncovering the Secrets of the SAT

Back when I went to high school things like the SAT and the ACT where not a big deal. I think I took the ACT and no, I don't remember my score.

Apparently things have changed dramatically. The SAT is very important. So much so, in fact, Debbie Stier, the author of The Perfect Score Project, took the test SEVEN times to prepare herself to help her son with the SAT.

In this book, Debbie Stier, who works in the publishing industry, writes of her family journey and her research into and practice for the SAT. Throughout the narrative she includes practical notes on taking the SAT.

My daughter is a year off from middle school age, so I will definitely keep this on my shelf for later. Even so, there were a few points from the book I find useful even now:

• Tricks on a test cannot make up for a poor foundation in a subject.
• Deliberate practice makes a difference and is not what most of us do when we practice. We need to practice those things we do not know not what we do know.
• Do not delegate the authority of your teens over to their peers. Parents/family need to stay the center of your teen's life.

If you want to have a resource of ideas about preparing for the SAT, this is a really good, practical book. If you would like an interesting, non-fiction read, this is a good choice especially since it is written as a narrative. If you want a parenting book, this is not it.

Find out more about the SAT and The Perfect Score Project on the website or Facebook page.

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review. The review also has affiliate links.

Free Assessment Tests Available

Just in case you wanted a source for state assessments which are free, here you are.  Texas releases their previous assessment tests and answer sheets.  Just  click here.  There are a variety of tests from grades 2-12. 

Standardized Testing

I decided to give my dd a "standardized test" just for the fun of it.  I found one at Internet4Classrooms.com.  It was from 2002 and available to print for free.  You know me and free!!!!

My dd hasn't been doing as well as I had thought, so it made me analyze what is going on with the test.  After all, it can't be my dd!  Here's some insights I've been gleaning from this process.

1. There are 3 sections to each subject (Reading, English/Language Arts, Math).  She gets gets better scores with each new section she takes.  My dd has never taken a test before, so this shows that she's actually learning a new skill as she gains familiarity with test taking. 
2. Verbage.  I have been teaching dd using correct terminology while this test simplified things.  For instance, "syllables" became "word parts."  "Alphabetical order" became "ABC order."  "Verb" became "action word." 
3. Subject matter.  This is nothing new.  I dealt with this issue when I taught in Christian schools, as well.  Standardized tests are geared to the public school system which they serve.  Therefore, when a Christian school or homeschool student takes the tests, there may be things they didn't cover that year because of the different curriculum used.  For instance, First Language Lessons doesn't cover comma usage, using the dictionary, or adjectives, so those types of questions were more challenging.  However, proper & common nouns and pronouns which were covered in the book were not tested.

So, there are my thoughts.  Would love to hear some other thoughts on the issue!

Another Reading Assessment

Ok, today we tried MindPlay at www.test4free.com. I like some aspects and dislike others.

It's convenient since its online. I introduced it to Micki as a computer "game," so it would have a better reception.

The test is online and is fairly long. It had 11 pages of 5 words each for phonics. You click a link to hear the word/sound and then select from about 6 choices in a pull-down menu. This got a little tedious for a 5 year old, but it did show how many you completed out of the eleven, so you could count down.

Micki had 3 short stories to test for comprehension. (I'm assuming older children would have more.) As you read the story, you select missing words from a pull-down menu of about 4 choices. This part went much quicker than the phonics section.

When you are finished, you are sent an email with a link for the results. You recieve a basic graph and some details about each test.

For instance under the phonics section, they noted under "Word Structure" Micki had difficulty wiht forming plurals and syllabication which is no surprise since we've only talked about simple plurals ending in -s and just started counting syllables in words.

What I thought was interesting was Micki had a harder time with the phonic sounds like "mib" or "sish" than she did with real words. With real words, she went right to the correct answer most of the time.

One thing that I didn't like about the comprehension section is the problem with any standardized test. There were a few times especially on the last story that Micki chose words that made sense but were not the "correct" choice therefore meaning she would get that one wrong. Oh, I also had to remind my creative daughter that we weren't making a funny, silly story but a "real" story with the right words. Again, she would have chose the wrong answer not because she didn't know it but because it would be more fun to put a hamster in a "pool" instead of a "cage."

Reading Level

I wanted to find some free online resources to check Micki's reading grade level. I have found some and will do a few different ones over the next week or two in order to check consistency in results and just for the fun of it.
The two tests listed below are for reading only not comprehension. Both were very basic and very easy compared to the tests that I had to give while student teaching.

http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/articles/060899.htm

In case you were curious, Micki scored 3.0 on one and 4.5 on the other. Either way, not bad for a first grader who just turned 5 last month.