The College Board just opened up registration for the fall SATs for the priority groups. Registration for everyone starts June 3. https://blog.collegeboard.org/2020-sat-dates-need-to-know?excmpid=FB-ED-CB-1

Erica Meltzer has a nice analysis of this decision over on her blog at The Critical Reader https://thecriticalreader.com/university-of-california-will-drop-sat-act/?fbclid=IwAR1O5fmD8wVaE-624pfYj_KBfu70-Q99LWVXjXhwq5bV-RV2Co8VZkLftDo

I'm a long time SAT/ACT tutor. Here are my favorite ACT books that I recommend to folks. And here are my top 8 ACT tips

@mom2scouts - I have no idea what the College Board or ACT will do. However, right now international kids have the take the ACT online (at a text center location - and I assume they will be cancelling those b/c of the pandemic) I assume the ACT folks are accelerating their online access here in the states - in the fall it was scheduled to be available at certain test centers. Maybe they will be expanding access? The SAT says the are looking to expand access to tests in the fall- so that any kid who wants to take it will be able to find a seat. And I'm sure you already know that the ACT has planned for kids to be able to take just one subsection in the fall (instead of having to take the whole test again). I'm betting that more schools will be forced to go test optional come fall.

Hi all - The College Board just cancelled the June SAT test dates. However, they have added a new test date for Sept. You can sign up for fall dates starting in May. (Also - many schools are going to test-optional for next year) https://pages.collegeboard.org/collegeboard-covid-19-updates?fbclid=IwAR3jlZAHkIyOzW07oBhaMMXHsw11U0EoVS4biyTOxRZ8AEol1wOyc_CGSfo

I was in your shoes a year ago. We hired a Barton tutor for 2x a week. She LOVES her tutor and has made leaps and bounds in her reading. For the past year we've demphasized any physical reading and turned to audio books. (because her interest level outstrips her skill level at the moment) She "reads" several books a week - we've got through Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Spy School. She now has an unlimited budget for audio books. The second she says she wants to read a book, I immediately get the audio book into her hands. We have a Audible subscription, and Epic! subscription, and a Scribd subscription and we get audio books from the library. I wanted to start her on Latin, but our tutor said reading second language (where the same letters make different sounds) is incredibly difficult for dyslexics, and so pointed us to American Sign Language instead.

I know this might be too late your your dd, but this might help other students in the same boat. Quick and easy ACT math hack: SLOW DOWN and focus on getting the first 30 questions correct. Here's why it works: The questions are arranged in order of difficulty, so the first 30 questions are the easiest ones on the test. It makes no sense to rush through and miss an easy question because now you have to get a medium or hard question right in order to break even. I also show students the scoring table so they can see they how many questions they can miss and still get the score they want. (By realizing they only need 45 correct answers, for example, it makes it easier to slow down and focus on those 45 questions, knowing they are going to "skip" 15 harder questions)

Hire an experienced SAT tutor that can give her a couple sessions focused exclusively on the math. A few sessions can make a world of difference. (Many students increase their math score 50 points after one session because they start using better strategies) I want to love Khan Academy. I do love it for math review on targeted topics. But I don't love their SAT prep. They tell you how to solve that one problem. But they don't teach you underlying strategic solving techniques (draw a picture, make a chart, etc) that can apply to many problems. You can check with your local high school counselor to see if they have recommendations for test prep tutors. Or private college counselors often have favorite tutors they refers folks out to.

Students do A LOT of growing and learn A LOT of school content between freshman year and junior year. I wouldn't be too concerned. If the student is 99% on other standardized tests, then I expected they will probably score in the same range on the SAT in a few years. I usually recommend that students don't start focusing on SAT until after their sophomore year. Here are my favorite books that help with both the content and strategy for SAT prep.

@rlestina - I'd look for an SAT tutor, not a math tutor. (Full disclosure: I am a SAT tutor) The reason is that to do well on the SAT math section, you need to understand how to solve the math problem, not necessarily in the classic, formal way, but in a backyard-math sort of way. Most kids (esp. bright kids who are very comfortable doing classic formal math) simply never considered looking at math a different way - they are perfectly able to do so, but it just never occurred to them to look at it like that. (I had one student who used a fancy sequence/combination formula to find the answer. He got the right answer but it took too much time and he ran out of time by the end of the section. I showed him an easier, FASTER way to figure it out. He still got the answer correct, but his score jumped up b/c now he had more time to answer more questions.) It's also helpful to know what's tested and in what way. For example: 90% of the time when they are testing exponent rules, they test multiplying the same base or some variation of that. They only rarely test negative exponents and subtracting exponents. So instead of teaching my students ALL the exponent rules, I concentrate on adding the exponents. (unless they are shooting for a very high score, in which case I make sure they understand ALL the exponent rules)

I agree that PRACTICE helps kids - they can learn how the test works, identify weaknesses, and practice their strategy and timing. You can download all 8 SAT practice tests from the College Board here. PRINT them out and take them on pencil and paper (One of my kids got a 30 point jump in her score just by working off a hard copy)

Hear hear! I recommend that you plan a 6 month runway (though it usually only takes 2-4 months of real studying, depending on the kid)

@lisabees - I have an unpopular opinion that I don't think 9th graders should waste one second of their time thinking, worrying about, or doing anything around the SAT or ACT. Most schools are now giving a 10th grade PSAT - which doesn't matter - those scores don't count (although I have heard of some summer academic camps asking for those scores). My advice for 9th and 10th graders is to master their subjects in school and start thinking about the SAT/ACT summer after 10th grade. I'm sure other folks take a different approach and they may have recommendations for you.

@linders - Yes! You can totally do this! 1. Download and print out the practice tests from the College Board (they also have full answer explanations for every questions - they are of mixed quality, but at least it's better than nothing) (Each kid will need his own copy of the test - and it's also useful if you have a copy with all the answers already written it in - and any quick explanations. For example, I have my master SAT copy where I've already worked out all the math problems ahead of time (and double checked my answers) because - omg - how could I possibly figure out 464 different math questions on the fly?!) 2. Either give the boys the FULL THREE HOUR TIMED SAT or give them a timed math (which is actually two sections), reading, or writing section. Either you circle (or have them circle) the question number of the ones they missed. Give them another opportunity to try it. If they still don't get it, everybody gets to put their heads together (including you) to figure out why the right answer is right. They should also keep track of what sorts of questions they are missing so they can do targeted work on that subject later. (They should also track WHY they are missing it. I always thought that kids missed the questions because they didn't know the content - but they usually miss questions because they are rushing or didnt' read the question throughly , or made a "silly" mistake) 3. Now they're ready to talk about strategy. If they're under 600 in math, use Phil's SAT Math Game plan. The first chapter is EXCELLENT in laying out a strategy depending on your score goal. And he has terrific targeted math practice as well. If over 600, use Mike's PWN the SAT - same goes, great strategy info and amazing targeted math practice (but it's H-A-R-D!) 4. After they've tracked down their weaknesses and tried to fix them (ie - learn about fractional exponents or functions or pronoun antecendents), have them take another practice section. Remember that usually going slower and focusing on fewer questions leads to a higher score. Then sort of rinse and repeat. A great overall all-in-one book is Applerouth's Guide to the SAT. They've got 2-week, 4-week and 8-week study plans laid out in them. And for free resources: Mike's PWN the SAT blog Erica's The Critical Reader blog My blog :-)

Each subject test is an hour long. It usually takes about 10 min for them to read all the instructions (at least it does for the regular SAT test)

The College Board has published 4 Official SAT Practice Tests (Practice Tests 1-4) in their Official Study Guide that you can buy on Amazon for around $15. (which it sounds like you've already done.) But there are 4 more tests available! You can also download those 4 tests (Practice Tests 1-4) plus 4 more (Practice Tests 5-8) directly from the College Board's website here. You can also download the same 8 tests from the Khan Academy here. Rumor has it that the College Board will be releasing the 2018 version of their printed study guide with all 8 tests in it come May. (Here's the page on Amazon). (You can also download the entire Study Guide (not just the 8 tests) from their website here.) They'll probably be releasing Test 9 (which will be the May 2017 test) in September.

Here's the College Board's page on how to request accommodations.

:-) love Lemov - I hadn't seen his new book - thanks for the heads up - I'll check it out (I've got a reluctant reader at home and I've been pulling my hair out trying to overcome it!)

Yes - I loved them both but they are totally different. Cal's Deep Work is about making space in your life for uninterrupted thinking and work. And Practice Perfect gives you specific strategies, skills and tactics to improve your performance - break down barriers to practice, normalize errors, call your shots, apply first and then reflect..

I agree with @3andme. The ACT is blazing fast. And I wouldn't expect an 8th grader to be able to finish the test answering all the questions (often -spending more time on fewer questions and then just marking "A" for the ones you didn't get to will lead to a higher score). And don't read the science section - start with the questions and then go back to the charts and graphs and pull the info you need. For the love of ACT Science is a great book to help in the Science section. And I second the recc for Erica Meltzer Reading books - but they are heavy and dense and if your kid isn't already at a 600+ on the SAT it will be too much work (so I think that's about a 27 on the ACT?) Often, though, just working through a couple of authentic practice tests will help kids get a sense of the timing for each section.

These are my favorite books about teaching: Made to Stick - Heath brothers Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning by Peter Brown Brain Rules, John Medina Practice Perfect: 42 Rules for Getting Better at Getting Better by Doug Lemov What to do when it's your turn (and it's always your turn) Seth Godin The Talent Code: Greatness Isn't Born. It's Grown. Here's How. - Daniel Coyle Badass: Making Users Awesome by Kathy Sierra (about game development but completely about how to empower learners) Peak: Secrets from the new Science of Expertise by Anders Ericsson Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons From the Science of Learning by James Lang Impossible to Ignore: Creating Memorable Content to Influence Decisions (more about creating good materials but sooo applicable to teaching!)

I've also heard through the grape vine that the ACT is easier to get accommodations for vs. the SAT. Also - the accommodations are administered differently as I understand it For example, if you qualify for time-and-a-half instead of regular time on the SAT, you get 1.5 the time on each section. So if a normal reading section is 60 min, you would get 90 min and would not be able to move on to the next section until the time had elapsed. On the ACT, you get overall time to allocate how you see fit. So if the whole test is normally 3 hours, you would get 4.5 hours and could spend as little or as much time on each section as you see fit (perhaps up the the max time and a half for each section?) So if the reading is normally 60 min and you finished it in 70 min, you could move on to the next timed section instead of waiting. Also, I've heard secondhand that for some kids who qualify for double time, that the ACT can be given in sections over a week, whereas it had to be completed within 2 days for the SAT. That might be a dealbreaker for some kids. of course - you should check with the official SAT and ACT people to be sure how time is allocated in your particular case!

I talk to parents all the time that are caught off guard by the SAT. Locally our guidance counselors are swamped - they are supposed to oversee hundreds of kids.The great news now is that the College Board is finally releasing their old practice tests that you can download for free. And they have full explanations for every question (the math explanations leave something to be desired, but at least it is something) And the Khan Academy also offers free practice. And lots of tutors put tons of great info and resources on their blogs. It's easier than ever to access good info - but there's still work to do to make sure every kid has access to good test prep info and materials in order to get their best score.

@Busymomma - You might also find a tutor that you like. Most tutors I know keep a handful of seats for working with kids at a reduced rate. I also have a great recommendation for a tutor who works with kids with learning disabilities. PM me and I'll give you her name and number (I'm not sure if she has any reduced-rate seats, though - but it certainly can't hurt to ask) And let me echo @Stephensgirls and advocate for a test prep tutor. They can make a world of difference b/c they teach test taking tactics and strategies in addition to content knowledge. Today I had a student jump 70 points in the SAT math section - from a 640 (83%) to a 710 (94%) with just one hour of tutoring. We focused on test tactics - AFTER you solve the problem, but BEFORE you look at the answer choices, go back and quickly RE-READ the problem to make sure you know what they are asking for (She missed 3 questions because she solved for something else), draw a picture to help you visualize the problem, always choose A when you don't know the answer instead of randomly guessing, and bubble the page instead of bubbling in after every question. It's all nit-picky, test-nerdy stuff that hardly seems important (can bubbling a different way really make a difference in points? Yes!) but it all adds up to a significant score increase.

As a parent and an SAT/ACT tutor, skip the test! There's lots of places to find old ACT tests that she can use to practice with once she's feeling better. You all can choose one Saturday morning and "administer" the whole test at your kitchen table. As someone who had to take a SAT after being awake the whole night with a sick toddler, there's just no way to do well on the test when you are exhausted.