When does an SAT score indicate a lack of test prep vs. a lack of understanding?

[LisaKinVA]

Aside from the obvious, "he hasn't covered those topics" -- how would you determine if there was a true lack of understanding vs. needing test preparation?

 

DS is taking precalculus now.  He is not struggling with the concepts, but the work is time consuming (which I was told to expect as this is a full college algebra course and a full trigonometry course, he's doing the Chalkdust course with Larson text).  It takes 2 1/2-3 days to complete one lesson (read, watch video, work the 30-40 problems)

 

DS did not do any substantive test prep, other than test taking strategies.  He didn't do any sample tests.

 

DS did not miss any easy problems.  Of those he missed, 1/2 were medium and 1/2 were hard.  Of those that were hard, most of the ones he missed were on topics he hasn't covered.  But, there were definitely about 10 problems there that he should have gotten correct, but did not (simple mistakes, skipping a step, misunderstanding terminology, that kind of thing -- as well as some he should have recognized but was clueless).

 

Understanding is more important to me than going forward at an accelerated pace (not sure how DS feels about that).  But, at the same point in time, temporary lapses (ds studied Geometry and hadn't looked at Algebra apart from Geometry in 6 months) in remembering how to do certain math problems in a time-sensitive environment isn't necessarily a huge "red flag." Grade-wise, he took Algebra 2 online and got an "A" last year.  He is often called on to tutor in regular Physics and math, he's at the top of his Engineering and Robotics classes at the high school.  In other words there haven't been glaring "red flags."

 

He is a very capable math student, IF he applies himself. The only time he gets poor grades in math is if he doesn't do the homework.  When he does the homework, he does very well.

 

He's not a shoe-in for NMSQT next year, but based upon what I've read -- it's a possibility, especially since his reading and writing scores are already high (in the needed range), and math is supposed to be the easiest area to improve.  His biggest issues with test taking are making assumptions (not reading questions thoroughly/rushing).  I know scheduling more full-test practices will help with this.

 

Thoughts about moving forward?

 

-- Khan Academy Practice, SAT Prep (normal), keep moving forward in math...most likely starting calculus next fall?

-- Chalkdust SAT/ACT Math Prep Course as a focus, but slow down with Precalc and finish by the end of Junior year?

-- Go back and then go forward (concentrating on Algebra), with? AoPS, Life of Fred, Foerster or Chalkdust?  finishing Precalc by the end of the Junior year?

Other?

 

Thanks!

 

Edited to finish sentence.

 

 

 

Edited January 8, 2016 by LisaK in VA is in IT

[Lanny]

Placing the priority on understanding and being able to apply the material, as you have stated, is the correct priority, IMO.  The problems that you believe he should have gotten correct, but did not, should be of concern.  There are a lot of Freshman in University Engineering schools who were Accelerated High School Math Hot Shots, who struggle in university, because they were able to pass examinations in High School, but cannot apply what they supposedly learned in High School.   I believe your thread ties into 2 or 3 recent threads on WTM. At least 2 of those threads were started by MarkT placing links to articles. One regards High School students taking Calculus in High School.  Accelerated is only good if the student truly understands the material and can apply the material.   Test prep probably was part of his problem, but 10 problems that you believe he should have gotten correct may indicate lack of understanding.    GL

[MomsintheGarden]

I have found that having the student take a lot of timed, complete practice tests, combined with analysis of why he missed each problem, helps. We made an excel spreadsheet with the data to analyze it. Working through prep books like Barron's helps, too. We are going to try Khan academy with our youngers.

 

It sounds like showing your son how a higher score can mean more scholarship money might help, too.

 

And ditto what Lanny said about high school academic stars struggling in engineering school. I saw it, too.

[regentrude]

Aside from the obvious, "he hasn't covered those topics" -- how would you determine if there was a true lack of understanding vs. needing test preparation?

 

 

DS did not do any substantive test prep, other than test taking strategies.  He didn't do any sample tests.

 

If he did not do any test prep and no sample tests, I would not expect a good score on the math section because it is designed to be a time crunch and nearly impossible to complete with "just" solid subject mastery.

 

To diagnose whether there is a lack of understanding, I would have him work through some sample tests untimed and then go through all the questions. If he can solve the problems correctly when not under time pressure, he has to drill the format, specific type of questioning, learn where to use the multiple choice format to his advantage, where a calculator is faster and where not, how to grid quickly, when to skip a tedious question and move on.

For any questions he answered incorrectly, go through the solution to see whether these are careless arithmetic mistakes, forgotten topics, or whether he forgot important concepts.

 

We used the blue book from the College Board for SAT prep.

Edited January 8, 2016 by regentrude

[RegGuheert]

Lack of test prep is seen in not gridding correctly and in not skipping tough problems & coming back later after the obvious ones are done.

 

We find that test prep also helps immensely in the ability to complete the test.  That seems to come in three main areas:

1) Overall time management:  The students develop a "feel" for how long to spend on each problem to be able to complete the test.

2) Solution strategies for each problem:  There are many ways to solve *any* math problem, and some are simply more efficient than others (as you touched on).  But beyond that, the College Board has ALWAYS been a fan of throwing in problems that appear to take a massive amount of time but that can be solved quickly using a "trick".  I suppose you could say this is about mastery, but I prefer to see it as strategies for this particular test.

3) Confidence: If the student has been able to work through enough practice tests in the allotted time while still achieving a good score, they will be more confident to successfully complete the actual test when it comes time for that.

 

That said, it took DD23 and DS17 many practice tests to achieve mastery on the OLD PSATs.  I don't think we have had a student truly complete the new one, yet.  (DD13 said she completed this year's PSAT, but I think she guess on several math problems for which she did not have the background.)

Edited January 8, 2016 by RegGuheert

[LisaKinVA]

If he did not do any test prep and no sample tests, I would not expect a good score on the math section because it is designed to be a time crunch and nearly impossible to complete with "just" solid subject mastery.

 

To diagnose whether there is a lack of understanding, I would have him work through some sample tests untimed and then go through all the questions. If he can solve the problems correctly when not under time pressure, he has to drill the format, specific type of questioning, learn where to use the multiple choice format to his advantage, where a calculator is faster and where not, how to grid quickly, when to skip a tedious question and move on.

For any questions he answered incorrectly, go through the solution to see whether these are careless arithmetic mistakes, forgotten topics, or whether he forgot important concepts.

 

We used the blue book from the College Board for SAT prep.

 

Thank you :D

 

We went through many of the problems yesterday, about half of them he was able to identify what he did wrong.  A couple he didn't recognize and he was running out of time and just guessed, and a few *I* think he should have known what to do, they were simple things like clearing the fraction before solving the equation, a word problem he misread (I read it to him aloud, and he OH! in that, "that is so simple!  Why didn't I see it before" way, and a problem in which he put the numerator down, but forgot the denominator completely.  I will plan for him to take just the math portion untimed, and see how that goes first, and then plan several full-tests in a more test-like environment.  But, I'm going to have to wait for some of that until after AP exams in May.  Too much on the plate.

 

I am thinking about having him meet with the upper level math teacher at the school to help give me a "professional" objective opinion.  My daughter has to meet with him anyway to discuss taking precalculus next year.

Edited January 8, 2016 by LisaK in VA is in IT

[wapiti]

Also keep in mind that the new SAT that starts in March will have some differences from the one that he just took.  IIRC, there are differences in math topics covered (e.g. only 3 geometry questions?  I can't recall how many trig-related problems) and a greater amount of reading involved in the math problems.

[mumto2]

We are not doing the regular SAT but both dc have done the ACT and SAT Subjects for Math with really good results. We did prep and used primarily Barron's. It really helped identify what areas needed a bit of polish to get a great result. They found the exams harder than actual, which meant that after they developed their ability to finish at home it was easy to finish the actual exam in time.

 

They haven't taken an exam without prep but the difference between the pre and post tests for D's is generally huge. Dd doesn't need as much prep. The result is normally close to or better than practice exams.

[katilac]

I wouldn't think any more of it than he skipped test prep and taking practice tests and he shouldn't have.