kfeusse Posted October 22, 2019 Share Posted October 22, 2019 My son is going to take the ACT on Saturday. Since school has started he has been doing prep work....and after each section he took that test portion. He did reasonably well. Just this morning, I had him take the full test to see if he retained what he had learned...and he didn't. Not a lot anyway. So now what do we do? How do we proceed? I don't want to kill him with more work....but I don't want him to lose more than he already has. He is a senior this year and really needs to knock this out. He is so discouraged...and just wants to give up. How do I best help him? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCB Posted October 22, 2019 Share Posted October 22, 2019 4 minutes ago, kfeusse said: My son is going to take the ACT on Saturday. Since school has started he has been doing prep work....and after each section he took that test portion. He did reasonably well. Just this morning, I had him take the full test to see if he retained what he had learned...and he didn't. Not a lot anyway. So now what do we do? How do we proceed? I don't want to kill him with more work....but I don't want him to lose more than he already has. He is a senior this year and really needs to knock this out. He is so discouraged...and just wants to give up. How do I best help him? Do you think he got tired doing the whole test at once? I don't think you can do much before Saturday but I would pitch this attempt as a good practice opportunity and then start planning towards the next one. I think you can still be taking it into your senior year and if you improve your scores you are able to be considered for scholarships that rely on ACT scores. It seems like, going forward, it would be good for him to keep practicing taking full length practice tests regularly so he can build up his stamina. We found the videos on youtube, teaching how to do the science section, very helpful, so have him watch those before he takes it again, if he hasn't already. If fatigue is part of the problem it's a shame he is a senior this year, because I read that ACT is going to let students re-take individual sections of the test after next September, rather than having to redo the whole thing. My dd found this book very useful: https://www.amazon.com/Your-Score-2018-2019-Underground-Outsmarting/dp/0761193669/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Up+Your+Score+ACT+The+Underground+Guide"+by+Chris+Arp&qid=1571769659&sr=8-1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted October 22, 2019 Share Posted October 22, 2019 If he doesn't have to take the test right now, I would reschedule if you think his scores will improve significantly if he practices full length tests. The ACT is accusing kids with significant increases of cheating. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted October 22, 2019 Share Posted October 22, 2019 He's currently a senior, yes? He might do better on the actual test. Sometimes they have a bad day, sometimes a certain test is harder or easier for a particular student, sometimes they need that practice of taking the entire test. And if he doesn't, he takes it again. According to the ACT, it takes more than a score increase, even a big one, to get your test invalidated or put into question. A significant increase, like 6 or more points, may cause them to take a closer look - for instance, comparing your answers to other students in the room who took the same test - but they won't take it further if there are no other red flags. The validation and arbitration processes cost them money, so I don't think the profit motive is a reason to lie. Does he need to get a certain score for admission or a scholarship? Is he actually scoring low (like not college-ready or not what he needs for admission) or just lower than expected? If he was prepping for science and then immediately taking the science section and so on, it's to be expected that he would score higher on those. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kfeusse Posted October 22, 2019 Author Share Posted October 22, 2019 His score isn't super low...but just not super high either. After his prep (using the Black Book and the tests from the Red book) he has increased his score by 3 points when he took the tests individually (after just spending a week on the subject)...but then today, he just increased it by 1 (from when he took the test officially back in April). He did say he thought the Science passages and the reading passages were extra weird and hard. So maybe it was just the test. I also noticed today that it appears that the grading scale differs with different tests....so for example on one scale a a 71 in English it is a 35 and on the other it's a 34. Why is that? Anyway, thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted October 22, 2019 Share Posted October 22, 2019 32 minutes ago, katilac said: He's currently a senior, yes? He might do better on the actual test. Sometimes they have a bad day, sometimes a certain test is harder or easier for a particular student, sometimes they need that practice of taking the entire test. And if he doesn't, he takes it again. According to the ACT, it takes more than a score increase, even a big one, to get your test invalidated or put into question. A significant increase, like 6 or more points, may cause them to take a closer look - for instance, comparing your answers to other students in the room who took the same test - but they won't take it further if there are no other red flags. The validation and arbitration processes cost them money, so I don't think the profit motive is a reason to lie. Does he need to get a certain score for admission or a scholarship? Is he actually scoring low (like not college-ready or not what he needs for admission) or just lower than expected? If he was prepping for science and then immediately taking the science section and so on, it's to be expected that he would score higher on those. There are lots of families facing invalidated scores with no proof other than score increases. https://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-act-tests-test-preparation/1987200-act-testing-wrongly-accusing-cheating-2017-p1.html. some of the accusations are months after the test. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kfeusse Posted October 22, 2019 Author Share Posted October 22, 2019 we are not going to have to worry about the cheating...I just want him to make a decent score, so he can go to college and become a church musician. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted October 22, 2019 Share Posted October 22, 2019 In terms of different grading scales, scores don't reflect x number wrong means score y. Scores are in comparison to the other students who took the test and scaled accordingly. If you don't think his score will change significantly, then have him take it and tell him pacing over 3 hrs requires more effort and focused energy than individual sections. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilaclady Posted October 22, 2019 Share Posted October 22, 2019 I will say let him take it. He can always do another one but you just never know. My dd took the practice Friday before her test and scored an ok score but lower than she had scored when she was 13. She was quite discouraged but took the test and knocked it out of the park. You just never know. The tests don’t measure any real knowledge but it is what it is. Let him sleep well, eat well and relax and take it and wish him all the best. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kfeusse Posted October 22, 2019 Author Share Posted October 22, 2019 1 minute ago, Lilaclady said: I will say let him take it. He can always do another one but you just never know. My dd took the practice Friday before her test and scored an ok score but lower than she had scored when she was 13. She was quite discouraged but took the test and knocked it out of the park. You just never know. The tests don’t measure any real knowledge but it is what it is. Let him sleep well, eat well and relax and take it and wish him all the best. Thank you for this. I hope you are right. As far as the test not measuring real knowledge is probably the most frustrating thing for my son. He is a smart young man...but not in the way this tests measures. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinkelement Posted October 23, 2019 Share Posted October 23, 2019 Had a similar situation here as well. The last ACT trial test was 2 to 3 points lower than the others. But I also know that taking exam at home is not the same as taking it "for real" in school. Don't underestimate the power of adrenaline when they do take it. It is probably a physical fatigue, but then again, adrenaline might get him over that bump during the test. I would still take a look at what sections he didn't do as well on and try to go over each wrong answer. It could be a bunch of silly mistakes and that could make him feel a little less discouraged. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted October 23, 2019 Share Posted October 23, 2019 This is Monday morning. He only has a few days. I would plan on him doing something Friday night that will help him to relax and sleep well. Nothing related to the ACT exam. When my DD was preparing for the ACT, in addition to the $99 course she had from Kaplan (they have a tie-in with ACT) which had some videos she could watch and some opportunities for the students to ask the Instructors questions, they had as I recall, some free things also. You might look on the ACT and Kaplan web sites and see if there are any Free videos he can look at this week. Good luck to him! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 I would have him take it. Just keep practicing til then. And then schedule another. My DD went up two points on her second time. And we're doing it again this Saturday just to see if the two prior tests will help her increase it maybe one more. Everybody I've talked to IRL says their kid improved two points the second time they took the real test. And then it ended up the same for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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