Sunday, September 30, 2007
AVID Helping with SAT Prep
By Will Morris, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Wednesday, September 26, 2007
One of the most dreaded parts of the college application process for many students is taking the SATs.
A student’s SAT score, along with his or her grade-point average, are considered by college admissions officers to be the best predictor of academic success at the university level.
AVID instructors try to mediate students’ fears by exposing them to the SAT pretest, or PSAT, as early as middle school. Nevertheless, SAT scores fell in 2007 among students in Department of Defense Education Activity schools.
Students in DODDS-Pacific scored slightly better than seniors nationwide in the SAT’s critical reading portions, but scored lower than the national average in math and writing, according to exam figures released earlier this month.
In South Korea, Okinawa, Japan and Guam, more than 650 students averaged 504 in critical reading, 502 in math and 485 in writing.
Last week, in an interview, Pacific AVID coordinator Melanie Bales said the test has changed and requires students to spend more time preparing for it than in the past.
She added that AVID students receive special attention in critical reading and writing, two skills essential for taking the test. They are also quizzed extensively and taught test-taking strategies.
--Will Morris
Pacific edition, Wednesday, September 26, 2007
One of the most dreaded parts of the college application process for many students is taking the SATs.
A student’s SAT score, along with his or her grade-point average, are considered by college admissions officers to be the best predictor of academic success at the university level.
AVID instructors try to mediate students’ fears by exposing them to the SAT pretest, or PSAT, as early as middle school. Nevertheless, SAT scores fell in 2007 among students in Department of Defense Education Activity schools.
Students in DODDS-Pacific scored slightly better than seniors nationwide in the SAT’s critical reading portions, but scored lower than the national average in math and writing, according to exam figures released earlier this month.
In South Korea, Okinawa, Japan and Guam, more than 650 students averaged 504 in critical reading, 502 in math and 485 in writing.
Last week, in an interview, Pacific AVID coordinator Melanie Bales said the test has changed and requires students to spend more time preparing for it than in the past.
She added that AVID students receive special attention in critical reading and writing, two skills essential for taking the test. They are also quizzed extensively and taught test-taking strategies.
--Will Morris
Labels: AVID, college admission, SAT
