MAGNOLIA
CLIPPING SERVICE
(601) 856·0911 ! (205) 758·8610
COMMONWEALTH
GREENWOOD, MS
Circuiatwn w: 8330
DAILY
05/28/2010
1IIlll1l1lillllllllllllilillll1l11111
SAT prep company stops claiming big point boost
'} <.t~ "
BETH J. HARPAZ
Associated Press
NEW YORK - Why don't
most students' SAT scures dra­
matically improve the more
times they take the test?
A They dont study hard
enough.
B. Their parents don't cnruIl
them in fiu:lLy test-prep classes.
G Most kids who take the
SAT twice simply do not see
large improvements in their
SCUre8.
The correct answer is C,
acmrding to the College Board,
the nonprofit organization that
administers the SATs. And
here's the latest development in
the debate over whether kids
can dramatically improve their
scores: The Princeton Review
company no longer claims that
its "Ultimate Classroom" SAT
test-preplU'ation rourse can
OOoi"t SAT srores by 255 points.
The National Advertising
Division ofthe Coun<-llofBetter
Bu'3iness Bureaus, which
examines accuracy in advertis­
ing, announred 'May 12 that
The Princeton Review would
"voluntarily disrontinU!) certain
advertising cla:ims, fullowing a
challenge by Kaplan, Inc, a
rompetingtest-preparstionser­
vire,"
ffigh school students and
their parents are often bom­
barded willi SAT tesirprep
solicitations as they approach
the rollege application p:t'tlCENl.
Thst-prep offurs rome in the
mail; they're sent home by
schools, and they're not cheap.
When students take these
comses and dont SL'e their
scores improve, parents may
wonder if their kids studied
enough or if they've wasted
their money.
Last year, the National Asro­
ciation for College Admi'lSion
Counseling released a report
eoncluding that test prep cours­
es have minimal impact in
improving SAT srores - about
10 to 20 points on average in
mathematics and 5 to 10 points
in critical reading. The NACAC
report noted that this evidence
is "contrary to the claims made
by many test preparation
providers of large increa..'les of
100 points or more on the SAT"
Kathleen Steinberg, a
spoke&woman for the College
Board, says that on average,
students who take the SAT te,1;
twice only"increase their scores
by about 30 points."
She added that "the O)llege
Board does not recommend
taking the SAT more than
twice, as there is no ",'Vidence to
indicate that taking the exam
more than twice increa.Bes scum
perfonnance."
Scott Kirkpatrick., president
of the tes1rpreparstion services
division of The Princeton
Review, said that the mmpany
had. been planning to shift
aWdY from an empha.'lis on
scure improvement indepen­
dently of the Better Busine..'lB
Bureaus Cll..'le, and that it is
changtng its focus to offer a
more personalized approrlch to
helping students improve in all
areas.
"Score impnwement is not
our rom mission," he said. "I
don't want us to be a test-prep Anfirea Hat!
company.We need to be an edu­ An altel'nate to taking an expensive course Is to run by a
cation mmpany." bookstote such as Tumrow Book Co., where you can find
Beb Schaeffer, public educa­ test1lrep books to help prepare for the big exam.
tion director for 'Ihe National
(',enterfor Fair & Open Thsting,
is a longtime critic of both the
SATs and the teBt-prep indmr
try. He thinks most tesi-pl'Cp
companies "grossly exaggerdtc
the claims on how much test
scores rise on average;' but he
al'lO disagree!l with the NACAC
report:s conclusion that test
prep has a minilnal effect.
He also had some practical
advice for parents and high
school students with SAT jit­
ters. He recommended taking a
free sample SAT test online to
get a sense ofwhere yom base­
line score fhlIs, and he said the
College Boams own Wl->1"P:l"
l:xJoks and online UlUl'S(! ol1br
good preparstion for the test as
a Iow-eo8t alternative to an
expensive prep program.
He added that there are
tricks for doing well on the test
that <l ~:;i.}(Kl {~}[td I Of 1J1': ~,:\ ilkt,>'C
Board guide can impart. l<br
example, know that questions
in sections typically go "from
leastdiificult to most difficult, so
that an obvious answer at the
beginning ofa sa1.ion i'l COI'l'IXi,
but an obvious ansI;'C'r nJ; j h(,
end of a ~'(;tion is pH ,L-.ably d
trick." And complete as many
questions as you can, because
while you get one point for each
multiple-choice question you
get right, you only lose a quar­
ter-point if you get a wrong
multipk'-Choice question
wrong. You get no points sub­
tracted for ineorrect answers to
math quColtiOns where you sup­
ply the answer.
l<lnally, he noted, there are
844 accredited rolleges that do
not require SAT SOOIl'S. If your
SAT srores are low and they
don't go up - which, no matter
who you ask, seems to be the
case for a lot of kids - those
test-optional schools may be the
best place for you to apply