ACT Advantage: PLAN Test

ACT Inc., is a name synonomous with College preparations. In fact, this year, ACT, Inc. is celebrating their 50th anniversary providing standardized testing services to students, parents and colleges. The ACT of 2010, however, is a great deal more than just a standardized test to add to your college application process. ACT, Inc. currently has a host of opportunities to help students and parents EXPLORE, PLAN and DISCOVER their options for post secondary education.

Earlier this school year I reviewed with the help of my 15 year old son Jonah, the ACT Discover program designed to assist students with discovering a vocation to match their interests, personality and personal goals. Today, Jonah and I took a look at the PLAN test designed for 10th grade students. EXPLORE, PLAN and DISCOVER are components of ACT, Inc.'s ADVANTAGE program available to families through ACT, Inc.'s Homeschool Solutions portion of their website.

The PLAN test administered by many public schools to assess 10th grade college readiness may be purchased by homeschoolers at the ACT, Inc. website, http://www.actadvantage.org/plan/. The test

packet sells for $22.95 and includes:

• Testing booklet titled Sample Test Booklet and Answer Sheet
  
• Using Your PLAN Results brochure—a brief overview of score results and the process
• College Readiness Standards handbook—a handbook that provides ideas for progress in each subject to prepare students for college or the workforce

Jonah and I viewed PLAN as a pre-test for his scheduled ACT test he will take in February as a part of his application process for post-secondary classes at our local University in the fall. Similar to the traditional ACT test, PLAN assesses students in the areas of:

• English
• Mathematics
• Reading
• Science.

According to the ACT Plan website, PLAN will answer the following questions for parents:

Where does my son or daughter stand right now?

The test will evaluate students abilities in the four major subject areas listed above by identifying their strengths and weaknesses.

How can I help my son or daughter advance in the four core subject areas?

An "ideas for progress" section in the College Readiness Standards Booklet provided in the packet offers tips and suggestions to assist students in problem areas over the next two years of high school.

How do I know if my child is on track for college?

The Plan Test will reassure homeschool parents who suffer from that "nagging voice" that keeps asking, "Did I cover enough?" Consider PLAN an opportunity to receive a well deserved pat on the back.

The total testing time for PLAN is just over 2 hours; similar to the traditional ACT test taken for college entrance. Students spend 30 mins. answering 50 questions on the English portion, 40 minutes answering 40 Mathematics questions, 20 minutes answering 25 questions for the Reading portion, and conclude with 25 minutes for the 30 questions of the Science test. Sample test questions can be found at the ACT, Inc. website.

Jonah concluded his test in one sitting. He is very familiar with standardized tests including the ACT since taking it the first time last Spring, and the PSAT this Fall. When I asked him if he thought the test was similar to the ACT of last year, he quickly agreed.

"IT was just a normal test; just like the ACT. It was probably a little bit easier because I think it seemed shorter. I think there are fewer sections too, because on the ACT I think the Reading is split up into two sections and the English is split up into two sections", commented Jonah.

Instructions and answer key sheets are included in the test packet for parents. It took me about a half hour to score Jonah's tests and determine his raw, scale and percentage scores. I thought the directions were thorough, but a bit confusing the first read through. Students fill out a bubble sheet for their answers which I had to read through while scoring and then transfer those results to another answer key sheet to compute the raw and scale scores.

I was thrilled to learn that Jonah is very well prepared for college. His composite score of 23 placed him in the 97% percentile for high school sophomores and well on his way towards his goal of acceptance into the University Post-secondary program for the 2010-2011 school year.

* I received the ACT Advantage PLAN test packet free of charge directly from ACT, Inc., in exchange for this personal review.

ACT, Inc.-- Discover program

This is a big school year for my 15 year old son. He is a sophomore in highschool and in our house that means time to start thinking about college. As a member of the TOS Review Crew I have received a multitude of products this year designed to help kids sift through the soul searching process of answering, “What do I want to do when I grow up?” Jonah is benefiting in big ways from these products as this is the year when he needs to start sifting through choices, prepping for college entrance exams and seriously plotting out his future endeavors.

I have been familiar with the ACT name since I was in high school. In fact, although I am not quite this old, ACT, Inc. is celebrating their 50th anniversary providing standardized testing services to students, parents and colleges. What I didn’t realize was all ACT has to offer students and parents in the way of career exploration. ACT, Inc. sent me access to their ACT Advantage Discover program so that I might review it for TOS Review Crew with the help of my son Jonah.

The ACT Advantage DISCOVER program is an on-line based career planning program developed to serve the interests of students aged middle school through adult hood. Through a series of interest inventory tests taken on-line Discover guides students through the thoughtful process of considering the next step after high school. Inventory tests explore personal likes and dislikes in regards to various activities, rating of abilities, and an evaluation of work related values. Data results are shared instantly through graphs and explanations. Students may also access current information on potential college majors, colleges and careers that line up with their interests. Discover is appropriate to help students prepare for:

four-year college

two-year college

professional/graduate school

career/technical training

military service

immediate employment

Jonah and I sat down together to use the ACT Discover program which took just under an hour from start to finish. Each of the inventory quizzes consisted of a series of questions designed to identify strengths and weaknesses in the student. For example, the uniact inventory determined strongest interests by asking the student to identify if they like, dislike or are indifferent to a series of descriptions of activities. To keep the quiz interest high the descriptions are accompanied with photographs of people using the described skill.

There were three inventory quizzes to take and then the fun really began with ACT Discover. A detailed report is available immediately after answering the last question of each of the inventory quizzes. The one to two page report displays a World of Work colored map, a circular graph identifying the various types of occupations on a broad spectrum. Based on Jonah's answers he was identified as a person who prefers working with People and Data. To the left of the graph were two boxed areas of short lists noting specific occupations relating to People and Data. For example, Jonah's list included: employment related services, marketing and sales, management and regulation and protection under the broader area of administration and sales. A button at the bottom of the box allowed us to click to receive a more detailed list of suggested occupations relating to these interest areas. All of this information was based on his one quiz relating to his interests only.

Jonah took the other two inventory quizzes which measured his abilities and values. At the conclusion of all three quizzes a master results page was available which pulled together his answers from the three profiling quizzes. I was pleased to see suggestions available as to where to go from here. The recommendations included exploring careers in one specific area, medical diagnosis and treatment which appeared at the top of two of his results pages, and researching additional career options based on his interests. The answers did not reveal any magic solutions, but thoughtful information with links to lists of careers and easy access to search colleges offering majors that would relate to career choices matching Jonah's unique desires, goals and personality. In my opinion considering the small amount of time Jonah had to invest in the Discover program, it offered a tremendous amount of insightful information for him to make use of.

The real test is to ask the student, however, and Jonah seemed pleased over all with his experience. "It was interesting. It helped me discover more about myself. It confirmed for me that I know which major I should study for college", he said.

ACT Discover is part of the ACT Advantage program available exclusively from ACT, Inc. You can purchase access to the online Discover testing service at their website, http://www.actadvantage.org/. Subscriptions range from 19.95 for a three month term to $24.95 for six months. I found the value of Discover was its ability to identify and organize students thoughts and desires. Decisions regarding careers and future study can seem overwhelming even for most adults. Making use of the tools Discover has to offer allows high school students to conquer this behemoth task and move easily into their bright future.

College Prep Genius

I must admit that I am not a big fan of standardized tests. As a homeschool teacher I have avoided them like the plague believing I was a much better judge of my children’s knowledge base than a computer graded test designed to evaluate the norm. As homeschoolers, after all, our family continually walked outside the norm blazing our own trail. My curriculum choices and lessons chosen for my children were made with very little regard to standard time tables and benchmarks set forth by most public and private schools. I never wanted my little ones burdened with test anxiety or focused on scores or ratings. I wanted them to approach their educational endeavors as a joy-filled gift, no something to be mastered and graded. True education, in my opinion, could never be measured by silly little bubble sheets.

Unfortunately, even homeschoolers distrustful of standardized tests must leave the fray and dive in with affection to the standard testing pool as college application time draws near. Most colleges, no matter how progressive in thought, still rely on the information gleaned from the ACT or SAT tests in determining acceptance and scholarship awards. The sometimes thought disposable, PSAT/NMSQT test is currently the only component available to those wishing to be considered for National Merit Scholar status. Prepping for testing success is a game played by the masses and even homeschoolers must suit up if they want to win scholarships and compete with other college bound kids.

Homeschool mom, teacher, author and conference speaker Jean Burk, realized her children would need high SAT scores in order to win scholarship for their pending college education dreams. She determined to discover the logical patterns and test taking strategies of the PSAT/NMSQT and SAT tests. After much research Burk developed a method of using acronyms, other test taking strategies and utilizing lots of practice tests. Her efforts paid off for her two children who according to Burk’s website, http://www.collegeprepgenius.com/ scored very well.

“We received 7 trash bags full of scholarship offers from colleges across the country---ALL based on his (her son) PSAT score!!!! My daughter received over $140,000 worth of scholarship offers (including money to study abroad) based on her SAT score. It was an incredible blessing and one that I have been able to share with countless students across America”.

Burk offers her College Prep Genius class throughout the country and describes it as being appropriate for students in grades 8-12. Her website contains locations and schedule of her classes as well as information for those wishing to hire Burk to teach a class in their neighborhood.

Customers desiring a more intimate approach will be thrilled that College Prep Genius materials are now sold at the site’s on-line store for $79.00. Included in the $79.00 cost are a “Master the SAT” DVD starring Burk, College Prep Genius textbook and College Prep Genius workbook; a 30% savings for the set compared to purchasing each item individually. College Prep Genius is offered with a 100% money back guarantee within 30 days of purchase.

I have graduated two daughters from our homeschool. They were both scholarship winners at the college of their choice and are doing very well academically. We did not spend much time preparing for their ACT and SAT testing, but I now wonder what their results might have been if we did. My 15 year old son is on the threshold of PSAT time and will be using College Prep Genius over the next few months for this review and to test Burk’s theories. Burk stresses the importance of PSAT and SAT preparation by stating, “These exams test more than just a student’s ability to answer questions. They test time-management skills, logical aptitude and much more. College Prep Genius helps students pinpoint weak areas of the test by emphasizing the strategic and logical approach to taking the SAT”

Stay tuned……as Jonah and I will post his comments and results at a later date. To satisfy curiosity beforehand visit the College Prep Genius website to read answers to FAQ and testimonies from satisfied customers.