By Yuchen Yang
The new SAT last spring had the miraculous effect of giving teens and parents chills, for some probably more so than a pit of snakes and spiders. But Pioneer students may find some relief in learning that this school had the highest SAT scores in the district last year.
The class of 2017 took the redesigned SAT and their scores ranked Pioneer 11th in the state, higher than any other school in the Ann Arbor Public Schools district. With an average score of 1175.7, more than 80 percent of the senior class are on track for college readiness for reading and writing and 67 percent for math, according to the color-coded score ranges and bench marks set up by the College Board.
The new SAT was released in the spring of 2016 with changes to the content of the test and question formats to better predict the college readiness of students. Important changes made in the redesigned test included the deletion of penalties for guessing and the new optional analytical essay, which will ask students to analyze a given passage instead of arguing a stance on a given issue. The College Board also added more historically significant documents to the reading and stopped testing students on rarely used vocabulary, which was a pain for a lot of high school students in the past, especially after a year of AP U.S. History.
Pioneer students seem to have coped with the new test pretty well. “Pioneer typically does very well on these standardized tests, in comparison to the nation,” says Assistant Principal Kevin Hudson. “Most of our students, this past year with the new SAT, they went up in their scores.”
Assistant Principal Jason Skiba attributes parts of this success to the teachers of Pioneer, “Honestly, good teaching is the best test prep you could have,” Skiba says. “Good teaching just happens here naturally.”
Beside the teaching students get everyday, there are other resources available to SAT takers. “Khan Academy was one of the big ones,” says Skiba, “and we have computers in the media center designated specifically for SAT and PSAT prep.” Skiba adds that some of the preparation does have to come from students, for example, the results of the PSAT 9 and PSAT 10 have been sent home for students and families to use as a reference for future planning.
“The juniors will be taking the PSAT/NMSQT. Those results juniors should be able to use to prepare, as well, what areas they need to work on, to get ready for the SAT in April,” says Skiba. These test results, including PSAT 9 and 10, are sent to the students so the freshmen and sophomores can see where their weak spots are, what they need to study and work on, whether in school and outside with formal test prep, including Khan Academy.
The school is clear on what it needs to work on as well. “The teachers are making themselves available at lunch times, before school and after school,” says Hudson. “I’m sure you have heard about the after school program as well.” This is the new Study Center in the cafeteria annex that provides a study environment and tutorial services from teachers and students.
“There’s a lot that we need to work on that we know as a district,” says Hudson. In this past year, despite the overall growth in test scores, the performances of students with low socioeconomic status stayed pretty plateaued. He says the teachers are being more sensitive in general, and especially to students with low SES to help them.
The school is also encouraging students to form study groups to go over class materials. “If (students) are able to articulate what they are learning then they will have no problems on the tests,” says Hudson.
As for the students in the class of 2018 who took the PSAT earlier this month and will take the SAT in less than six months, time management is the key word, says Skiba. “Create this plan so that you are not studying 18 hours a day, but at the same time you are not studying 18 minutes a day. It really comes to having that plan,” he says. “And allowing yourself the things that reduce your stress, scheduling times with friends, scheduling a time for social life, that’s all a part of the high school experience.”
In the end, the SAT is just one data point, but an important one. “So managing your time and having that plan is the best advice I could give,” says Skiba.
The class of 2017 took the redesigned SAT and their scores ranked Pioneer 11th in the state, higher than any other school in the Ann Arbor Public Schools district. With an average score of 1175.7, more than 80 percent of the senior class are on track for college readiness for reading and writing and 67 percent for math, according to the color-coded score ranges and bench marks set up by the College Board.
The new SAT was released in the spring of 2016 with changes to the content of the test and question formats to better predict the college readiness of students. Important changes made in the redesigned test included the deletion of penalties for guessing and the new optional analytical essay, which will ask students to analyze a given passage instead of arguing a stance on a given issue. The College Board also added more historically significant documents to the reading and stopped testing students on rarely used vocabulary, which was a pain for a lot of high school students in the past, especially after a year of AP U.S. History.
Pioneer students seem to have coped with the new test pretty well. “Pioneer typically does very well on these standardized tests, in comparison to the nation,” says Assistant Principal Kevin Hudson. “Most of our students, this past year with the new SAT, they went up in their scores.”
Assistant Principal Jason Skiba attributes parts of this success to the teachers of Pioneer, “Honestly, good teaching is the best test prep you could have,” Skiba says. “Good teaching just happens here naturally.”
Beside the teaching students get everyday, there are other resources available to SAT takers. “Khan Academy was one of the big ones,” says Skiba, “and we have computers in the media center designated specifically for SAT and PSAT prep.” Skiba adds that some of the preparation does have to come from students, for example, the results of the PSAT 9 and PSAT 10 have been sent home for students and families to use as a reference for future planning.
“The juniors will be taking the PSAT/NMSQT. Those results juniors should be able to use to prepare, as well, what areas they need to work on, to get ready for the SAT in April,” says Skiba. These test results, including PSAT 9 and 10, are sent to the students so the freshmen and sophomores can see where their weak spots are, what they need to study and work on, whether in school and outside with formal test prep, including Khan Academy.
The school is clear on what it needs to work on as well. “The teachers are making themselves available at lunch times, before school and after school,” says Hudson. “I’m sure you have heard about the after school program as well.” This is the new Study Center in the cafeteria annex that provides a study environment and tutorial services from teachers and students.
“There’s a lot that we need to work on that we know as a district,” says Hudson. In this past year, despite the overall growth in test scores, the performances of students with low socioeconomic status stayed pretty plateaued. He says the teachers are being more sensitive in general, and especially to students with low SES to help them.
The school is also encouraging students to form study groups to go over class materials. “If (students) are able to articulate what they are learning then they will have no problems on the tests,” says Hudson.
As for the students in the class of 2018 who took the PSAT earlier this month and will take the SAT in less than six months, time management is the key word, says Skiba. “Create this plan so that you are not studying 18 hours a day, but at the same time you are not studying 18 minutes a day. It really comes to having that plan,” he says. “And allowing yourself the things that reduce your stress, scheduling times with friends, scheduling a time for social life, that’s all a part of the high school experience.”
In the end, the SAT is just one data point, but an important one. “So managing your time and having that plan is the best advice I could give,” says Skiba.