Information about the SAT
Dear Parents/Guardians of District 86 Juniors,
As you may know, Illinois requires students to take the SAT in order to graduate. While participation in this process is mandatory, the scores that students receive on the test can open doors in terms of college admissions, scholarships and academic recognition.
As I reported to the board of education in October, one of our top academic priorities is to provide students with access to opportunities and resources that they can use to improve their SAT performance. Below are some of the ways we are helping our juniors prepare for the test, which we will be administering to them during school on April 12.
Math and English Curricula
Our math and English curricula are built upon the same foundational skills that are tested on the PSAT and SAT. This means that your student is practicing the SAT skills in their English and math classes because they are embedded in the activities, assignments and assessments developed by our core content teams. In addition, the department chairs in our core content areas are working with course teams on our early release days to identify ways to better emphasize frequently missed SAT and PSAT skills in the curriculum.
PSAT Data
Our math and English teachers have received data for the students in their classes who are close to meeting grade-level SAT scores based on the results of their last PSAT assessment. They are then providing these students with additional practice and support that will help them reach grade-level benchmarks (540 on both the EBRW and math sections).
Test Prep Support
We have identified approximately 100 juniors who will be receiving SAT prep support on the early release Wednesdays that are scheduled to take place between January and the test date in April. All other juniors are encouraged to utilize the Khan Academy’s free targeted SAT practice and support that are available to those with a College Board account.
We know that many of our students already have an account that they created in conjunction with taking an AP test, sitting for the SAT outside of the district, or checking a past PSAT score. However, if your child still needs to set one up, they can do so by visiting
https://account.collegeboard.org/login/signUp. Please note that the creation of accounts can only be done by students and their families. District 86 does not have the access or ability to complete this process on behalf of our students.
Below are a couple things to keep in mind when creating an account.
- Make sure your child uses an email address that they check on a frequent basis. While using their school email address is an option, they will need to change/update it after their senior year if they want to continue receiving information from the College Board.
- Include your email address on your child’s account so that you receive the same information that they do. Once you are logged in, you will be prompted to connect your account to your child’s school.
When your student logs in to their College Board account, they will have access to all previous SAT Suite assessments and AP scores. Even if they don’t use the free practice offered by Khan Academy, they can review their previous scores so they know their current performance level and can determine what work they need to do to reach their goals.
In addition to the SAT practice and support, Khan Academy has partnered with the College Board to provide free, targeted skill development activities for all students. This means that once you create and link your College Board account to a Khan Academy account, your child will have access to skill building lessons and practice questions that are based specifically on questions they missed. Here is a link that provides great information about what Khan Academy can do to help your child “level up” on the SAT.
Future of PSAT and SAT Testing
As you may recall from previous communications, the College Board is switching to digital testing for all assessments in the SAT Suite starting next school year. This means that the SAT, PSAT 9 and PSAT 10 will still be given in the traditional format this spring, but will transition to the digital format in the fall of 2023.
Please visit
https://bit.ly/3BIjqCg for additional information about this shift and to access resources (e.g., full-length digital practice exams) that will help your child prepare for it.
We will continue to work with the curriculum leadership teams on both campuses to make sure that all of our students are well prepared for the test in the spring. In the meantime, please contact me or the assistant principal for curriculum and instruction at your child’s school if you have questions or need more information.
Sincerely,
Dr. Chris Covino
Assistant Superintendent for Academics
