Pathways to Elite Colleges

Get Your ACT Together!

What is ACT?

The California Department of Education answers that question as follows:

The ACT test is designed to assess a high school student's general educational development and ability to complete college-level work.

How do colleges use ACT?

Many colleges use the ACT results as one factor in the admissions process. ACT, a non-profit organization, has developed the test administered in locations around the world.

This video explains ACT.

What does the test cover?

From the ACT website:

"The ACT test covers four subject areas: English, mathematics, reading, and science. Each subject area test receives a score ranging from 1 to 36. The composite score is the average of all four subject area test scores. Many colleges and universities use ACT scores as one factor in making admissions decisions."

When can you take the test?

The ACT is administered here in the United States seven times a year. International testing takes place five times a year. Be sure to consult ACT's website to confirm upcoming test dates and register. Don't wait until the last minute to register.

How much does the test cost?

In 2021 ACT costs $85 for the test and the writing component. If you cannot afford the test, you can apply for a fee waiver.

What if I am homeschooled or require special accommodations?

Homeschooled

The 2019 college admissions scandal proved that cheating is endemic throughout the secondary and tertiary levels of education. Cheating is not restricted to college admissions tests and applications. We find examples in the classroom, on term papers, projects, and more. I will omit a discussion of cheating in elementary school in this essay and cover it in another article.

In 2011, when I read about students paying another person to take their SATs, I was appalled. What were they thinking? And how did they pull it off? Looking back on my high school and university years, I realize now that it was tough to cheat in the 50s and 60s. That was because all of my examinations required us to write out our answers in pen. We didn't have multiple choice exams. No punch cards. I did occasionally hear of students who wrote out formulas on their palms or who looked over at a neighbor's answer book. But that was about it. Fast forward to the age of smartphones, and cheating has gone digital.

This video explains what contract cheating is and how it works.

Our role as parents

I will confess that I was, and, indeed, still am, a somewhat naive parent. I assume good things will happen. I also believe that my children will do the right thing. For the most part, and I can say this after long years

I have been writing about corporal punishment in K-12 schools since 1999. Frankly, I am appalled that 19 states in 2019 still permit corporal punishment in their public and private schools. As of 2019, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming have not banned corporal punishment. The United States does not have a federal law prohibiting corporal punishment in public or private schools, much less in the home. State and local laws govern education in almost every respect. Local and state taxes fund public education. Therefore, it has been the local and state authorities which make the rules regarding how students are disciplined.

What is corporal punishment?

UNICEF defines corporal punishment as “any punishment in which physical force is used and intended to cause some degree of pain or discomfort, however light. Most involve hitting (“smacking”, “slapping”, “spanking”) children, with the hand or with an implement "

How many children are involved with corporal punishment?

"A total of 163,333 children were subject to corporal punishment in these states’ public schools during the 2011–2012 school year.

What are the negative consequences of corporal punishment?"

Why do 19 states still permit corporal punishment? posits that corporal punishment still exists because administrators and teachers think it does some good. They base their decision to use corporal punishment not on any evidence drawn from research but rather from their own opinions and feelings.

Should you send your child to a school which prepares its students to take either the SAT or ACT? That's a decision which you will face when you evaluate schools on your shortlist. At that point, you will have to choose schools which teach to the test or progressive schools which do not.

Schools which offer SAT or ACT preparation spend two or three years preparing their students to take those examinations in their senior year. In addition, most of these schools will offer Advanced Placement (AP) courses. Progressive schools prepare their students for college with experiential learning and the development of portfolios demonstrating academic accomplishments. Naturally, each educational approach has its proponents and its opponents.

Some people think that good test scores on standardized admissions tests are the only way to get into a competitive college such as Harvard or Princeton. The reality is that these days, college admissions departments look at much more than test scores when determining which applicants to admit.

Background: History of the SAT and ACT

The SAT, or Scholastic Aptitude Test as it used to be called, has been around since 1926. A Brief History of the SAT explains how the SAT evolved from an Army IQ test to a college admissions test. The original idea behind that college admissions test was to level the admissions playing field by evaluating scholarship students seeking admission to Harvard. Back in the early part of the 20th-century, the elite New

It doesn't matter what grade your child is in or, for that matter, if she has not even started formal schooling. We parents are responsible for enriching our children's education. We are responsible for expanding our children's horizons. We are responsible for showing and explaining things, concepts, and places they have never thought of. What follows is my roadmap for enriching your child's education. While I am not a psychologist, I have raised four amazing children following the principles which I lay out in this essay. I was raised this way. So was my late wife. We knew our method worked.

The Early Years

Playing classical music and reading are the foundations of an infant's education as far as I am concerned. I never believed that classical music made my children smarter. Indeed, The Mozart effect: Classical music and your baby's brain debunks that notion. But I do know that the music of Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart, and Beethoven soothed my girls when they were infants. Furthermore, I continue to hear from listeners at the classical music radio station with which I am affiliated about how our classical music programming lulls their children to sleep.

In this video, Erica Goms fromeHow Health discusses how cognitive development in babies can be stimulated by simply playing with the baby and showing them toys.

Reading to your child develops her imagination. Those books which you read over