Driving Question: How can I help KCS students prepare for standardized tests?
I arrived at my driving question after reflecting over my experience with SAT tutoring online over the summer. With our SAT prep canceled during my junior year, I struggled to study for the SAT on my own. However, I found my efforts valuable, as I was able to use my SAT scores in my college applications (it was above average for most schools), and my PSAT score made me eligible for full-ride scholarships at several universities through the National Merit program. As an online tutor with Schoolhouse.world, I enjoyed helping others with their test taking journey and I realized that I wanted to take this on a smaller scale and help my community.
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Community Engagement and Legacy
Many students told me that the hardest part of studying for the SAT and ACT was figuring out where to start. I decided to make my goal to leave students with one place to conveniently find everything they needed to know about testing. I also wanted to be able to work with students personally.
My final project vision was to start an afterschool SAT studying program leading up to the PSAT date and fall SAT date. Later on, I would create a website with an asynchronous SAT and ACT prep course. The website would also include a blog where I would post free studying resources and scholarship opportunities. |
Project Process
I hosted my SAT Prep class during the fall semester, two times per week. During this semester, I spend a lot of time emailing teachers. My mentor for this project, Coach Cassie, lent me her room for my study sessions, and got me in touch with junior seminar teachers so that I could present about my project in their classes.
For the SAT study sessions, I created flyers and a google classroom where I would post all of our slideshow lessons and study materials. Before deciding on creating a website, I actually wanted to start tutoring in junior advisories in the spring semester. However, I realized that my physics class would interfere with Thursday's advisory sessions, and overall, I had toruble getting in touch with advisory teachers. I decided on creating an online asynchronous prep course that students complete on their own time. This still fulfilled my goal of giving others a starting point for studying, while also allowing me to work around after-school time commitments. |
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Reflection
Like many other seniors, I was challenges with time management for this project. I had to be organized in order to balance working on my senior project with other classwork. I also had to challenge myself to reach out to students, to find out what they wanted from the program and figure out their availability. Finally, I challenged myself by presenting and teaching. As someone who wants to go into the scientific field, being able to break down complicated concepts into pieces that are easier to understand is an important skill that I will continually be working on.
My survey showed that 80% of students who either participated in study sessions or used the website, felt more confident about test-taking after using the program. However, many students commented that they would like a more concrete studying schedule for the online program. If I could re-do this project, I would advertise the program more and start the website earlier on. I would also emphasize test-related scholarships more in my junior seminar presentations. To make the course easier to follow, I will also be creating a study calendar for students to use. However, it would have been ideal for me to publish this well-before the PSAT and SAT began. |