Test Preparation: An Individualized Approach
Handle Associates: Over the last 19 years we have designed proprietary systems to maximize student performance on standardized exams. Our program is specifically customized for the individual. We analyze the student's strengths and weaknesses, and then we engineer a program to bolster the specific skills each will need for these important milestone tests.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Training to Tackle the Summit
He walks into the hall his stomach in knots. To support him, his mother has prepared a hearty breakfast, which he now regrets having eaten. The pressure is almost unbearable because he knows that so much about his future depends upon how he performs in the next hours. He wonders if he will succeed and what his parents and grandparents might think if he is unsuccessful. His heart pounds, and his hands are sweaty. His stomach feels queasy. This applicant is not taking the SAT, ACT, or SSAT ; the year is approximately 600 AD during the Sui dynasty, and the applicant is about to take the Chinese Imperial exam.
Almost universally maligned by test takers, standardized exams remain a crucial tool for institutions that have to winnow through a large pool of candidates for a limited number of positions. It is an increasingly cost - effective method for institutions to at least make a first pass through a large number of capable candidates. Thus, the information that standardized exams provide to institutions, (no matter how imperfect), is just too valuable to the selection process to ignore in this highly digitized, analyzed and competitive world. In fact, many top tier companies like Goldman Sachs are requesting applicant college entrance exam scores.
Critics of standardized tests contend that these tests are not measuring the full potential of the applicants. Certainly, characteristics like ethics, collaboration skills, and creativity are not represented. An under-appreciated value of standardized tests, however, is that they provide essential information to the applicants themselves. For students especially, the results of standardized tests provide critical feedback about their own level of knowledge and skills compared to a local, national, or international population. Although the “cold reality” of these results can be distressing at first, this data can also help students to associate personal effort with rewards and motivate them to work harder in school. In other words, standardized tests can be be employed to teach students “GRIT.”
GRIT is defined as perseverance and passion for long-term goals. In fact, self discipline, a component of GRIT, surpasses IQ in predicting academic performance and success. Importantly, students can be taught GRIT, and standardized exams can be a great vehicle to help them monitor their progress.
For too many students, an introduction to their first important standardized exam occurs mere weeks before taking the college entrance test, if at all. Until receiving their exam results, students’ competitive standings have been constructed from subjective and very local school experiences. A rude awakening so late in the students’ educational career seems unfair, all the more so because it is unnecessary.
Although some have suggested that a culture of testing for students is counter-productive to learning, this position may become more difficult to defend, as standardized exams begin to align more closely with the educational standard referred to as “the common core.” In fact, the new college board (SAT) president, David Coleman, has been one of the lead writers of the Common Core State Standards, so he wants to see the SAT be more relevant to what universities need.
As parents, how can you prepare your children for this new test reality? One way is to help your children train the cognitive skills that support the mastery of course material. There are a number of important techniques and exercises that help students develop organizational skills, maximize focus and memory, manage test anxiety, and engage in “deliberate practice” (see below).
TEST EARLY TEST OFTEN AND DEVELOP GRIT
Like top athletes or musicians, central prerequisites for success on standardized exams (or academics in general) include both hard work and excellent coaching. Anders Ericsson, a Florida State University psychologist, contends that exceptional performance usually requires what he refers to as “deliberate practice,” Deliberate practice occurs when an expert coach takes someone through well-designed training over months or years, and the trainee gives it his full concentration. Having the GRIT to continue deliberate practice that demands continuous improvements is essential for maximizing student performance.
In a culture then, where much of the gratification is instant, and grade inflation is rampant, preparing for standardized exams might stand out as a particularly useful GRIT training vehicle. Not that test scores are an end in themselves, but rather a part of a process that, like training to beat a personal best in a road race, encourages someone to continue the arduous workouts even when she don’t feel like it.
To guide students to maximize their performance on these hated but required rites of passage, and to help them obtain a real sense of accomplishment compared to their local, national, and international peers, Handle Associates has developed a number of proprietary systems to maximize student potential in every day class work and standardized exams.
START TRAINING TODAY
To start preparing for your next standardized exam explore the exercises on this site. Engage in deliberate practice, develop GRIT and for expert coaching contact us at Handle Associates for an application. We will design a customized curriculum specifically for your student.
Handle Associates: Over the last 19 years we have designed proprietary systems to maximize student performance on standardized exams. Our program is specifically customized for the individual. We analyze the student's strengths and weaknesses, and then we engineer a program to bolster the specific skills each will need for these important milestone tests.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Training to Tackle the Summit
He walks into the hall his stomach in knots. To support him, his mother has prepared a hearty breakfast, which he now regrets having eaten. The pressure is almost unbearable because he knows that so much about his future depends upon how he performs in the next hours. He wonders if he will succeed and what his parents and grandparents might think if he is unsuccessful. His heart pounds, and his hands are sweaty. His stomach feels queasy. This applicant is not taking the SAT, ACT, or SSAT ; the year is approximately 600 AD during the Sui dynasty, and the applicant is about to take the Chinese Imperial exam.
Almost universally maligned by test takers, standardized exams remain a crucial tool for institutions that have to winnow through a large pool of candidates for a limited number of positions. It is an increasingly cost - effective method for institutions to at least make a first pass through a large number of capable candidates. Thus, the information that standardized exams provide to institutions, (no matter how imperfect), is just too valuable to the selection process to ignore in this highly digitized, analyzed and competitive world. In fact, many top tier companies like Goldman Sachs are requesting applicant college entrance exam scores.
Critics of standardized tests contend that these tests are not measuring the full potential of the applicants. Certainly, characteristics like ethics, collaboration skills, and creativity are not represented. An under-appreciated value of standardized tests, however, is that they provide essential information to the applicants themselves. For students especially, the results of standardized tests provide critical feedback about their own level of knowledge and skills compared to a local, national, or international population. Although the “cold reality” of these results can be distressing at first, this data can also help students to associate personal effort with rewards and motivate them to work harder in school. In other words, standardized tests can be be employed to teach students “GRIT.”
GRIT is defined as perseverance and passion for long-term goals. In fact, self discipline, a component of GRIT, surpasses IQ in predicting academic performance and success. Importantly, students can be taught GRIT, and standardized exams can be a great vehicle to help them monitor their progress.
For too many students, an introduction to their first important standardized exam occurs mere weeks before taking the college entrance test, if at all. Until receiving their exam results, students’ competitive standings have been constructed from subjective and very local school experiences. A rude awakening so late in the students’ educational career seems unfair, all the more so because it is unnecessary.
Although some have suggested that a culture of testing for students is counter-productive to learning, this position may become more difficult to defend, as standardized exams begin to align more closely with the educational standard referred to as “the common core.” In fact, the new college board (SAT) president, David Coleman, has been one of the lead writers of the Common Core State Standards, so he wants to see the SAT be more relevant to what universities need.
As parents, how can you prepare your children for this new test reality? One way is to help your children train the cognitive skills that support the mastery of course material. There are a number of important techniques and exercises that help students develop organizational skills, maximize focus and memory, manage test anxiety, and engage in “deliberate practice” (see below).
TEST EARLY TEST OFTEN AND DEVELOP GRIT
Like top athletes or musicians, central prerequisites for success on standardized exams (or academics in general) include both hard work and excellent coaching. Anders Ericsson, a Florida State University psychologist, contends that exceptional performance usually requires what he refers to as “deliberate practice,” Deliberate practice occurs when an expert coach takes someone through well-designed training over months or years, and the trainee gives it his full concentration. Having the GRIT to continue deliberate practice that demands continuous improvements is essential for maximizing student performance.
In a culture then, where much of the gratification is instant, and grade inflation is rampant, preparing for standardized exams might stand out as a particularly useful GRIT training vehicle. Not that test scores are an end in themselves, but rather a part of a process that, like training to beat a personal best in a road race, encourages someone to continue the arduous workouts even when she don’t feel like it.
To guide students to maximize their performance on these hated but required rites of passage, and to help them obtain a real sense of accomplishment compared to their local, national, and international peers, Handle Associates has developed a number of proprietary systems to maximize student potential in every day class work and standardized exams.
START TRAINING TODAY
To start preparing for your next standardized exam explore the exercises on this site. Engage in deliberate practice, develop GRIT and for expert coaching contact us at Handle Associates for an application. We will design a customized curriculum specifically for your student.