At Lockport Township High School, students have been given the opportunity to participate in practice standardized tests. For years, LTHS consistently administered the practice test twice a year to underclassmen and once in the fall for Juniors, in order to prepare them for the SAT in the spring of junior year. The school also administers the official SAT during the school day for juniors, in order to ease the stress of getting everything done for college applications.
However, last year Illinois made it mandatory for high schools across the state to take the ACT rather than the SAT, a test measuring similar benchmarks but with different formatting. While both tests challenge the students’ reading and math skills, the ACT takes it a step further by including an English and science section as well.
This change came as a shock to many, since the juniors required to take the test had been preparing for the SAT their past two years of high school and were now required to take a different test. Just a few weeks ago, LTHS shocked the school community once again by announcing that there would be a scheduled practice ACT (PACT) on Nov. 4.
While seniors celebrated the unexpected day off, others felt as though they were not prepared. Junior Stella White felt caught off guard by the announcement. “I was unaware it would be coming up so soon,” she said when speaking about the upcoming practice test. Although the practice test would be incredibly useful to freshmen, sophomores and juniors, most students were unaware of the date that the PACT would occur and felt it was an inadequate time to prepare.
However, students’ lack of preparation was partly their fault. It is a known fact that Lockport Township High School offers a practice standardized test in the fall. Some believe that because of this, students should have already been studying before the date was announced.
The recent test has impacted the juniors here at Lockport the most, since they will be the ones taking the real test in the spring. Despite students’ unawareness of the PACT, there are many ways students can prepare for the next practice test or, for juniors, the ACT. Students can use resources such as practice quizzes in order to feel more confident when taking the test.
Not only can students find practice materials on the official ACT website, but they can also find additional resources on common test prep sites such as Mometrix Test Preparation and Kaplan Test Prep. Both sites offer practice tests that students can complete at home in order to feel more comfortable with the formatting of the test as well as the content of the questions.
Students at Lockport also have access to numerous PACT resources in the library. Found near the J-Hallway entrance of the Port are many test prep materials like textbooks that can help students prepare even more. These textbooks contain practice questions to review for the test and concepts that appear often in the test.
Although some may say that you don’t need to prepare for a practice test, your PACT scores are used in many ways. Some universities may look at them when searching for students to recruit to their school. Counselors also might use the scores to help students plan for their future and aim for schools that are attainable based on their scores.
Despite many students being unaware of the PACT date, the test went on as scheduled. Since many students were shocked and confused by the date of the PACT, hopefully it will teach future juniors to be more prepared for the PACT in coming years.
