I do more than ADHD coaching. I’m also a tutor. I work on the Wyzant platform (if you are looking for me) and I tutor high school and college students in English and the humanities. Fall is a busy time for tutors. The students have started new classes and it takes about a month to start falling behind or to realize you are in over your head. It’s also time for college admission essays. On top of that, it’s time for the PSAT. I hate the PSAT. Well, not the test. I have problems with the test, but I don’t hate it. I hate how it’s handled. Many schools just tell students when they will be taking the PSAT and they do that on short notice, unlike the SAT or ACT, which is scheduled and planned for months in advance. Which isn’t to say that nobody knows it’s coming. It’s coming. You’ve known that since 7th grade. Somewhere between mid-October and mid-November, the PSAT will be given. It happens every year. You know what else happens every year? Requests to help students cram for the PSAT. Students find out that the PSAT will be given in two weeks or one week or (as happened to a student of mine this semester) two days. This seems really unfair. It is certainly shocking. It definitely causes a lot of anxiety. But it’s not unfair. And here’s why it’s not unfair: You can’t study for the PSAT.
I know, I’m gonna get backlash from that. But it’s true. It’s just not that kind of test. It’s not a test of knowledge; it’s a test of skills. Now, it is perfectly possible to improve one’s reading, writing, and math skills. But that isn’t really done by studying; it’s done by practice. If you want to be a better reader, read. If you want to be a better writer, write. If you want to be better at math… okay, study the formulas. But once you know them, then all you can do is do the math. What you absolutely can’t do is cram. There’s nothing to cram. You can practice and should, but that should just be part of learning. If you can’t pick out the main idea of a reading passage, there’s nothing that can be done in 72 hours that will change that. Just like an IQ test, the PSAT measures how you think and process information.
And not doing well on the PSAT or SAT does not predict college (or life) success. If you want to know how well you will do in college, then look at how well you did in high school. College isn’t a collection of standardized tests; it’s a collection of classes. GPA is a better indicator of how well a student will do in college. But even that… college is different than high school. In many ways, it’s more flexible and more adaptable. Students who don’t do well in high school may thrive in college because they get to create their schedule, pick their classes, determine their own path. And some who do well in high school flounder in college for the same reasons. What is most likely to help students succeed in college is support. If a student goes to a college that fits their passions and personality, if a student has friends and family to lean on in the hard times, if a student takes advantage of the services colleges provide, that is going to determine if they thrive.
Let’s take some of the pressure off of our high school students. Stop studying for the PSAT. Use those scores for what they are meant for, to see if there are areas where skills can be improved. Work on improving those skills, if you like. But the PSAT does not determine a child’s future. Stop acting like it does.
