3 Games to Identify Correct Reading Comprehension Answers

Reading comprehension is the one section of the SAT and ACT that has changed the least. Read a passage, answer questions and demonstrate that you can understand the details of the information presented. It's a skill that is useful for any reading, and most importantly on standardized tests. 

Despite the long history of this component of the SAT and ACT, many students still struggle with it. In my experiences as a test prep tutor, I have seen hundreds of students fail to pinpoint the precise detail in a passage that matches to the correct answer.  

Which is why I teach my students these three simple games they can play when attacking the answer choices: 

1) Flipping Game: Usually, a student tries to find a correct answer by matching the words from the answer choice to the words in a passage. However, in the Flipping Game, students are taught to flip this script and do the reverse. In other words, instead of initially going to the passage to match the words in the answer, students focus on the words in the answer choice first and mentally craft some text that could match that answer. Once the potential text is crafted, then the student attacks the passage to see if that is indeed what is written. 

For example, let's consider a question like, "What it the primary purpose of the first paragraph?" with an answer choice like, "To list the characteristics of the main character." In the Flipping Game, I would have students forget the passage for a moment and instead consider the answer choice and craft a "list" of "characteristics" in their heads. Armed with a "list", students then go back to the passage to see if the list they crafted matches the list in the passage find. If they find a similar list, then this is a possible answer choice. If not, eliminate it. 

2) Isolation Game: Whenever answer choices have multiple parts, students can play the Isolation Game. This game is all about attacking only one part of the answer. When you attack just one part of the answer at a time, you can eliminate wrong answers more quickly and get to your correct answer more accurately. 

For example, consider a question like, "Over the course of the passage, the main focus shifts from a ...." On these questions, every answer will have two parts: a summary of the first part of the passage then a summary of the second part. And each answer choice is separated by a "to" like "...general discussion of the narrator's personality to a story about how that personality changed." In this situation, I teach students to avoid worrying about the whole answer and isolate just one part of the answer. By focusing on only one part of the answer,  wrong answers can be identified faster which makes finding the right answer easier.  

3) One Word Game: Similar to the Isolation Game, the One Word Game is about attacking pieces of the answer. However, in this game, the strategy is to focus on one individual words. The meaning of each individual word is massively important. Students can eliminate wrong answers simply by identifying one or two words in an answer choice that do not match the passage. 

For example, let's imagine there is a paired passage in which the task is to read two shorter passages and compare and contrast them. A typical question for this task will be, "The authors of both passages would most likely agree with which of the following statements?" Play the One Word Game by looking at each individual word in an answer choice. And if the answer choice is, "History has proven to be very accurate", then every word must be what the authors would agree on. The word "very" in this answer choices presents a question: do both authors agree that it is "very" accurate? If yes, then this is a possible correct answer. If not, then eliminate. The devil is in the details on this as each singular word is meaningful. 

In sum, these three methods are not so much games as they are approaches to answer choices. Play one or all three depending on your questions and answer choices and you can get closer to the correct answer much faster. 

Finally, a shout out to York School and their Summer Bridge program for motivating me to write these games down for the CROSSWALK blog. We are in the middle of a great three-week  test prep program and I am thankful for those students who inspired me to document what we worked on in class. 

If you need test prep help or tutoring for academic subjects, either in person or online, contact CROSSWALK today. 

"The Inequality Machine" -- Book Review

Goodness gracious: The higher education system in the United States is not broken; we need a new system. 

And if you don't think we need a new system, then you should read The Inequality Machine: How Colleges Divide Us by Paul Tough. 

Before reading this book, I already knew that our higher education system favored the wealthy and connected. Just watch Operation Varsity Blues to see how the rich have gamed the admissions process. But after reading it, I now realize that these same inequities dominate not just the admissions process but all phases of the college experience: from applying all the way through graduation and beyond. 

Tough lays out an irrefutable case in his book that colleges allow the rich get richer while the poor get poorer. The hope of achieving upward mobility through a college degree is just a dream that enrollment managers sell to keep their tuition revenue stable. 

It's a pretty dark conclusion especially from a personal standpoint as my children will soon enter the college admission process. Yet it is hard to argue with the facts that Tough lays out: 

• Both rich and poor students, who attend the same colleges, achieve similar levels of success. However, rich and poor students are not attending the same colleges: the rich are attending the most elite schools while the poor are not. 
• Many outreach programs to level the playing field have been successful, but on such a small scale that the results are difficult to measure. 
• The College Board has marketed its efforts to make test prep more equitable yet there has been little change in the fact that SAT scores go hand-in-hand with income, education and race of the parents. 
• Even if admitted to elite colleges, lower income students and students of color feel isolated and alone. The culture of many elite colleges fail to support lower income or racially diverse student bodies. 
• As much as colleges profess equity and inclusion, they still need to admit a large proportion of wealthy students in order to make the university solvent. 
• Graduation rates for students of color and low income students pale in comparison to white or wealthy students. 

Despite these harsh realities, Tough also presents some optimism. He tells of the 10% Rule that has made the University of Texas system more diverse. He shares a successful intervention program at Georgia State to target potential dropouts. And he shows how colleges can create study groups and community outreach to help lower income students who are unprepared for the rigor of college. 

Most importantly, he lays out a case that the United States has historically supported education in ways that could be replicated to decrease inequalities. For example, the GI Bill was a way we got more students into colleges. And the bottom-up initiatives by U.S. citizens from 1910-1940 created a culture around the importance of high school. 

Ultimately, Tough calls for a change. He argues that, "If you create an economic system in which achieving financial stability depends on obtaining a product that costs a lot of money, social mobility will inevitably decline.” And since the pandemic of 2020 further exposed the vast inequities in the system, "Change can’t come soon enough."

So if you agree with Tough that "Our collective public education benefits us all," then now is the time for change. Let's look at each step of the college experience--from considering college attendance, to applying, to accepting an offer, to financing the education, to graduating and to entering the work place--and revamp the entire process to make it more open to more students regardless of race, income level or background.

Yes, we have some work to do. But if we truly believe that education is a path towards upward mobility, then now is the time to make sure that path is inviting and welcoming to all.

Unintended Consequences of UCs Dropping SAT & ACT?

Hallelujah. Finally some clarity in the state of California: The University of California system recently announced that the SAT and ACT will no longer be a factor in admissions decisions. 

And this isn't even a test optional thing. This is a no test thing. 

While the decision may just be a way to settle a lawsuit, it represents a major shift to the entire college admissions process. 

Followers of this blog know that CROSSWALK has long understood the inequities of the SAT and ACT. Though our specialty is test preparation, we know that these tests favor the wealthier and more educated segments of the population. Simply put, it has not been a fair way to assess student potential. 

So California, it's time to celebrate.

Or is it? Might this decision actually hurt California? What will be the unintended consequences? 

To assess the possible downsides of this move, I raise the following three questions: 

1) Will removing tests make it harder for California's high school students to get into top state colleges? 

Since UCs decided to go test optional last year, there was a major increase in applications (take UCLA, for example). As a result, admissions rates went way down. Now that UCs will go test blind next year, won't applications increase more? And admission rates decrease more? Add in the fact that UCs love to accept full pay, out-of-state applicants and the unintended consequence may be that our California high schoolers may have less of a chance to get into top UCs. 

2) Won't this decision actually make California high schoolers less competitive for out-of-state colleges?  

As long as the SAT and ACT are not required for UC admission, fewer high schools in California will offer test prep or support for SAT and ACT. Since states like Georgia and potentially Florida maintain their SAT and ACT admission requirements, this would mean that Californians will have to work harder to find test prep resources if they want to apply to schools in those states. 

3) Will this make college more accessible for all? 

The cynic in me says that even as test scores are removed, the privileged pockets of our society will still figure out ways to gain access to selective colleges. The inequities in our higher education system are enormous. So if the objective of removing the tests is to level the playing field, won't the rich just find another strategy to deploy? GPAs may become the new test score (the rich can afford tutors). Essays are certain to have heavier weight (the rich can afford essay editors). Demonstrated interest could be a more significant measurement (the rich can afford visits and trips). 

Ultimately, I applaud California's decision. It is certainly a move in the right direction to make college access more equitable, even if it is in response to a lawsuit. 

But I also wonder about the unintended consequences. I don't propose we return to the rampant use of test scores but I fear that this move will ultimately represent very little change overall. 

Maximize the ROI of Your GPA

GPA is the most important factor in college admissions. Since more universities are adopting test optional policies, GPA is gaining even greater weight. 

As such, students should invest time in their GPAs. Investing time to improve a GPA will pay off. Literally. 

But how much will it pay off? 

To answer this question, let's determine the ROI, or return on investment, of the GPA. 

ROI is a calculation to measure how much an investment yields in return. It's a simple comparison of the initial cost of the investment to the final value of the investment. For example, purchase $100 worth of stock today, and if the value of that stock turns into $125 in the future, your ROI is 25% in ([final value - initial value]/initial value x 100). 

Calculating the ROI on GPAs is the same math, but since GPAs are not measured in dollars, we have to make some assumptions: 

• Assumption #1: Investment = Time. The initial "cost" of an investment in a GPA is not money, but time. Assume that our initial investment, then, is all about time. 
• Assumption #2: 1 Hour = $20. This second assumption takes a bit of a leap, but hear me out. If time is the investment, a student could choose to spend time studying, working, gaming, watching Netflix, swiping through social media or other. Of all of these, working is the one that yields money. And if the student chooses to work, like babysitting, mowing lawns or getting a part time job, we assume here that 1 hour would pay about $20. Likely less, but maybe more. So let's go with $20. 
• Assumption #3: Higher GPA = More Merit Aid. This next assumption is actually a fact: the higher a student's GPA, the more scholarship opportunities and merit-based aid are available. However, each college or scholarship program looks at these numbers differently. So the assumption we will make here is that each 0.1 increase in GPA will offer $1,000 more in merit-based aid. In other words, a student applying to a competitive school may get no aid with an unweighted GPA of 3.5, but a similar student with an unweighted 4.0 GPA could earn $5000 a year in aid.  
• Assumption #4: More Study Time = Higher GPA. Again, this assumption is generally true; if you study more, your grades will go up. But to make this work for our calculations, we are going to assume that one more hour of study time per week will boost the GPA by 0.1 points. This may not be a perfect correlation, but useful nonetheless for our calculation. 

With these assumptions in place, let's see what the ROI on GPA is for a typical student. Imagine Darnell, a freshman in high school with a 3.0 GPA. As Darnell thinks about sophomore year, he decides to dedicate five more hours a week of study time to his homework (1 hour per class). With 30 weeks in the school year, that's 150 extra hours in total. So Darnell's initial investment of 150 hours equates to $3,000 (150 x $20). 

If Darnell does this, his GPA would jump from a 3.0 to a 4.0. And if he maintains this same GPA his sophomore, junior and senior years, he could finish high school with a 3.75 GPA. This would mean he could qualify for $7,500/year in merit-based aid or scholarships. 

Thus, his ROI would be 150%! 

OK, yes, there are more assumptions to Darnell's situation but hopefully the point is clear: generally, any investment in GPA will be a positive ROI. Or more concretely: time invested in GPA improvement will literally pay off. 

Perhaps Darnell needs a tutor to ensure that huge GPA jump. No fear here because the investment would still pay off. Even if he decides to spend $100 a week in tutoring, his ROI would still be 25%. Not even Warren Buffett, the "Oracle of Omaha", can sustain a 25% ROI! 

So maximize the ROI of your GPA but putting in the time. And invest in productive time. Spend an extra hour organizing content, create online flashcards, reread material, look up alternative sources or perspectives, research ideas more, review past tests or find other ways to learn more about what you are studying. 

And if you need a tutor to help with this, CROSSWALK is here to help. 

Study time is worth the investment. Maximize the ROI of your GPA with the investment of time. 

"Better Off After College" -- Book Review

Big thanks to Sabrina Manville and Nick Ducoff of Edmit for their succinct overview of paying for college in their book, Better Off After College: A Guide to Paying For College With More Aid And Less Debt.

This book is perfect for parents and students embarking on the heavy question of how to afford college. 

My favorite aspect of the book is how it is organized. Manville and Ducoff start with the basics of college pricing in the chapter called "The Big Picture." From there, each subsequent chapter is a timeline of what families should know and do from pre-high school all the way through college. This flow allows families to jump into the book at whichever point they need the support and determine the steps necessary to pay for college. 

This book is truly bursting with useful information. Here are some of the key points that hit home for me:

• While the published price of college has gone up dramatically over the years, the net price (as in the price paid after discounts and financial aid) has remained about the same over the same timeframe. 
• The word "financial aid" continues to mislead families as loans are usually offered as part of the aid package. 
• Parents and students alike should understand the R.O.I., or return on investment, for the money they spend on college. It's rarely a good idea to take on tremendous debt even if the brand name university is the dream school. 
• When taking on loans, a good guideline is to take no more in loans than the student would earn in income in their first year out of college. 
• There are a variety of ways to manage college costs including choosing an affordable school, making sure the student graduates in four years, taking out manageable loans and appealing financial aid awards. 

In all, this book is a straightforward take on what is an increasingly complex decision. 

Perhaps my only criticism of this book are the anecdotes. Sprinkled into the factual and helpful information are vignettes of student and family situations. However, many of these stories lack deeper context and raise more questions than answers. I understand the goal was likely to demonstrate a concept with a real world story, but the stories are too limiting and leave the reader (or at least me) wanting to dig deeper to understand more. 

That said, this is a great guide for anyone seeking greater understanding of the finances of college. Students, parents, teachers and counselors will all benefit from reading this, keeping it on your bookshelf and dog-earing key parts for future use. 

Edmit is doing tremendous work in the college affordability space. I am grateful they have produced this book and I love the detailed information they have about colleges on their website: www.edmit.me. 

SAT Dress Rehearsal

If a student of mine is preparing to take the SAT in a couple of days, we do an activity I call a "SAT Dress Rehearsal." Essentially, it is a test walk through: we pull up a practice test and go through it page by page reminding the student about     timing, strategies and approaches. 

It's a stress-free activity that really helps students understand what test day will be like. And after doing this same activity with many students over the years, I finally recorded one I did with a group of students last night. 

Check it out here: 

Bookmark this video and watch it a few days before you take the test. Do your own "Dress Rehearsal" along with this video and be prepared for test day. 

And don't forget that I am hosting my online summer SAT & ACT Test Prep Workshop series starting June 22. Sign up or get more information right here. 

CROSSWALK is the Monterey Peninsula's local resource for academic tutoring and test prep. 

Summer is Coming: Sign Up Now for Test Prep

Yes, the test optional movement is here to stay. 

Even so, many highly selective universities are now revealing that the majority of admission offers during this last cycle are going to students who submitted test scores. Boston College reported that 61% of admits submitted scores. Colgate was similar at 60%. 

As a result, students who want to maximize college admission and financial aid opportunities should still take the SAT or ACT. Even if their dream school is test optional. Remember, it is an option to submit a score...so you can still take it to see how you do. 

And since summer is the sweetest time to prepare for the ACT and SAT, CROSSWALK is here to help. 

Sign up now for CROSSWALK's Summer Test Prep Program, a data driven and stress-free approach to SAT and ACT improvement. This six-week course is just what any rising junior or senior needs to master key strategies, manage time and achieve a goal score. 

Led by Brooke Higgins, instructor and founder of CROSSWALK, all classes are held remotely on Tuesday evenings from 6:00-8:00pm pacific time starting June 22nd. 

And a free bonus exclusively for summer students: a FREE Score Analysis. Submit an official or practice SAT, ACT or PSAT score to CROSSWALK and Brooke will provide key insights and ways to improve so that the student can keep moving towards his or her goal score. Summer students can do this before, during or after the program. 

Also, like all CROSSWALK courses, financial aid is available. Contact Brooke directly for more information on financial aid or any other test prep and tutoring questions. 

Since 2002, CROSSWALK Test Prep & Tutoring remains a trusted resource for GPA, test score and academic support.