How Preparation Can Stem the Tide of Lower Math SAT Scores

Author: TargetSAT Research Team

Latest Announcements from College Board on SAT:
While SAT math scores have been climbing, College Board officials have just announced that the Class of 2007 has posted lower math scores than the previous class. The average score in mathematics was 494, showing a 3 point decline from the Class of 2006. This represents a .60 percent decline. While experts debate over the reasons for this decline, one thing many experts are agreeing on is that test preparation is an asset to achieving higher scores.

Do SAT Preparatory Courses Really Help Improve Scores?
As little as ten years ago test preparation was both an expensive and debatable proposition for students and their families. Prep courses were not widely available and the full impact of prep courses on test scores was not fully evident. Did SAT prep courses really help? Faced with $1000 investments in courses that were cumbersome and hard to find, students and their parents were faced with a dilemma. Today, SAT prep courses available on line are both affordable and more attuned to successful test taking strategies. The Christian Science Monitor has recently reported, “Even the College Board, which once declared that test coaching couldn’t help students, is offering its own test prep services.” It is obvious that experts are now coming to the conclusion that adequate test preparation is key to higher scores.

Benefits of SAT Online Courses:
As a more diverse group of students participate in SAT testing, preparation becomes more and more important. In the Class of 2007, 24% of all test takers reported that English was not their first language, compared to 17% a decade ago. Also, 35% of those taking this years test indicated that they would be the first in their families to go to college. This diverse group of students is finding invaluable help from on-line test preparation services that allow them to compete with other students. This is especially true in the Mathematics sections of the SAT.

Students Turning to Online SAT Preparatory Courses:
Students coming from high schools offering more aggressive Math departments have greater access to pre-calculus and calculus courses, thus affecting their preparedness for the challenge of the SAT Mathematics sections. Test prep courses can provide the focus needed to guide studies in these areas. With greater affordability and access, test prep courses can effectively level the playing field for students.

SAT Preparatory Courses Giving Students Greater Advantage on SAT Scores:
While providing guidance in areas of study, students who use SAT prep courses gain advantage over those that do not use coaching or preparation. Math panic is a real and devastating factor that affects student’s performance. Even students who are quite proficient in math find panic an issue when taking the SAT. The anxiety surrounding test taking coupled with strenuous time constraints makes the math sections especially stressful for test-takers. SAT prep courses provide students with time management skills and strategies that maximize their effectiveness and knowledge of the subject.

Overcome Math Challenges by Utilizing SAT Preparatory Courses:
In addition to individual test taking strategies, practice testing seriously lessens a student’s anxiety and apprehension surrounding the SAT. Practice testing allows students to focus their preparation in areas of weakness, gain confidence from areas of strength, and discover an individual test taking strategy. Today’s SAT prep courses offer just that to a student—an individual test taking strategy. Courses have become more geared towards helping students find the methods that work for them and adapt to the SAT format. As math continues to be the greatest challenge for America’s students, finding quality SAT math preparation is essential to turn around this year’s declining math scores. As a more diverse test population grows, this will become even more important. As the nearly 1.5 million students who took the 2007 SAT will agree, being prepared is half the battle.