Why SAT Courses Don’t Work
Does preparing for the SAT help improve your score?
The long-debated question has evolved over the decades. For decades, the testing industry actually denied that you could improve your score through prep work. A 2010 study found that books, videos, software do not raise scores but courses and private tutors can help raise scores modestly. In 2014, the College Board got into the debate, indirectly, when it partnered with Khan Academy to offer SAT prep questions for free online.
The consensus now appears to be that SAT prep can actually increase your score. The controversy remains as to how much.
I’ll provide my view using another standardized exam - the PMP (Project Management Professional). If I had not studied for it, I would have failed. No question about it. I took a practice test (for fun!) a year before I started prepping and scored terribly. I prepped using my approach to standardized testing and passed with no issues. At a very basic level - exam prep works.
So why do studies show only modest improvement for preparing for an exam? These studies have a very difficult time accounting for the human factor - how students prep, what resources they use, the amount of time they spend studying, the quality of their studying, their approach to studying, etc.
In addition, studies that show that SAT courses have minimal impact on students’ scores treat all courses the same. There is a major difference between a standardized course for a large group versus a private tutor course. Additionally, there are major differences between how courses are taught and how private tutors approach tutoring.
In a graphic, here’s the approach a typical SAT course may take
Here are the issues with this approach:
Pre-Test: At most SAT tutoring course companies, the pre-test is used to evaluate students. This is the wrong approach. At Worthington Prep, we break down the SAT Math exam into 42 different topics. No single practice test covers every topic. And some topics may show up just once on a particular exam. You cannot evaluate students based on such limited information. Even Khan Academy calls out this approach - We recommend evaluating students on how well they complete their classroom work and not on their practice test scores.
Structure / Goal of the course: Take a look at the graphic above and you’ll see most SAT courses cover each topic once. The goal is to make sure every topic is covered. For discussion purposes, assume the numbers represent the week the topic was covered. So in week 1, Heart of Algebra is covered. It never comes up again until students take the post-test. Mastery requires retention and retention requires repetition.
Mass Teaching vs. Individualized Engaged Learning: If you’ve ever been in a lecture hall listening to a professor, this will really ring true. A lecturer teaches to the masses and covers every topic. That’s the nature of the course for maximum combined benefit. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take each individual’s performance into account. Some students need a lot of time to grasp circle theorems or quadratic equation while others need a lot more focus on grammar rules. Mass group courses try to teach to the “average” student, though no student is “average” on every topic. Personal or small group tutors can focus their attention on the individual.
Lack of “After Hours” support: What happens after you leave the course for the day? Is there homework assigned? Is there any engagement between the tutor and student? Almost always, the answer is no. Tutors get paid for the hours they put in. They may make some after class recommendations but they will typically not be engaged with students in instruction outside tutoring hours. This puts the onus completely on the student. Some students are motivated and have other support and may continue to study. Others may not.
Post-Test: The Post-Test has a similar issue to the Pre-Test. SAT coaching / tutoring companies will typically use it to give students an evaluation of where they stand. Evaluation should not happen through tests but rather the classwork that is done. However, most tutoring companies don’t provide classwork or review questions after hours. So the only way to evaluate students is by one test. As one company’s course director told me, “We use the post-test to show parents how much students improved.” In other words, the post-test is done for marketing to parents to show them the value of the course. That’s not how it should be. Parents will find out the value, in part, when students take the actual exam.
The Worthington Prep SAT Tutoring approach revolves around the student
How is this different?
No Pre-Test / Post-Test: Students are evaluated on the course work, not on practice tests. Practice SAT exams are given so students can get a feel of exam day. Exam day is long and mentally draining and students need to prepare for it. The practice tests will also give students a sense of how they’re scoring overall but will not be used in their evaluation.
Individualized tutoring: The SAT is unique in that each student comes with a certain level of understanding of the topics from taking classes in school. So how do you cater a large group course to benefit each student? You can’t. Some students will find the course to be somewhat helpful. Others will find that it didn’t cater to their needs. Most will find some benefit but still leave realizing they’re not nearly ready for the exam. Individualized tutoring can help students target their weaknesses and leave being ready for the exam.
Goal is mastery, not coverage: The first half of the course is spent on making sure students see all concepts that will show up on the exam. Students will then be expected to complete course work. Evaluation of course work through student-tutor interaction will give me a sense of the areas of weakness. The second half of the course is then used to target weaknesses and turning them into strengths. Throughout the course, we’ll use all the tactics needed to master standardized tests.
Repetition, Repetition, Repetition: Mastery requires retention and retention requires repetition. It’s simple and, yet, essential. As humans, we don’t retain something the first time we see it. It takes repetition over time, or spaced repetition, for it to convert to retention. That’s what we do. Whether it’s through course work, TutorTime+ (after hours WhatsApp questions), or repetition during meet ups, students will see concepts over and over. Repetition leads to retention.
Schedule Flexibility: Exam in 2 months? Let’s meet 3 times a week up to the date of the exam. Exam in 3 months? Let’s be more paced and meet twice a week. Heading out on vacation? Let’s reschedule and meet on another day. Extracurricular activities occupying your evenings? Let’s see if night time / weekends work better.
After Hours Support: It starts with TutorTime+. Students are sent questions, tips through WhatsApp on a daily basis. These targeted questions allow me to see where students may be struggling and find areas of weakness. These interactions also reinforce repetition of material that students need to retain for mastery. In addition to TutorTime+, I use after hours to research outstanding questions students may have. This has included researching college admissions applications, SAT subject tests, reaching out to college admissions offices, and much more.