How to improve on standardized tests

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I'm wondering if anyone out there has ideas on how to handle this problem --

My 13 year old son (probably more HFA than Asperger's) is a very good student, and does especially well at math. Now, having said that, he is not a natural at maths -- I just think he works hard. He tests well on tests in math class. He is leaning toward engineering or science interests currently (this could all change at any given time).

And yet, he does NOT do well on standardized tests. We have tried having him tested in a separate room, and having him test with the regular population at school for things like Iowa standardized tests, etc. He does slightly better in a separate room, but no matter what, he does not show his TRUE APTITUDE. He gets practically straight A's in school, but he often tests in the basic level (or less) in reading comprehension, and proficient (as opposed to advanced) in math skills.

None of this would bother me, but he has been talking alot about wanting to go to various colleges, most of which would require stellar SAT scores. I just wonder if there's a class, or a course, or a book that any of you have used to improve your standardized testing scores? Like any parent, I would like to help my son be able to accomplish whatever he wants to do in life.

IMO? ditch them all. get Angela Bassett to throw them in a pile (to the tune of "i'm not gonna cry") and have her set them all on fire.

i wish i had some better ideas. but really, they're "off" in so many, many, many, many, many ways---at least the ones measuring intelligence. fine if you find a few (others) which may pick up on an undetected problem. but otherwise?

(sorry. i'm highly caffeinated right now and shouldn't drink it at all.)

truly. i have a few problems with the whole notion of "standardized" tests. humans aren't standardized. why should tests be?

PS: i know there are prep courses for things like the LSAT. most likely you can find something for the SAT's. there are definitely prep-books out there for both undergrad and grad school tests. available at most book stores; i'm sure Amazon too.

good luck.

Try a place that sells homeschooling workbooks. They sometimes have workbooks and study guides for Standardized Tests. I just saw a catagory in a local store with some Standardized Test studyguides and workbooks but I doubt you have the same store where you live. They do exist, however.

Thanks for your suggestions -- I will look at the bookstores!

I hate standardized tests as well. It seems like all my son does now is go to school and prepare for standardized tests. The teachers probably hate them as well, because they end up teaching for the test rather than teaching honest to gosh subjects that kids might enjoy!

Trouble is -- college entrance exams are currently what college administrators use to pick students for their school. Currently there is no way to get around that fact, and until they get smart and stop looking at the college entrance exams for placement purposes, and instead look at student's GRADES, then my son must prep for the college entrance exam and do well to be able to get into the college of his choice. It's not just down to that, either -- socially, a kid on the spectrum is going to do better at a school where the emphasis is on smarts rather than social skills. If my son can even remotely look forward to getting into MIT or Cal Poly, where the smart students are, he's going to do much better there than say a party school like Penn State or UC Santa Cruz.

He could go to University in Canada. Admissions are not based on SAT scores, or any other kind of standardized tests. Admission is solely based on high school G.P.A. There are some very reputable school here........the University of Toronto for example. If you were going to pay to send him out of state and live in a dorm anyways, it may also be cheaper....because tuition is slightly lower here. I can’t imagine admission to University being based on an aptitude test and not on achievements, like high school grades. That sounds absolutely ridiculous to me. Good luck! =)

There are several excellent colleges which don't require SATs for admissions. If test scores are still a problem for your son when it's time to choose colleges, you should look into some of those. There are also schools which don't weigh SAT scores particularly strongly.

Does your son get extra time on tests? If he's diagnosed, then he should be able to.

Also, you should note that tests like the SAT are not exactly like state-mandated content-based tests, so don't assume that they're the same. It's also possible to get special tutoring and classes for the SATs. Going through various workbooks available for the SAT also helps.

On a somewhat different note, I think it's a bit unfair for you to say that college admissions should ONLY be based on grades. Many smart people are bored in high school. Test scores help those of us show that high school grades may not be representative of our talents. I would have been pretty poor off if no colleges took test scores into consideration, as my GPA was not great--in part due to classes like health and gym. Stellar test scores got me into a better college, where I clearly belonged. (Graduated magna cum laude.)

And as a warning, you should know that the odds of getting into MIT these days are very slim even for superstar test takers.

I was the complete opposite with standardized tests. I'd ace those and fail the class so my GPA was quite bad(I did great the last 2 and half years but failed nearly every class before that) when I graduated. I wasn't good with school work but I knew the stuff. I had some accommodations when I did the ACT(extended time and did it in a room alone) and that helped. I did good but didn't get accepted anywhere so I ended up going to MATC where I plan on transferring from later.

Grades aren't a significantly better measurement, in my opinion. They would be if there were not a huge variance among high schools in terms of quality, competitiveness, and grade inflation, but as it is (and is likely to remain) there are students performing at about the same level with GPAs (and course difficulty levels) all over the map. Standardized tests help introduce at least one element that is common to all applicants, which can be beneficial when comparing two students with what seem like otherwise roughly equivalent school records. I think this is the main reason why schools continue to use them, and I would also point out that they are no longer weighted nearly as heavily in the admissions process as they were some years ago.

As for your original question - I agree with those who are saying you should check out the selections at local book stores (or libraries), and also look seriously into what the options are for extra time, etc. on the SAT so he doesn't miss out on anything that could possibly help even the field. I would also caution against pushing it too hard this early, though. I am someone who was always very successful with standardized tests, and I think a major factor was that I have never actually felt testing anxiety, which causes a lot of people to perform below their potential. You don't want to make it such a big thing that you inadvertently give your son testing anxiety, especially when it sounds like he has a fairly good attitude about tests right now.

daydreamer84, very good suggestion about school in Canada. There are many days when I think that I might move to Canada myself -- it might be a really good option for my son!

srriv345, Jacoby, and go_around, thank you for your comments, which are all very helpful about why standardized tests are a useful tool. I have two older children who are now in college -- the oldest (AS boy) was like many on this forum -- he did not do necessarily well in high school because of forgetting assignments, not dressing for gym, not being particularly athletic in gym, etc., but he tested well in class, and tested extremely well on the SAT. He was able to get into a good college, but he came to the conclusion -- too late in the game -- that he would have preferred a different, more competitive school. He would have needed better grades in ADDITION to his good SAT scores to go to the type of college he would have liked to attend.

My daughter (NT girl) had fantastic grades but did not test well on college entrance exams. This seems to be fairly common for girls, from what I've heard. It's very frustrating, as she worked MUCH HARDER than my son, but because of her slightly above average ACT and SAT scores, she would not have been accepted to a super challenging college that she would have liked to attend. She was accepted (and declined) Smith College, which is one of the colleges that doesn't stress SAT scores as much as other colleges. She was very frustrated by her inability to test better.

THIS is why I'm starting early with just thinking about how to possibly help my younger son with these entrance exams. He's a smart kid, but he doesn't have the stellar test-taking ability of his older brother, and he doesn't have the ability to get terrific grades in every subject like his sister -- yet, he talks about going to Ivy League schools. I'm very aware that the option of getting into one of those is slight, but I do want him to be able to get into a school with other kids like him -- smart, but not necessarily social. I also want to give him the opportunity to know some of the "tricks" of test-taking to minimize any test-taking anxiety he may have -- so that he can feel good about himself. It would just be nice to get him so used to these tests that he doesn't worry about them.