Individual Guidance Lesson Plan
School Corporation:
Counselor Toolkit – Indiana PSAT
School Name:
Indiana Department of Education
Contact:
Aimee Portteus, Plymouth High School
Indiana Student Standards for Guidance Addressed
Standard(s) addressed:
Standard 1
Indicator(s) addressed:
9-12.1.2
Instructional Development
Grade Level(s):
9-12
Title:
Reviewing Your Individual PSAT/NMSQT Score Report
Summary:
This lesson allows counselors to help students individually get the most out of
the Score Report. It helps students:
 Review Test-taking Strategies.
 Consider Appropriate Course Enrollment.
 Anticipate Projected SAT Score.
 Consider Potential “Fit” at several Indiana Colleges.
Time Frame:
15 – 20 minutes
1. Make sure student has a copy of his/her individual Score Report.
Procedure:
2. Make a copy of each of the following materials for the student to
take with him/her:
a. Parent Tutorial: Understanding PSAT/NMSQT Results
Downloadable from
<www.collegeboard.com/prof/counselors/tests/psat/downloads>.
b. Score Report Tutorials for Younger Students
(for students in 9th or 10th grade), downloadable from
<www.collegeboard.com/prof/counselors/tests/psat/downloads>.
c. Average SAT Scores and Indiana Colleges Handout,
See attached template.
3. Refer to “Score Report Items/Issues to Review with Individual Students”
page (see attached) as you talk to students to guide your conversation.
4. Encourage student to visit <www.collegeboard.com/psatextra> to get
explanations for the answers to every test question and to look at major, career, and
college exploration tools
Evaluation
How will mastery of the
guidance indicator(s) be
evaluated?
Resources needed: e.g.,
technology resources,
books, Websites
Citation(s): You may
include copyrighted
materials in “resources
needed” but do not
reproduce copyrighted
materials in your lesson
plan. Non-copyrighted
materials need to be
reproduced and included
with your lesson plan.
Cite resources here.
Collaborative Partners:
e.g., advisory teachers,
other teachers,
community resource
people
1. Percentage of all students who take the PSAT/NMSQT.
2. Percentage of all students who develop a SAT strategy plan based on
their PSAT scores.
3. Percentage of students who discuss the concept of College Fit with their
counselor based on their PSAT score.
4. Percentage of students who enroll in Core 40, Academic Honors, and/or
Technical Honors courses.
5. Percentage of students who enroll in AP courses, having discussed their
PSAT scores and course selection recommendations made by AP
Potential.
1. Individual Score Reports.
2. Copies of
 Parent Tutorial: Understanding PSAT/NMSQT Results –
downloadable from <www.collegeboard.com/prof/counselors/
tests/psat/downloads>.
 Score Report Tutorials for Younger Students (for students in 9th or
10th grade downloadable from <www.collegeboard.com/prof/
counselors/tests/psat/downloads>.
 Average SAT Scores and Indiana Colleges Handout – see attached
template.
3. A copy of “Score Report Items/Issues to Review with Individual
Students” page – see attached template
4. Internet access to demonstrate to students the use of
<www.collegeboard.com/psatextra>.
Parent Tutorial: Understanding 2005 PSAT/NMSQT Results
Score Report Tutorials for Younger Students
The Official Educator Guide to the PSAT/NMSQT
All material provided by CollegeBoard through it’s Counselor Connection Program
accessible at www.collegeboard.com
Advisory Teachers
English/Math Teachers
Community Resource People
Contact information
Telephone:
Aimee Portteus: 574-936-2178 ext 260
E-mail:
aportteus@plymouth.k12.in.us
Score Report Items/Issues to Review with Individual
Students
TEST-TAKING STRATEGIES
Go over with the students the “Review Your Answers” portion of the Score Report. Encourage
them to go back and look at individual questions/answers at a later time.
Pacing: Discuss pacing with the student. Did they have time to finish the test? Could they have
slowed down and worked more carefully? Should they have worked more quickly?
Omitting Questions: Remind students that they receive zero points if they omit a question and
negative points if they answer a question incorrectly. Using the Score Report, show students
how the questions progress from easy to medium to hard. How many hard questions did the
students answer incorrectly? Would the students have been better off to omit those questions?
Help the students develop a strategy for possibly omitting questions that are beyond their ability
level. Should they consider omitting the last three questions, six questions, etc.?
Practice SAT Tests: Suggest that students try out these strategies on a practice SAT test.
Review general test-taking strategies: Remind them that the PSAT/NMSQT is a practice test
for the SAT Reasoning Test, and that they should consider similar Test-Taking Strategies for
the SAT Reasoning Test as they used for the PSAT/NMSQT:





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Take a practice test at <www.collegeboard.com>.
Earn as many points as you can on easy questions.
Read all the answer choices before marking your answer sheet.
Don't feel you have to answer every question.
Work steadily – don’t waste time on hard questions. You can always go back to them
later.
Check your answer sheet regularly to make sure you're in the right place.
Try educated guessing when you can eliminate at least one answer to a multiple-choice
question. Be sure you understand the difference between educated and random guessing.
Educated guessing means guessing an answer whenever you are able to eliminate one or
more of the choices as definitely wrong. Educated guessing may help you. Random
guessing probably won't help you because of the way the test is scored. Random guessing
means that you have no idea which answer choice is correct. Don't waste time on that
kind of question. Move on to the next one.
COURSE ENROLLMENT
Review with the students what their PSAT scores mean to them as they select courses to complete
their high school career and prepare for post-secondary education:

Work ethic: Take a good selection of solid academic courses, read widely, and work
hard at your studies.



Rigorous curriculum: Enroll in the most challenging courses you can handle in
English, mathematics, science, social studies, foreign languages, and fine arts. Make sure
that you are on track to complete the Core 40, the Academic Honors, or the Technical
Honors Diploma.
AP potential: Consider enrolling in AP courses and/or any honors courses your school
may offer. At this point it is very important to pull up results from AP Potential provided
by College Board. You can get information at <https://appotential.collegeboard.com>.
Problem-solving activities: Get involved in problem-solving activities through clubs,
sports, hobbies, part-time jobs, etc.
PROJECTED SAT REASONING TEST SCORES
Review with your students what their projected SAT Reasoning Test score will be based on
their Score Report:


Like the PSAT/NMSQT, scores on the SAT have a range; however, for the SAT, the
range is 200 to 800. Adding a “0” [zero] to your PSAT/NMSQT scores gives you a quick
estimate of what your SAT scores might be. A Critical Reading score of 50 on the
PSAT/NMSQT could be a Critical Reading score of 500 on the SAT.
A better way to estimate an SAT score is to look at the “What SAT Ranges Can You
Expect?” section at the bottom of the “Your Scores” section.
POTENTIAL “FIT” AT INDIANA COLLEGES
Go over with students how their PSAT/NMSQT and their projected SAT Reasoning Test
scores can help predict what colleges in Indiana would be a good “fit” for them.


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The College Handbook is an excellent place to look for information about colleges. The
SAT scores of the middle 50 percent of enrolled students are listed. Remember this:
Within this 50 percent, 25 percent of the students enrolled had scores higher than the
mean for this college and 25 percent were admitted with lower scores. Additionally, of
the remaining 50 percent who were admitted, some were higher and some were lower
than this middle range.
Provide students with the handout “SAT Scores and Indiana Colleges” for them to review
as they do college searches and make plans for the future.
Introduce the idea of “college fit” to the students as a criteria for college selection.
Would some colleges not be challenging enough? Would other colleges be too difficult?
Adapted from CollegeBoard: The Official Educator’s Guide to the PSAT/NMSQT  and
Understanding Results from the PSAT/NMSQT
Sat Scores and Indiana Colleges
The following is a listing of Indiana Colleges and the average SAT score of the middle 50
percent of students admitted as freshmen to each institution. For more information on each
college, visit <www.collegeboard.com> or <www.learnmoreindiana.org>.
POST-SECONDARY INSTITUTION
Ancilla College
Anderson University
Ball State University
Bethel College
Butler University
Calument College of Saint Joseph
Community College of Indiana
DePauw University
Earlham College
Franklin College
Goshen College
Grace College
Hanover College
Holy Cross College
Indiana Institute of Technology
Indiana State University
Indiana University
Indiana Wesleyan University
Manchester College
Marian College
Martin University
Oakland City University
Purdue University
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Saint Joseph's College
Saint Mary-of-the-Woods
Saint Mary's College
Taylor University
Tri-State University
University of Evansville
University of Indianapolis
University of Notre Dame
University of Southern Indiana
Valparaiso University
Vincennes University
Wabash College
SAT VERBAL
SAT MATH
SAT Score not required for Admission
480–590
470-570
470-580
540-630
490-580
470-570
460-590
540-650
SAT Score not required for Admission
SAT Score not required for Admission
550-660
570-700
460-560
500-630
480-590
540-650
420-520
570-660
530-650
460-580
490-640
450-590
550-650
450-560
SAT Score not required for Admission
420-530
490-610
470-630
450-560
460-560
420-520
500-620
449-650
450-570
450-570
SAT Score not required for Admission
430-580
500-610
570-680
430-550
450-580
530-630
540-660
450-570
520-630
450-570
630-730
420-530
520-630
440-600
530-650
640-720
450-550
420-560
520-610
520-650
490-600
520-640
460-570
660-740
420-540
520-640
SAT Score not required for Admission
530-650
550-660