PSAT/NMSQT Score Report / AP Potential Night
Thursday, February 4, 2016
Avon Grove High School Guidance Department
Using Your PSAT/NMSQT® Scores
to Increase College Readiness
Get to Know the PSAT/NMSQT®
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The PSAT/NMSQT® is highly relevant to your
future success because it focuses on the skills
and knowledge at the heart of education.
It measures:
- What you learn in high school
- What you need to succeed in college
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The PSAT/NMSQT measures reading, writing
and language, and math skills developed over
many years, both in and out of school.
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The PSAT/NMSQT does not ask for facts from
literature, history, or science, or recall of math
formulas, because it measures your reasoning
and critical thinking skills.
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You don’t have to discover secret tricks or
cram the night before.
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There is no penalty for guessing.
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The test length is 2 hours, 45 minutes
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What are the Benefits of
Taking the PSAT/NMSQT®?
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Prepare for the new SAT®,
coming in March 2016
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Get free, personalized, and focused
practice through Khan Academy®
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Start getting ready for college with
college and career planning tools
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Enter the National Merit®
Scholarship Program
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See which AP® courses you might
be ready for
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Get admission and financial aid
information from colleges
How Do I Access My PSAT/NMSQT® Scores and Reports?
1.
Review Your Paper Score Report
2.
Review Your Online Reports
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Understanding My Paper Score Report
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What Are My Scores?
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What Are My Scores? (cont.)
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What Are My Score Percentiles?
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What Are My Score Ranges?
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What is the National Merit® Scholarship Program?
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What Are My Areas of Strength?
What Skills Do I Need to Build?
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How Do I Access My Online PSAT/NMSQT® Scores and
Reports?
1.
Log in to an existing College Board account or create a new one at
studentscores.collegeboard.org
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How Do I Access My Online PSAT/NMSQT® Scores and
Reports? (cont.)
1. Log in to Your Account
2. Select PSAT/NMSQT Scores
*Or*
3. Use “Missing Scores”
to locate scores
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What Will I Learn About My Scores?
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How Do I See My Detailed Scores?
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How Will I Do on the SAT®?
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How Did My Score Measure Against College Readiness
Benchmarks?
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Section, test, and subscores all report
scores in performance zones which indicate
whether you are on track for success in the
first year of college.
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For section scores
- Need to Strengthen Skills = below gradelevel benchmark by more than one year
- Approaching Benchmark = below gradelevel benchmark by one year or less
- Meets or exceeds Benchmark = at or
above grade-level benchmark
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For test scores and subscores,
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Red, yellow, and green ranges reflect areas
of strengths and weaknesses compared to
the typical performance of students
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What Do My Scores Tell Me?
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How Can I Improve My Academic Skills?
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What Can I Learn From My Answers?
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Look at my online
score report
- Identify the questions
I answered incorrectly
- Find the correct
answer and read the
answer explanation
- Explain why the error
was made
- Ask questions about
answer explanations
that are not clear
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What Can I Learn From My Answers? (cont.)
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Look at the types of
questions I answered
incorrectly and skipped:
- Identify the level of
difficulty. How many
questions did I miss at
each level?
- Was I more likely to skip
questions associated with
any subscore or cross-test
score?
- What inferences can I
make about areas for
improvement based on the
types of questions I
missed and skipped?
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What is My AP Potential™?
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College Board research
shows that students who
score a 3 or higher on an
AP Exam typically
experience greater
academic success in
college and are more
likely to earn a college
degree on time than nonAP students.
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AP Potential™ uses scores
from the PSAT/NMSQT to
provide predictions for 23
AP Exams.
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What Are My Next Steps?
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Continue to take challenging courses in high school
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Link scores with Khan Academy
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Set up a practice plan and stick to it
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Register for the SAT
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Utilize other resources to research and prepare for college
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Official SAT Practice with Khan Academy® – It’s FREE!
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Sign up for Official SAT
Practice for free
- satpractice.org
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Complete practice problems
and diagnostic quizzes
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Link your College Board and
Khan Academy accounts.
- All SAT Suite results will
be sent to further
customize practice on
Khan Academy using
actual results.
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How Can I Practice
with Khan Academy®?
Saul Khan explains Official SAT
Practice on Khan Academy
What steps will I follow to link my College Board account to
®
Khan Academy ?
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Step 1: Log in or create a Khan
Academy Account
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Step 2: When prompted; agree to link
your Khan Academy and College Board
account. You will then be directed to
collegeboard.org.
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Step 3: Sign in or create a
College Board Account
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Step 4: When prompted; hit “Send” to
authorize the account linking
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Step 5: Start practicing on Official SAT
practice on Khan Academy!
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How can I Link my College Board and
®
Khan Academy Accounts?
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After successfully logging in to your
College Board account, you will be
asked to authorize the account linking.
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After clicking “Send,” you will be
redirected to SAT practice on the Khan
Academy site.
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You can remove the link at any time, by
clicking on “Revoke” which is found in
College Board account settings.
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When Should I Take the SAT®?
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Most students take the SAT in
the spring of their junior year.
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The first administration of the
new SAT is March 5, 2016.
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Many students choose to take
the SAT more than one time.
Additional SAT dates include:
- May 7, 2016 (scores from the
March 5 administration will not be
available prior to this test date)
- June 4, 2016
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How Do I Register for the SAT®?
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SAT Registration link from Popular Tools menu or
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www.sat.org/register
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What Additional Resources Will Help Me Prepare
for My Future?
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BigFuture™
- College Action
Plan
- College Search
- Scholarships
- Financial Aid
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MyRoad™
Personality
explorer
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Student Search
Service®
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BigFuture™ – Search Colleges, Scholarships, and Careers
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MyRoad™ Personality Explorer
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Student Search Service
®
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Participate voluntarily
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Connect with more than 1,200 colleges, universities, scholarship
programs, and educational organizations
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Sign up when you take the test:
1. Choose to participate in Student Search Service when registering
for a College Board test (fill in the circle on the answer sheet).
2. Provide information about yourself on your answer sheet.
3. Participating organizations can then search for groups of students
who may be a good fit.
4. FYI: The College Board never shares information on disabilities,
parental education, self-reported parental income, Social Security
numbers, phone numbers, or actual test scores through Student
Search Service.
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What is an AP Course?
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AP stands for Advanced Placement.
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AP courses are the highest level courses that Avon Grove offers
(higher than an honors course).
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At the completion of an AP course, a student can opt to take an AP
Exam and the score on the AP Exam can result in college credit
depending on the particular university.
What factors contribute to
success in AP Courses?
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Due to the rigorous course load of AP courses, there are many
factors that contribute to student success in these classes.
- Motivational level
- Previous experience (has the student taken an Honors class?)
- Student strength and ability in a particular subject
- Passing the qualifying test (if applicable for that course)
- PSAT Scores and AP Potential
What is “AP Potential”?
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AP Potential is a tool that may be incorporated into the course
selection process by teachers.
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Web-based tool developed by CollegeBoard that helps high schools
find potential AP students among their school’s PSAT test takers.
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It analyzes current PSAT student score data and generates a roster
of students who are likely to score a 3 or better on a given AP
exam.
What is “AP Potential”?
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This tool, used by the school, is designed to help incorporate
student access to the AP courses and ensure that students who
have an opportunity to succeed in an AP course are aware of their
potential.
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AP potential should never discourage a motivated student from
registering for an AP course because it accounts for only some of
the factors that contribute to successful AP exam results.
Want to learn more
about this tool?
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The AP Potential tool is based on research that establishes
meaningful correlations between PSAT scores and AP exam
scores.
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If you are interested in learning more about the relationship
between a student’s PSAT score and their AP exams grades, the
following website will provide you with the research done by
CollegeBoard and the study they conducted.
- www.collegeboard.com/research
How can AP Potential be used?
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The tool provides expectancy tables for each of the AP subjects.
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The table shows the percentage of students at any given PSAT
score range who achieved AP exam grade of 3 or higher and 4 or
higher.
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This tool can be used as an additional factor in helping a student
decide whether or not to take an AP course and which AP courses
they may have more strength in.
AP Courses at Avon Grove
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Avon Grove offers 19 AP courses.
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AP courses have been authorized through the AP Course Audit.
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Point values for this class are one point higher than the
corresponding values for standard courses.
- An “A+” in an AP Course counts as a 5.5 on the weighted GPA scale.
- An “A+” in a regular class is 4.5.
What AP Courses does
Avon Grove currently offer?
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English
- AP English Language and Composition
 1 credit, 11th grade
- AP English Literature and Composition
 1 credit, 12th grade
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Mathematics
- AP Statistics
 1 credit, 11th grade or 12th grade
- AP Calculus AB
 1 credit, 11th grade or 12th grade
- AP Calculus BC
 1 credit, 12th grade
AP Courses (continued)
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Science
- AP Biology
 1 credit, 11th grade or 12th grade
- AP Chemistry
 1 credit, 11th grade or 12th grade
- AP Environmental Science
 1 credit, 11th grade or 12th grade
- AP Physics 1 and 2
 1 credit, 12th grade
- AP Physics C
 1 credit, 12th grade
AP Courses (continued)
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Social Studies
- AP World History
 1 credit, 10th grade preference
- AP United States History
 1 credit, 11th grade or 12th grade
- AP European History
 1 credit, 11th grade or 12th grade
- AP Economics (Macro and Micro)
 1 credit, 11th grade or 12th grade
- AP United States Government and Politics
 1 credit, 11th grade or 12th grade
- AP Psychology
 1 credit, 12th grade
AP Courses (continued)
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World Languages
- AP Spanish Language and Culture
 1 credit, 12th grade
- AP French Language and Culture
 1 credit, 12th grade
- The AP Potential tool does not apply to the AP World Language courses.
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Art
- AP Art History
 1 credit, 11th grade or 12th grade
The AP Exam
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At the end of an AP Course, CollegeBoard offers students the
option of taking the AP Exam.
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An AP exam is a CollegeBoard designed standardized test that
assesses the student’s level of mastery of the class.
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The exam is graded on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being the lowest and 5
being the highest possible score.
The AP Exam (continued)
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Each AP Exam costs approximately $92.
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The cost of the exam is the responsibility of the student or the
student’s family.
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This year AP Exams will be administered
- Monday, May 2nd – Friday, May 13th. (Typical timeframe)
2016 AP Exam Dates
2016 AP Exam Dates
So how did Avon Grove students do?
2013 Avon Grove AP Exam Data
5
4
3
2
1
Total
Exams
Number
of Exams
175
213
188
68
31
675
Percentage
of Total
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32
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10
5
100
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In 2015, 362 Avon Grove Students took 675 AP Exams.
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301 students (83.1% of total exam takers) scored a 3 or higher on
the exams that they took.
Why Take an AP Course?
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“31% of colleges and universities consider a student’s AP
experience when making decisions about which students will
receive scholarships.”
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Obtaining a score required by the college or university you attend
for a particular AP exam can save you the cost of that class.
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“85% of selective colleges and universities report that a student’s
AP experience favorably impacts admissions decisions.”
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Statistics provided by www.collegeboard.com on the CollegeBoard
AP page.
AP Exam Scores and
Possible College Credit
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Most colleges and universities will accept particular scores on the
AP Exam which will exempt a student from having to take that class
in college.
- Example: If West Chester University accepts a 4 on the AP Psychology
Exam and you scored a 4 or a 5, you will earn college credit for that
exam and not have to take Introduction to Psychology (PSY 100) at
West Chester University.
How to figure out what
AP score you need?
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Information about AP credit and placement policies at many
colleges and universities is available at
www.collegeboard.com/ap/creditpolicy.
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Search by college or university name or by letter of the alphabet.
- You will see two things for each school.
 A link to the college’s own Web page that details its AP credit and placement
policies.
 A statement by the college or university about its AP policy.
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Each college or university is able to determine their own specific
requirements in regards to accepting AP Exams.
- For example, West Chester University may accept a 3 in AP Biology, but
Penn State University might require a 4.
So…What can you do now?
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Talk to your teachers.
- Ask teachers if they think you can handle the course work of an AP level
course based on how you are performing in the current course you are
in.
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Prepare yourself for the course selection process.
- Read through the courses you are interested in our PATHS to Purpose
Curriculum Planning Guide.
- February 25th – March 11th
Thank you for coming to
PSAT / AP Potential Night
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Questions?
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Comments?
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Concerns?