Individual Guidance Lesson Plan
School Corporation: / Counselor Toolkit – Indiana PSATSchool 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/NMSQTÒ 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
Procedure: / 1. Make sure student has a copy of his/her individual Score Report.
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? / 1. Percentage of all students who take the PSAT/NMSQTÒ.
2. Percentage of all students who develop a SATÒ 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.
Resources needed: e.g., technology resources, books, Websites / 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>.
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. /
Parent Tutorial: Understanding 2005 PSAT/NMSQTÒ Results
Score Report Tutorials for Younger Students
The Official Educator Guide to the PSAT/NMSQTÒ
All material provided by CollegeBoard through it’s Counselor Connection Program accessible at www.collegeboard.comCollaborative Partners: e.g., advisory teachers, other teachers, community resource people / Advisory Teachers
English/Math Teachers
Community Resource People
Contact information
Telephone: / Aimee Portteus: 574-936-2178 ext 260
E-mail: /
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/NMSQTÒ is a practice test for the SAT Reasoning Testä, and that they should consider similar Test-Taking Strategies for the SAT Reasoning Testä as they used for the PSAT/NMSQTÒ:
q Take a practice test at <www.collegeboard.com>.
q Earn as many points as you can on easy questions.
q Read all the answer choices before marking your answer sheet.
q Don't feel you have to answer every question.
q Work steadily – don’t waste time on hard questions. You can always go back to them later.
q Check your answer sheet regularly to make sure you're in the right place.
q 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:
q Work ethic: Take a good selection of solid academic courses, read widely, and work hard at your studies.
q 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.
q 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>.
q Problem-solving activities: Get involved in problem-solving activities through clubs, sports, hobbies, part-time jobs, etc.
PROJECTED SAT REASONING TESTä SCORES
Review with your students what their projected SAT Reasoning Testä score will be based on their Score Report:
q 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.
q 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/NMSQTÒ and their projected SAT Reasoning Testä scores can help predict what colleges in Indiana would be a good “fit” for them.
q 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.
q 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.
q 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/NMSQTÒ and Understanding Results from the PSAT/NMSQTÒ
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 / SAT VERBAL / SAT MATHAncilla College / SAT Score not required for Admission
Anderson University / 480–590 / 490-580
Ball State University / 470-570 / 470-570
Bethel College / 470-580 / 460-590
Butler University / 540-630 / 540-650
Calument College of Saint Joseph / SAT Score not required for Admission
Community College of Indiana / SAT Score not required for Admission
DePauw University / 550-660 / 570-660
Earlham College / 570-700 / 530-650
Franklin College / 460-560 / 460-580
Goshen College / 500-630 / 490-640
Grace College / 480-590 / 450-590
Hanover College / 540-650 / 550-650
Holy Cross College / 420-520 / 450-560
Indiana Institute of Technology / SAT Score not required for Admission
Indiana State University / 420-530 / 420-520
Indiana University / 490-610 / 500-620
Indiana Wesleyan University / 470-630 / 449-650
Manchester College / 450-560 / 450-570
Marian College / 460-560 / 450-570
Martin University / SAT Score not required for Admission
Oakland City University / 430-580 / 440-600
Purdue University / 500-610 / 530-650
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology / 570-680 / 640-720
Saint Joseph's College / 430-550 / 450-550
Saint Mary-of-the-Woods / 450-580 / 420-560
Saint Mary's College / 530-630 / 520-610
Taylor University / 540-660 / 520-650
Tri-State University / 450-570 / 490-600
University of Evansville / 520-630 / 520-640
University of Indianapolis / 450-570 / 460-570
University of Notre Dame / 630-730 / 660-740
University of Southern Indiana / 420-530 / 420-540
Valparaiso University / 520-630 / 520-640
Vincennes University / SAT Score not required for Admission
Wabash College / 530-650 / 550-660