Students reACT to test training impact following standardized stamina tester
Are ACTs ACTually important? West has taken strides in recent years to assist students leading up to the “life-determining” exam that is the College Board creation.
To do so, they implemented extended W-hour sessions throughout the weeks leading up to the exam where teachers could meet with groups of students and walk them through tips and tricks on tackling the treacherous test.
Last year, the sessions were mandatory for all juniors, but this year, West shook it up by granting more freedom with optional attendance. Senior Ember Davis appreciated this change as students were given the choice of what they needed to prioritize.
“Some people stress out about it, but others just want it over with,” they said. “I don’t feel like they were helpful for me; I was just losing focus during it.”
They can also be extremely beneficial for things outside of the ACT, like studying for classes. When students are flooding teacher’s W-hours for help, having extra time alleviates their stress as they can dedicate more time to each student.
“I actually appreciate having extended W-hours for my own interactions with students every once in a while,” Spanish teacher Jennifer Olivares said. “I like that it was optional for juniors. Some of them aren’t going to find value in the prep sessions, but they could find value in 45 minutes with a different teacher.”
But according to accounts she received from students, the prep sessions were a huge hit amongst this year’s juniors.
“From what I heard from students, a lot of them were signing up for the prep sessions, some were even kicked out because they were full,” she said.
By limiting the sessions to those who will use the time as intended, the experience was improved.
“The people who ended up going to them wanted to be there and were engaged,” junior Ciera Striley said.
While these 45 minute W-hours can feel grueling and never-ending, sometimes it’s not enough.
“I honestly feel like it was too little time; I feel like we weren’t able to fully cover everything before the end of the session,” Striley said.
Each person will approach the ACT their own way and have their own methods and attitudes.
“I think it depends if you’re doing prep outside of school and class,” Striley said.
Aside from the W-hour prep sessions, there are countless study guides or other prep courses available online. Junior Zuzanna Sobkowiak chose this route rather than the in-school sessions by ordering prep books from Amazon.
“Those were okay. I thought they were preparing me really well, but when it came to the actual test the focus on the learning material was different than the focus actually was.”
Even with all the prep in the world, typical test anxiety can still creep up.
“I felt like I could have studied more regularly, but some things were just out of my control,” Sobkowiak said.
For senior Nya Carter, she didn’t even get the opportunity to go to them her junior year; she had moved back from California in the middle of second semester, disrupting the usual study time given prior to taking the ACT.
“I came back after the prep sessions had already happened and was told I had to take it immediately, so I had no time to prepare,” she said.
In addition to the absence of time to prepare, Carter lacked guidance in how to even do so.
“I knew the subjects, but I had no idea what to even really study,” Carter said.
The ACT is known for having occasionally misleading questions that make students second guess themselves. The more aware students are of this, the higher chances they’ll have at not getting duped.
For decades the ACT has been portrayed as this end all be all test that will decide students’ entire academic futures. But that just isn’t accurate for all post high school plans, particularly for those not heading towards Ivies.
“I think nowadays it’s a lot less stressful because teachers and other people say it’s not that big of a deal. But certain colleges still recognize certain scores and I think more academically driven students, like myself, push themselves and get more stressed out than they should,” Sobkowiak said.
“During COVID, a lot of schools got rid of ACTs and SATs, so a lot of schools were just admitting kids based on their GPAs and bios, references, stuff like that,” math teacher Kenneth Levine said. “They did studies and found that the ACTs were better at determining college readiness than GPAs were, which is why schools are starting to go back to requiring those scores.”
Senior Jenzel Phillips thinks the ACT has exaggerated expectations for the students taking it.
“It doesn’t even make sense, you’re tested on things you haven’t even learned yet,” they said. “It was overwhelming. I would’ve preferred if we started practicing earlier than we ended up.”
Carter comments on how departments, like math, sometimes have to rush to teach students new concepts leading up to the ACT.
“Mrs. Mueller had to teach us things specifically for the ACT that we hadn’t learned,” she said.
On top of learning entirely new topics, some students feel pressured with having to study so close to the exam. With more space between sessions, students would be able to do more on their own time while still keeping up on school without the threat of cramming.
With arbitrary expectations that are rarely achievable, students spend more time focusing on ridiculous tests rather than prioritizing necessary sleep and self-care.
“I think quite honestly that it’s a really terrible test, one test done in one day with one 15 minute break and two 5 minute breaks, or whatever the time was, is not sufficient and doesn’t appropriately measure a student’s ability,” Sobkowiak said.
by Addi Iseley
Published April 1st 2024
Oshkosh West Index Volume 120 Issue VI