Test-Preparation Software Scores Big : Computers: With college entrance exams looming, programs to enhance performance are selling briskly to nervous students and parents.
By the time they’re donning caps and gowns, more than a million college-student wanna-bes will have endured what seems like a mental hazing: college entrance exams.
With high school graduation still months away, there’s help for those pained by basic geometry or word analogies. A growing number of educational software publishers are getting into the ACT--and, to a larger degree, the SAT.
Test-preparation software for such exams is a big seller during this academic season. More programs are being released with promises of helping students improve their scores and their chances of getting into their schools of choice.
Even the College Board, sponsor of the Scholastic Aptitude Test--the most widely used admissions exam--has released its own program, One-on-One With the SAT, in time for the Nov. 4 and Dec. 2 math-verbal test. (SATs will also be given Jan. 27, March 16, May 4 and June 1.)
The American College Testing Program has authorized the ACT Test Excellerator program, largely aimed at classroom use, with retired tests of English, mathematics, reading and science. (Upcoming exams: Dec. 9, Feb. 3, April 13 and June 8.)
“We see a big market,” said James Reynolds, director of electronic publishing for Princeton Review, which puts out a line of test-preparation books and software, including Inside the SAT, Cracking the SAT and Cracking ACT. “Our sales are terrific right now.”
Many of the new personal computer software programs--which start at about $30--are multimedia applications that use sound, graphics and video to enliven some of the esoteric subject matter. A few come with thick test-prep books.
All rely on the PC’s automatic calculations to continuously monitor right or wrong answers and, in many cases, provide quick feedback for students.
Many of today’s teen-agers are quite comfortable with the latest software products, having been exposed to computers in the classroom or at home. About 40% of all U.S. households are projected to own a PC by the beginning of 1996.
“The computer really is an important new learning tool. There are things you can do in a program that you can’t do in a classroom. The students can actually control their ‘teacher.’ They can stop a point, back up or repeat a point,” said Marc Mishkind, lead designer for Score Builder for the SAT, published by the Learning Co., a children’s software publisher.
The test-preparation programs for Windows and Macintosh PCs vary in format from the no-nonsense to the more whimsical. Many are on CD-ROM.
“If they had a choice, they would probably go for Myst or something like that, but we’ve included some humor in our program,” said Moira McArdle, the College Board’s associate director of admission and guidance services, referring to one game program popular with teen-agers.
Kaplan InterActive’s SAT RoadTrip ’96 has a three-dimensional interface that simulates the steering wheel of a car driving down a highway. The Learning Co.’s Score Builder invites students into the virtual home and laboratory of Dr. Gary Gruber, a test-prep expert. (Marilyn Monroe, incidentally, works in his lab.)
Most of the products include timed tests with questions from varying difficulty levels. Only the products directly from or authorized by the SAT and ACT sponsors are composed solely of actual questions from past tests.
The others include mostly questions expected to show up repeatedly on tests--such as, what’s the meaning of the word sycophant ? (Stay tuned for the answer. Hint: You can be one in a classroom, but never with an inanimate object like a PC.)
Most programs also provide study guides, tips, calculators and dictionaries. At least one, Princeton Review’s Inside the SAT, offers 30 minutes of free tutoring via telephone. Another, Kaplan’s RoadTrip, lets students download additional sample questions via America Online.
Perhaps the greatest strength in the latest crop of test-prep software is the programs’ ability to provide personalized learning experiences--something that students can’t get from a book but that’s far cheaper than taking a multi-week course that can run in the hundreds of dollars.
Many of the programs can analyze a student’s strengths and weaknesses and offer advice or lesson plans.
That kind of feedback is invaluable for any nervous teen-ager whose educational future is riding on how accurately he or she pencils in those little ovals on a grid sheet.
While some software publishers boast that their products can enhance SAT test scores by at least 100 points, it’s probably too early to tell just how effective test-prep programs are, educators say.
“It all depends on the program, of course . . . just like there are good textbooks and bad textbooks,” said Steven W. Gilbert, director of technology projects for the American Assn. for Higher Education.
But the PC, he said, “seems to hold students’ attention. It’s easier to focus attention in that medium than the conventional classroom.”
Besides, you won’t be distracted by any sycophants, or apple polishers, as they’re also known.
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Who Makes the Software
A few samples of test-preparation software:
* SAT RoadTrip ’96 (Kaplan InterActive)
* Inside the SAT and PSAT, Cracking the SAT, Cracking ACT (Princeton Review)
* Your Personal Trainer for the SAT, Your Personal Trainer for ACT (Davidson)
* StudyWare for the SAT I, StudyWare for ACT (Cliffs Notes)
* Score Builder for the SAT and PSAT (Learning Co.)
* The Underground CD-ROM Handbook for the SAT (Swfte International)
* SAT Success (Peterson’s)
* Team SAT I (Zelos)
* One-on-One With the SAT (College Board)
Information on the College Board’s software can be obtained by calling (800) 323-7155 or by writing College Board Publications, Dept. T95, Box 886, New York, NY 10101-0886.
