The PSAT is not just practice for the SAT, it is used for placement of your classes next year and you can also get scholarships from it if you do well.
The PSAT is the preliminary scholastic aptitude test. It is practice for the real SAT. The PSAT is helpful guidance on what type of questions you will see on the SAT and initial benchmark for how you will perform on the SAT. PSAT scores can help develop your study plan for the improved scores on the SAT.
At Gibbons, the PSAT is used for placement of English, Math and Social Studies for your courses next year. Your ability to be placed into the honors or AP course you want is based on the class you’re in, the grade you have in the current English, Math or Social Studies class and your PSAT score. Requirements for class placement are outlined in the course of studies book which can be found on the CGHS website, https://www.cghsnc.org/academics/curriculum.
Each class listed outlines the grade needed in your current class and the minimum PSAT score for placement. For example, if you are interested in Math II Honors, per the course of studies book, you need at least a grade of A in Math I and a minimum PSAT of 450.
Mrs. Nancy Barkan, Assistant Head of School for Academics, for a better understanding on why the PSAT is important at Gibbons. Gibbons uses the PSAT as a “predictor of success,” according to Mrs. Barkan. She explained that Gibbons has data to prove the minimum scores needed to accomplish the course work in a class with success.
“We have about 20 years of data that tells us kids who score about a 500 typically will get a minimum of a B in an honors course and kids who get a 550 will typically get a minimum of a B in an AP,” said Mrs. Barkan.
That data was used to determine the prerequisites for each class. Reading comprehension on the PSAT is used for English placement. If a student doesn’t score well on the PSAT, this is an indicator that they would struggle with an honors or AP class based on the data from previous years.
The PSAT should be taken seriously, but should not be stressful for students. It is known that some students do not do well on standardized tests, regardless of their academic ability. Mrs. Barkan explained that when students don’t meet the minimum PSAT requirement for course placement, they are given the opportunity to take a placement test that looks very different from the PSAT to get into their desired course.
The placement test measures the same abilities that the PSAT measures, you get the reading in advance and it’s not a bubble sheet. Gibbons made the placement test as something they knew their kids could do. Seventy percent of the students who took the placement test passed and are in the honors or AP class.
Gibbons is now collecting data on how the students who took the placement test to get into a course are doing in those classes. They are trying to figure out if the placement test worked, meaning did it put students into the right classes. They are doing this to potentially adjust the placement test requirement.
The PSAT is also a National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. A stellar score on the PSAT will qualify a student to be invited to apply for the National Merit Scholarship, but ultimately only approximately 7,500 students receive a scholarship once all the applicants are evaluated.
PSATs at Gibbons were held the week of Oct. 14.
