WOODBURY – It’s that time of year again: SAT time.
This April 2, not just Nonnewaug juniors are taking the important yet time-consuming exam, but freshmen and sophomores are taking the PSAT for the second time this school year.
The PSAT is a practice version of the SAT. The SAT is an exam that students take as part of their college admissions process.
“One of our big district initiatives is the movement towards a more data-focused culture,” says principal Mykal Kuslis. “We just want the sophomores to have another opportunity with the new graduation requirement and everything else in case they did not take that part seriously the first time to give them another opportunity to test out of the graduation requirement.”
This school year, it became a graduation requirement that if a student don’t earn a score of at least 530 for math and 480 for English, the student must take an SAT prep course during junior year to graduate. This rule takes effect for the class of 2027.
Though many students dread taking the PSAT, it has clear benefits towards their college career, and placement in next year’s classes.
“It gives us the data we need to better adjust for kid,” says Kuslis. “Some departments are using it as placement criteria for honors and AP courses.”
Rebecca Gambardella, a freshman English teacher, says that English is one of the areas in which teachers started using test scores this year to recommend for courses next year. While most teachers used the NWEA scores from the fall and winter tests, PSAT scores are another option to use.
“If they have a bad NWEA score, we use their PSAT score for placement instead,” Gambardella said.
Teachers use students’ PSAT scores for placement for next year’s classes, but also, the school is assessed on how well students score on the PSAT and SAT.
“For us, it is our report card at the end of the year from the state, and 50% of our report card comes just from the [school’s average] SAT scores,” says Kuslis.
Students have mixed opinions on taking the PSAT a second time.
“I just feel like it is scary,” says sophomore Hazel Cole, “and I don’t want to do worse than I did in the fall. I just feel like it is too much stress.”
Others see clear benefits from the test despite not actually liking having to take them.
“Some people are bad at standardized tests,” says freshman Aiden Lessard, “so I feel like it’s not a good scale, but also I feel like it is beneficial because it shows growth.”
Chris Engle, sophomore at Nonnewaug, says he sees the silver linings.
“I feel it could definitely be a positive,” Engle said. “It could be a benchmark to show maybe how they perform and gives them motivation to pursue more diligently to achieve goals they may want to get on the PSAT.”
