School Name Parents,

On January 7, 2015 the Michigan Department of Education made the announcement that the bid for a college entrance exam as part of the 11th grade assessment had been awarded to The College Board and that the SAT would replace the ACT. This is a significant change in terms of both what and how students will be tested. After careful consideration our district has decided that students and staff will be best prepared for this change if grade level PSAT assessments are given to our 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th grade students this fall. Results will be returned to students and to the school by December allowing for adjustments in curriculum, instruction and student remediation prior to the spring PSAT and SAT assessments given by the Department of Education for students in grades 9, 10 and 11.

In addition to being provided with a practice test this fall, students will also be encouraged to set up online accounts with both The College Board and Khan Academy. Our counseling staff at name of school will lead students through the process of setting up these accounts. This will allow all students to have the opportunity for individualized test prep and remediation to be created via Khan Academy, free of charge, aimed at assisting students to be better prepared for the fall administration of the PSAT and SAT tests.

PSAT testing will take place at School Name on Wednesday, October 14, 2015 for our eighth graders, freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. Our students will be given a grade-level PSAT test as part of the College Board suite of assessments at the expense of the school district. Sophomores and juniors who complete the tests will also qualify for the National Merit Scholarship Program.

The daily schedule will be adjusted on Wednesday, October 14. (Explain and include the schedule with adjustments)

We look forward to sharing additional information with you about the Khan Academy remediation opportunity and how to read the score reports when results are returned. We look forward to sharing this opportunity with you to best prepare our students for their college entrance exam.

For additional information you may want to review the following resources:

  • The College Board - The New SAT: Skilled It:
  • The Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals, SAT Slide Share Series:
  • Side by Side Comparison of the ACT to the Redesigned SAT:

Best Regards,

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