SAT Boot Camp Teaches Students the Rules of the Test-Taking Game - scholastic assessment test, Clemson University - workshop

Black Issues in Higher Education, March 1, 2001 by Eleanor Lee Yates

"We know that we can't skin the cat with only pilot programs like this -- we know we have to do more," Kirby says.

CONFIDENCE BOOSTER

Lower Richland High School juniors Milan Bush and Cherelle Guyton both participated in the SAT Workshop for Minority Students last summer. Though good students, in both cases attendance was their parents' idea, not theirs. They weren't too wild about two more weeks of school in the summer.

"Now I realize what a great opportunity it was," says Bush, who gained more confidence about taking the SAT.

Guyton says students learn great test-taking strategies, such as how to zero in on key paragraphs during the SAT to save valuable time.

Titus Duren, principal of Lower Richland High School in Columbia, has sent students to the Clemson workshop for two years now.

"We have a problem in South Carolina and we've got to do everything we can," he says. "This is helpful, practical training."

Clemson's workshop just adds to the arsenal in South Carolina's attempt to upgrade education, says Mary Ann Byrd of the Education Assessment office of the South Carolina Department of Education. "It takes a variety of approaches, and it takes creativity."

In 1998 the state tapped a committee to develop numerous initiatives to improve education and test scores in the public schools. The state now pays for 10th graders to take the PSAT. Some of the other programs include a statewide SAT' "bowl." High schools compete on a two-hour test created by the College Board. Students may advance to regional and state level by individual score or as a school "team," in categories depending on their school's size. In January, 150 high schools competed on the regional level, with 20 now headed into the state finals at the University of South Carolina. These competitions, along with programs such as Clemson's workshop, help students hone their skills, says Byrd. "The more they take these tests, the better they do. It's another opportunity to be in a `live' situation," she says.

Last year South Carolina and Hawaii experienced 12-point jumps in their average SAT scores, more than other states. Within the past two years, South Carolina's score has jumped 15 points. The national composite average SAT score for the year 2000 was 1019; South Carolina's was 966.

Boot Camp Success

Score comparisons of the 103 Black students in Clemson's pilot program.

[GRAPH OMITTED]