However, alignment between those standards, the district and school curricula, and what’s actually tested on high-stakes standardized assessments is a moving target. That means that without coherent test preparation strategies, students’ results may not reflect the true quality of their education. Poor outcomes can also have serious consequences for students, educators, and schools alike.
A lack of alignment between learning standards and curriculum design can be challenging at the school and district levels. For example, if a state’s learning standard for reading focuses on critical analysis of a text, but the curriculum leans more toward summary than interpretation, students may not develop the skills they need to succeed on standardized assessments.
However, a more pervasive problem for many educators and students is misalignment between state standards and state standardized assessments, as well as college-entry exams like the SAT and ACT. Since these assessments can impact everything from a student’s ability to graduate to their post-high school options, the consequences of this mismatch can be severe.
Hidden standards can include factors like the rigor and style of questions and subtleties of test formats, as well as the specific skills and knowledge that the tests focus on. For example, state standards might weigh seven reading skills equally, but the standardized assessment might focus far more heavily on two of them—and that means students who are more adept at demonstrating the other five skills are at a disadvantage.
The problem grows even more complex when national exams like the SAT and ACT—many of which are factored into state standards for measuring school success and accountability ratings—are considered. The standards these assessments measure may or may not match up with state curricular guidelines, and students who lack access to outside test-prep support are at a particular disadvantage.
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MasteryPrep’s solutions do just that. Unlike our competitors, our curricula and tools go far beyond state standards to ensure students are prepared to succeed within the specific context of each high-stakes assessment, whether it’s a state end-of-course exam or a national assessment like the ACT.
Here’s how we do it.
During this phase, we also identify the ways each test uses “trick questions” or specific formulations to assess beyond straightforward content knowledge.
As an example, suppose a standard involves making inferences, and we identify a pattern of trap answers based on assumptions or premature conclusions. In that case, our instructional material will explicitly teach students strategies to avoid these pitfalls and make high-quality inferences. If hidden standards are particularly complex and prevalent, we develop entire units based on specific skills. For instance, if we see trap answers based on false assumptions appearing across multiple sections of the test, we might build out a unit on avoiding those assumptions.
Throughout our materials, we focus on the practical application of core concepts, incorporating practice scenarios and questions that mimic the format and rigor of the actual exam. This means students are familiar with both the content and the types of questions they will face, minimizing stress and confusion on test day.
The result? Students have the knowledge, test-taking skills, and confidence to meet and exceed exam requirements.