Dear Academic Approach Families & Colleagues:

Final 2020 Test Dates

As we close out 2020, many of our seniors complete their preparation for the SAT this weekend or ACT next weekend, their final opportunities to take the standardized tests to submit with college applications this year (for most students). As we all well know, our students have been confronted by test center closures and other disruptions in their college application process, and they may face additional challenges heading into these final test dates, with more closures on the horizon.

With many colleges offering this year’s students test-optional admissions, students have the choice to submit applications to most schools, even if they have not been able to test, so students should feel confident that admission officers will be looking at 2020 in context when reading applications.

Score Growth Trends

For our seniors who have been able to consistently engage in academic work, we find their testing data through summer and fall to be largely on-track, making 92% of the growth in math, and attaining approximately the same percentile growth, for example, as we saw from last year’s seniors across fall testing. This percentage may grow as more students—who were deferred—complete their testing.

These results provide some hope that consistent, targeted interventions in academic preparation for students can help them make up for interrupted academic experiences. We’ll continue to study the trends and identify the most effective interventions to help maintain academic progress in the months ahead.

Be well,
Matthew Pietrafetta, Ph.D., Founder & CEO