1. AMHS JUNIOR INFORMATION SEMINAR
WELCOME
PSAT RESULTS AND OVERVIEW
NAVIANCE
STANDARDIZED TESTING
BEGINNING THE COLLEGE INVESTIGATIVE PROCESS
APPLYING FOR COLLEGES
WEB SITES
SOUTH CAROLINA STATE SCHOLARSHIPS
STRESS MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES

2. How Do I Access My Online PSAT/NMSQT® Scores and Reports?
Log in to an existing College Board account or create a new one at studentscores.collegeboard.org
Introduce the PSAT: We administer the PSAT to our 9th, 10th and 11th grade students. The test measures what you have learned in high school and what you need to be successful in college. It measures reading, writing, language and math as well as reasoning and critical thinking skills. There are many benefits to taking the PSAT, including: The PSAT/NMSQT when administered in the junior year serves as the qualifying test for the National Merit Scholarship program.
This is how you will access your student’s scores. We will get a paper copy sometime in early February and will review them with your students. They will need to have a college board account and will need to add these scores to their account. If you have problems accessing their scores, please call the college board.
To access scores, go to: 2

3. How Do I Access My Online PSAT/NMSQT® Scores and Reports? (cont.)
1. Log in to Your Account
2. Select PSAT/NMSQT Scores
*Or*
3. Use “Missing Scores” to locate scores
You can use the missing scores link to locate their scores. We can give your student their access code if you need it. 3

4. What Will I Learn About My Scores?
When students log in, they will be taken to their dash board. The first thing they will see is their most recent scores. The scores range from – which is the sum of their math added to their evidence based reading and writing score. If you click on view details, it will take them to a detailed score report. 4

5. How Do I See My Detailed Scores?
Students can see the range of minimum and maximum scores next to each score. Under their scores, students can click to see their range of scores. Below each of the three scores, students can see the national percentile rank. 5

6. How Will I Do on the SAT®?
Students will see if they are meeting college readiness benchmarks and will be able to obtain a projected SAT score range. 6

7. How Did My Score Measure Against College Readiness Benchmarks?
Section, test, and subscores all report scores in performance zones which indicate whether you are on track for success in the first year of college.
For section scores
Need to Strengthen Skills = below grade-level benchmark by more than one year
Approaching Benchmark = below grade-level benchmark by one year or less
Meets or exceeds Benchmark = at or above grade-level benchmark
The college readiness benchmarks predict their likelihood of earning a “C” or better in an entry level college course in the same subject area.
For test scores and subscores,
Red, yellow, and green ranges reflect areas of strengths and weaknesses compared to the typical performance of students 7

8. What Do My Scores Tell Me?
The scores tell you more in-depth information about strengths and areas for improvement via Cross Test scores and Subscores. Cross Test Scores are scores derived from science or social studies on the reading test, the writing test and the math test. You can also see the subcores – Three are generated from math and 4 from evidence based reading and writing. 8

9. How Can I Improve My Academic Skills?
Skills insight is the tab on the top of the score report. It gives students more information about the knowledge and skills they have demonstrated, and the knowledge and skills on which they should focus for growth. Students can click on the question box to see the questions associated with the skills and subscores. There also is a link at the top of the page connecting students to Khan Academy, which will use their scores to develop a free, online, personalized practice program. 9

10. What Can I Learn From My Answers?
Look at my online score report
Identify the questions I answered incorrectly
Find the correct answer and read the answer explanation
Explain why the error was made
Ask questions about answer explanations that are not clear
Students can identify patterns in their incorrect answers to help them develop a plan for improving college readiness. 10

11. What Can I Learn From My Answers? (cont.)
Look at the types of questions I answered incorrectly and skipped:
Identify the level of difficulty. How many questions did I miss at each level?
Was I more likely to skip questions associated with any subscore or cross-test score?
What inferences can I make about areas for improvement based on the types of questions I missed and skipped?
Students should identify questions that they answered incorrectly and determine if they missed more questions at a higher level of difficulty. If so, they may need to practice with more challenging course work. Students should look for patterns among missed or skipped questions. It should be noted that students are no longer penalized for incorrect questions. 11

12. Understanding My Paper Score Report12

13. What Are My Scores?
It looks similar to what you will see online. It isn’t as in-depth, but you can get a sense for how your student is performing from the paper version. Just a reminder that the PSAT and the SAT are on the same scale. You can see your scores just as you do online. You will see your total scores, your reading, writing and math scores 13

14. What Are My Scores? (cont.)
This is how the subscores and cross test scores appear on the paper report. 14

15. What Are My Score Percentiles?
The national percentiles are listed below each of the three scores as they are on the online version. 15

16. What Are My Score Ranges?
Score ranges are given for each area and for the total score. Score range refers to that range that your student’s score should fall in if they take the test more than once. 16

17. What is the National Merit® Scholarship Program?
Students will see their National Merit Scholarship selection index on this page. The National Merit Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships. Of the 1.5 million students who take the PSAT/NMSQT, approximately 50,000 with the highest selection scores qualify for the competition. Schools and students are notified in September if students qualify as a semifinalist. Selection index scores are calculated by doubling the sum of the reading, writing and language and math test scores as depicted on the National Merit sheet. For more information, go to 17

18. What Are My Areas of Strength? What Skills Do I Need to Build?
This page also includes suggestions for improvement of scores. It is highly recommended that students link their scores to Khan Academy and practice for the next test, whether it is the PSAT or the SAT. 18

19. Continue to take challenging courses in high school
What Are My Next Steps?
Continue to take challenging courses in high school
Link scores with Khan Academy
Set up a practice plan and stick to it
Register for the SAT
Utilize other resources to research and prepare for college
It is highly recommended that students link their scores to Khan Academy and practice for the next test, whether it is the PSAT or the SAT. 19

20. What steps will I follow to link my College Board account to Khan Academy®?
Step 1: Log in or create a Khan Academy Account
Step 2: When prompted; agree to link your Khan Academy and College Board account. You will then be directed to collegeboard.org.
Step 3: Sign in or create a College Board Account
Step 4: When prompted; hit “Send” to authorize the account linking
Step 5: Start practicing on Official SAT practice on Khan Academy!
These are the steps to link your College Board account to Khan Academy. 20

21. What Additional Resources Will Help Me Prepare for My Future?
BigFuture™
College Action Plan
College Search
Scholarships
Financial Aid
MyRoad™ Personality explorer
Student Search Service®
We are using Naviance with your students, but there are many resources to assist in the college process. 21

22. The link to Naviance is on the AMHS website
Just a reminder that we showed your students how to log into Naviance in the fall and on the IGP form, we have recorded your student’s user name and password. The link to Naviance is under the Quicklinks on the AMHS website.

23. Do NOT Change your password!!!
User name: SmiJoh1234
Password: or
Reminder – your user name and password were written on your IGP forms. If you have questions about this, please send your student to see us.
Do NOT Change your password!!!

24. This is what you will see when you log in to the Naviance homepage.

25. We have discussed Khan Academy as a good resource for test prep for the SAT, and here is an additional resource for both the SAT and the ACT.

26. Tasks to complete
Please have your student check their assigned tasks under the My Planner tab. Some of these tasks have been assigned by the county and must be completed before the end of the school year.

27. Take a career interest inventory!
Watch interviews!

29. ACT WorkKeys – March 2, 2016
ACT WorkKeys is a job skills assessment system that helps employers select, hire, train, develop, and retain a high-performance workforce. This series of tests measures foundational and soft skills.
Successful completion of ACT WorkKeys assessments in Applied Mathematics, Locating Information, and Reading for Information can lead to earning ACT's National Career Readiness Certificate (ACT NCRC), a portable credential earned by more than 2.3 million people across the United States.
The WorkKeys is the only test that we know of that we are giving to juniors this spring. We would encourage you to go ahead and register your student for a national administration of the ACT this spring.

30. SAT TEST
The Redesigned SAT will be administered for the first time on March 5th, 2016.
Just an FYI – scores from the “Old SAT” will not be superscored with the Redesigned SAT.
Information regarding the Redesigned SAT is on the College Board website.

31. Beginning the College Search

32. THINGS THAT NEED TO BE CONSIDERED Schedule your college visits…
Majors
Scholarships
Location
Activities
Cost
Size
Safety
Schedule your college visits…

33. Applying for college
Being organized will decrease your stress as you complete the application process…

34. $ $ $ $ Some Useful Websites http://www.che.sc.gov/ $ $ $

35. Palmetto Fellows Scholarship
Hope Scholarship
Life Scholarship
Palmetto Fellows Scholarship

36. General Eligibility Requirements
Legal resident of SC
US citizen or legal permanent resident who meets the definition of an eligible non-citizen
Enrolled in an approved SC public or private high school

37. SC Hope
Scholarship
One year merit based
GPA = 3.0

38. Since AMHS does not rank, students must meet the first two criteria
Life
Scholarship
Students must attend an eligible four year institution and must meet two of the following criteria:
GPA = 3.0
SAT = 1100 or ACT = 24
Rank in top 1/3 of class
Since AMHS does not rank, students must meet the first two criteria

39. Palmetto Fellows Scholarship Initial Eligibility Requirements
Early Awards
December 15
We do not rank students at AMHS. Therefore, we only use the following criteria when identifying students for Palmetto Fellows
1400 SAT or 32 ACT by the November test administration
GPA = 4.0 at the end of the junior year.

40. Palmetto Fellows Scholarship Initial Eligibility Requirements
Final Awards
June 15
We do not rank students at AMHS. Therefore, we only use the following criteria when identifying students for Palmetto Fellows.
1400 SAT or 32 ACT by the June test administration
GPA = 4.0 at the end of the senior year.

41. STEM Enhancements for LIFE & Palmetto Fellows
College freshmen who want to qualify for the STEM enhancement during their sophomore year must major in an approved math or science program.
College advisors will assist students with the eligibility criteria.

42. Some Final Things to Consider…
FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA SITES CAN IMPACT ADMISSIONS DECISIONS
CREATE A PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNT

43. Summer programs and other opportunities are posted in Naviance under the title “enrichment programs” on the Colleges tab

44. Questions