1. Test Day-September 16, 2014

2. The EXPLORE is the first part of a testing system that goes on to include the PLAN and the ACT tests. Typically, students take the EXPLORE in 8 th grade, PLAN in 10 th grade, and the ACT in 11 th or 12th grade. All three test students on English, Math, Reading, and Science.

3. EXPLORE shows your student’s strengths and weaknesses in English, math, reading, and science. EXPLORE helps your student search for careers and learn which ones might be right for him or her. EXPLORE results are used to place students in high school courses that will prepare them for college and career.

4. SubjectNumber of QuestionsHow Long It Takes English4030 minutes Math3030 minutes Reading3030 minutes Science2830 minutes The EXPLORE includes four multiple choice tests :

5. ENGLISH: – Usage/Mechanics: Punctuation Grammar and Usage Sentence Structure – Rhetorical Skills Strategy Organization Writing Style

6. MATHEMATICS: Ability to Reason Pre-Algebra/Elementary Algebra/Algebra Geometry Statistics & Probability

7. READING Reading Comprehension Referring to Details Drawing Conclusions Making Comparisons and Generalizations

8. SCIENCE: (28 questions) Scientific Reasoning Drawing Conclusions Life Science Earth & Space Physical Science

9. The score is nationally-normed. – Nation-wide Comparison It is an estimate of the student’s growth in the given subject. Scores range from 1-25.

13. Three Sharpened Pencils Calculators (We’ll provide these.) Make sure your student gets plenty of rest the night before and eats a healthy breakfast on test day!

14. Students should answer every question. If a question is left blank, it’s counted incorrect. ◦ If students don’t know an answer, they should:  Eliminate answers that are not reasonable.  Make the best choice from the answers they haven’t eliminated. For more test taking tips, visit: http://www.testtakingtips.com/

15. The EXPLORE profile report is used to plan for high school. Your student’s scores will be used to help determine his or her placement into high school classes.

16. All 8 th grade students 10 – 15 minutes per conference Discuss EXPLORE test results Academic strengths Academic areas to improve Vocational goals High school class registration by THS counselors Parents are invited and encouraged to attend!

17. The profile shows the strengths and identifies areas for improvement. Where can your student go for help? ◦ LEAPS ◦ Before and After School Academic Support and Computer Lab Access ◦ Conference with Teachers ◦ Online Tutorials ◦ Accelerated Lab