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What You Need To Know About the HSPT

An Introduction to College Admissions Tests

STRESS FREE GUIDE

HSPT

An Introduction to High School Admissions Tests

Achieve Tutorials, LLC is not affiliated with the Educational Records Bureau (ERB), the Independent School Entrance Exam (ISEE), The Scholastic Testing Service, Inc. (STS), the High School Placement Test (HSPT), the Secondary Schools Admissions Test Board, or the Secondary School Admissions Test (SSAT).

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Permission to reproduce and distribute this document in its entirety without any alteration is expressly granted. Reproduction of only part of this document, or alteration thereof, is expressly forbidden.

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What admissions tests do private schools give? 4

What are these admissions tests all about? 4

What do these tests measure? 4

Which test(s) do you need to take? 4

A culture of testing 4

Get to know the HSPT test 6

What does the HSPT test? 6

How is the HSPT scored? 7

When do you take the HSPT? 7

How do you register for the HSPT? 7

What official practice materials are available for the HSPT? 7

Which schools require the HSPT? 7

Other Resources: How can I find out more about private schools? 8

What steps should you take to pick the right school? 9

10 Easy Ways to Reduce Stress and Test Anxiety 10

Short Term Stress Relief 10

Long Term Stress Reduction 11

The Science of Stress 11

Achieve Tutorials Test Preparation 13

Achieve Tutorials Tutors & Academic Mentoring 13

Rates 13

A Parent’s Checklist: Junior High and High School Applications 14

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What admissions tests do private schools give?There are several tests available for junior high and high schools to choose from. In the Los Angeles area, many schools use the ISEE (Independent School Entrance Exam). Several area Catholic high schools use the HSPT (High School Placement Test). Elsewhere in California, the SSAT (Secondary School Admissions Test) is common. Other schools use their own material, and some don’t require testing at all.

What are these admissions tests all about?The theory behind standardized admissions testing is fairly simple. Schools want to level the playing field. Since educational and grading standards can vary widely, standardized testing allows schools to compare students from different backgrounds with respect to a few basic skills.

Standardized testing also makes the admissions process easier for schools. Instead of spending lots of time and resources actually getting to know each individual applicant, they can rely on a quantitative measuring stick: test scores.

What do these tests measure?We believe that, primarily, the ISEE, HSPT and SSAT test how well you take the ISEE, HSPT and SSAT. Performance on these tests is not an indication of education, intelligence or worth. These tests are simply obstacles for students who want to attend certain private schools.

Which test(s) do you need to take?The only way to definitively determine which test a school requires or prefers is to find out from the school itself. We have included lists of some schools that require or recommend the ISEE, HSPT or SSAT. While we try to keep these lists as current and complete as possible, don’t use them as your only resource. Contact the schools directly.

A culture of testingWhether we agree or disagree with the idea of standardized, multiple-choice testing, we live in a culture of testing. The current focus on “accountability” in education has put even more emphasis on standardized tests. By the time students leave college, they will have taken many of the following standardized tests: CTBSs, ISEEs, HSPTs, SSATs, Stanford Tests, Iowa Tests, CATs, PSATs, SAT Is and IIs, ACTs, APs, GREs, GMATs, LSATs or MCATs. And this is not an exhaustive list.

So, in light of this culture of testing, it is important for students to learn how to take standardized tests. While each test offers unique challenges, there are significant similarities in content, structure and methodology, and the student who can avoid the common pitfalls

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will do significantly better. In other words, learning techniques for attacking one test often translates to other tests as well.

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Get to know the HSPT testThe HSPT, or High School Placement Test, is used by many Catholic schools to assess 8th grade applicants for 9th grade only. The test is developed by Scholastic Testing Service (STS) and is sometimes referred to as the STS exam or STS-HSPT. The HSPT is offered in two different versions: the Closed HSPT and the Open HSPT.

The Closed HSPT is administered by the school, but scored by STS. Closed HSPT scores are compared to national standard distribution norms, so nationwide percentiles can be computed.

The Open HSPT is administered and scored by the school, so STS does not deal directly with student results. The Open HSPT uses old versions of the Closed HSPT.

You can find out a limited amount of information about the test at www.ststesting.com.

What does the HSPT test?There are five multiple-choice sections on the HSPT:

Section * Questions Content Time Limit

Verbal Skills 60Synonyms, antonyms, analogies, logic,

and verbal classification questions. 16 minutes

Quantitative Skills 52

Series, geometric comparisons, non-geometric comparisons, and number manipulations. 30 minutes

Reading 62

General and specific questions on short passages of varying styles on

a range of topics. 25 minutes

Mathematics 64

Mathematical concepts and problem-solving questions based on arithmetic, elementary

algebra, and basic geometry. 45 minutes

Language 60Capitalization, punctuation, usage, spelling,

and composition. 25 minutes

* The sections always appear in this order.

Total test time: approximately 2 hours 30 minutesTotal scored multiple choice questions: 298

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How is the HSPT scored?HSPT scores are reported on a 200 to 800 scale. Before calculating your scaled score, the school or STS first calculates a raw score. The raw score is computed by adding up all of a student’s correct answers.  (Since wrong answers do not count against your score, students should never leave a question blank on the HSPT. Guess on all HSPT questions!) For the Closed HSPT, STS converts raw scores to scaled scores using a standard deviation, normal distribution curve.

When do you take the HSPT?The HSPT is generally administered in December and January, but test dates vary by school. For test dates, contact the schools directly.

How do you register for the HSPT?Registration is done by individual schools. Some schools don’t require registration, but you should contact the schools to find out if registration is required.

What official practice materials are available for the HSPT?Unfortunately, no official practice materials are available. Several test preparation companies produce sample tests. While these tests are useful, they are not exactly like the HSPT.

Which schools require the HSPT?The following list contains some schools in the Los Angeles area that use the HSPT, but it is not an exhaustive list:

Chaminade College Preparatory

Cornelia Connelly High School

Crespi Carmelite

Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy

Holy Family High School

Immaculate Heart High School

La Salle High School

Loyola High School of Los Angeles

Mater Dei High School

Villanova Preparatory School (Ojai)

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Other Resources: How can I find out more about private schools?

BooksThere are several books available that offer further information on private schools in Los Angeles and the nation. You may find the following books helpful:

The Whitney Guide - The Los Angeles Private School Guide 7th Edition by Fiona Whitney

The Los Angeles Guide to Private Schools by Victoria Goldman (not recently updated)

Private Secondary Schools 2010-2011 by Peterson Guides

Game Plan for Getting Into Private School by Peterson Guides (not recently updated)

The Best Private High Schools and How to Get In by Frank Leana (Not recently updated; this books focuses mostly on schools in the northeastern US)

If you choose to buy these books, try to get the most up-to-date versions. Not all are updated annually. All should be available from Amazon.com if you can’t find them in your local bookstore.

Websites Most schools have websites with varying degrees of information. There are also thousands of websites that list school information. The following are just a few:

www.ed.gov The US Department of Education. Public school lists and information are available under the Parents section.

nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/privateschoolsearch The National Center for Education Statistics. You can do fairly sophisticated searches for private schools. (This is a government run service. There is a lot of education information available from NCES’s main website www.nces.ed.gov.)

privateschool.miningco.com/cs/usschools/ Private School Information from About.com. Find listings of schools by state, city or specialty with links to the schools’ websites.

www.boardingschoolreview.com Selected Boarding School Information.

www.nais.org National Association of Independent Schools. Find information about member schools. The Parent’s Guide is especially useful.

www.eschoolsearch.com A huge database of schools searchable by various criteria with a limited amount of information about each school.

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What steps should you take to pick the right school?Choosing the right school for your child is not an easy task. You need to do your homeworkand research the individual schools. Talk to parents, students, teachers, school counselors, friends and professionals. You should consider all of the following and more when choosing which schools to apply to:

• The basic charge for the ACT without Writing (the essay) is currently $34.

• Educational Philosophies• Admissions Requirements

• Difficulty Level (for your child)• Class Size

• Sports and other Extracurricular Opportunities

• Student Body Makeup• College Admissions Success

• Campus Facilities• Cost

Do remember to set reasonable goals. Choose schools that might be a reach, but also have some back-up schools.

Do keep organized!

Don’t overburden yourself with too many applications.

Don’t procrastinate!

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10 Easy Ways to Reduce Stress and Test AnxietyIn some sense, the title of this guide is a misnomer. Virtually everyone feels stress on high stakes standardized tests. What is different is how people handle stress. Here are some great techniques for reducing stress in the the short term and the long term.

Short Term Stress Relief1. Be Prepared

Practice and preparation reduce stress. Studies support what our intuition tells us: lots of preparation reduces our stress levels. So take practice tests, learn the material, practice some more!

2. Stress can be Beneficial

Tell yourself stress and anxiety make you a better test taker. Say it out loud, because it’s true. People who feel anxious during tests actually do better, so when you fell anxiety, don’t worry. Remind yourself that it will help you do well.

3. Strike a Pose!

Stand for two minutes in a “Power Pose”. We recommend the “I just won the race” pose, with arms victoriously extended up in the air, head tilted slightly back. Or you could choose the “Wonder Woman Pose”, legs wide, hands on hips, elbows out. Standing in a powerful pose for just two minutes significantly improves test performance. Really!

4. Pretend to be an Expert

Tell yourself stress and anxiety make you a better test taker. Say it out loud, because it’s true. People who feel anxious during tests actually do better, so when you fell anxiety, don’t worry. Remind yourself that it will help you do well.

5. Breathe

Deep breathing, and we mean breathing down into your diaphragm, has long been shown to lower stress, so if you’re feeling that stress and anxiety is bogging you down, take a short 20 or 30 second break, close your eyes and breathe slowly and deeply. Picture your breath entering you body, relaxing your tight muscles and focusing your mind. Practice to make sure you’re breathing correctly by putting a hand on your stomach and a hand on your lower back and pushing them out with your breath without puffing up your chest or raising your shoulders.

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Long Term Stress Reduction6. Exercise Regularly

Daily exercise reduces stress and helps you feel better. 30-45 minutes of exercise is about right, but even a daily 20 minute brisk walk can have great stress reducing benefits.

7. Reduce or Eliminate Caffeine Intake

Even one cup of coffee can raise your cortisol level by 30% and keep it elevated for more than half a day, and increased cortisol is associated with increased stress.

8. Keep Blood Sugar in Balance

Snack on healthy food with protein and healthy fats throughout the day and reduce high sugar intake. Don’t skip meals, which can wreak havoc with your blood sugar levels.

9. Sleep 7 1/2 to 8 Hours a Night

Deep, long sleep reduces stress and actually increases learning and information retention. ‘Nuff said.

10. Drink 8-10 8 ounce glasses of water a day

Drinking enough water not only helps you avoid dehydration, but also reduces cortisol levels.

The Science of Stress

Dopamine.There are lots of factors that contribute to stress. As reported recently in the New York Times, one of those factors is genetic, and it involves dopamine, a neurotransmitter that affects the brain. In short, dopamine in the proper levels in the prefrontal cortex stimulates brain activity, particularly processing speed. But too much or too little dopamine and our brains don’t function as well (extremely low levels of dopamine even contribute to diseases such as Parkinson’s Disease). Enter COMT, a gene that regulates the production of an enzyme that removes dopamine from the prefrontal cortex. It turns out that there are a couple of different variations of the COMT gene... one produces an enzyme that removes dopamine slowly, the other produces an enzyme that reduces dopamine rapidly.

It turns out that in normal, non-stress situations, people with the COMT variant that removes dopamine slowly have superior high brain function and better concentration. This is in part because they maintain consistent levels of dopamine in the brain. However, in stressful situations, the slow acting enzyme can’t keep up with the flood of dopamine entering the prefrontal cortex. The balance of dopamine gets elevated way out of its efficiency zone. This results in LOWER test scores for normally high-performing students.

Likewise, students with the fast acting enzyme tend to be less proficient under normal conditions (too much dopamine is removed from their prefrontal cortex), but do very well under

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stress (because their enzyme can remove excess dopamine efficiently). We all know those students who seem half-hearted most of the time, but excel on tests—in many cases the result of the fast-acting enzyme.

The good news is that people can actually be trained to handle the stress, even if they have only the slow-acting enzyme. By repeated exposure, preparation and stress-reducing techniques like those above, almost everyone can learned to manage the stress.

Cortisol.Cortisol is the primary stress hormone. It’s the “fight or flight” trigger that increases certain body and brain functions, but shuts down others that are non-essential in the short term, including memory and higher reasoning function. The cortisol stress response is great if you come face to face with a mountain lion in the wild, but too much cortisol can be detrimental in testing.

Under normal conditions, once a the source of a stress is removed, ie, the mountain lion has gone it’s own way, your body’s cortisol levels return to normal, as do your other body processes. But most of us don’t live in a world in which mountain lions threaten us. We may be stressed almost all the time by demands of school or work. This can keep cortisol levels elevated to an unhealthy level. Long term elevation of cortisol can increase your risk of sleep problems, memory impairment, skin conditions such as eczema, digestive issues, depression, heart disease, and obesity.

Fortunately, there are many ways of controlling cortisol levels. Our favorites are include in the stress relief techniques listed above: regular exercise, eating healthy snacks regularly (every 2-3 hours), and drinking plenty of water.

The Power of PerceptionInterestingly, people’s perception of the value of stress can alter how it affect them. In a recent Harvard study of students who were studying for the GRE, large group was given a sample test. All of the students were told that the purpose of the study in which they were participating was to study the effects of stress. But half of the students got an additional instruction, which basically said, “Don’t worry. Feeling stress in a test may actually help you perform better.” The group with the additional instruction telling them that stress might be beneficial scored 50 points higher on the 200-800 scale. So when in doubt, just remind yourself that feeling stress could actually make you a better test taker!

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Achieve Tutorials Test Preparation Obviously, we’re in the business of helping students improve their test scores. Our Academic Tutors are highly experienced, effective, nurturing and adept at adjusting our focus and techniques to best suit individual students. We understand the intricacies of each individual test and are experts in standardized testing techniques in general.

Achieve Tutorials offers individual tutorials tailored to fit our students’ schedules and individual needs. We come to your home, provide all necessary materials, and give detailed feedback on practice tests, student progress, and our expectations on test day.

For more information, please visit www.AchieveTutorials.com or call (310) 850-2616.

Achieve Tutorials Tutors & Academic Mentoring We also offer academic tutorials covering most elementary, junior high and high school subjects from regular classes through challenging AP courses. We thrive on developing creative, intelligent, long-term relationships with our students.

Rates For current rates, please see our website: http://www.achievetutorials.com/get-started/rates/

We don’t package a specific number of hours because individual students need different amounts of assistance. In special circumstances, when students are well-matched, we will work with small groups. If you are interested in rates for small groups of 3 or more students, please call us.

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A Parent’s Checklist:Junior High and High School ApplicationsPlease note: This is a general checklist. Each school has it’s own specific admissions requirements.

School Name:

Address:

Phone:

Contact:

Website

School Visit:

DateDid you schedule a school visit? Y / N

Did you schedule an interview? Y / N

Application:

DateWhat is the application deadline?

Did you receive an application? Y / N

Did you complete the application? Y / N

General Information? Y / N

Student Responses/Essays? Y / N

Application Fee? Y / N

Photograph? Y / N

Other: Y / N

Other: Y / N

Did you submit the application? Y / N

Did you get teacher recommendations? Y / N

Did you get administrative recommendations? Y / N

Did your school send an academic / school record report?

Y / N

Did your school send a transcript? Y / N

Did you submit financial aid forms? Y / N

Other: Y / N

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Other: Y / N

Admissions Test:

Is a test required? Y / NWhich test is required? ❏ISEE ❏HSPT ❏SSAT ❏OtherDid you register for the test? Y / NIs there a test deadline? Y / N Date: What is the test location?What is the test date?

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