The State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) is a series of standardized exams used by Texas public schools students to assess students’ academic abilities.  The STAAR test is based on state standards which provide a framework for the material students should be learning in the classroom each year.  The exam measures the academic achievement and learning – in other words, to evaluate how well students are meeting Texas’ grade-level expectations.  Public school students are not the only ones required to take the STAAR assessment.  Any charter school, private school, or homeschooling that co... Read More About Essentials Of The New STAAR Tests

ACT English: 75 questions in 45 minutes First off: don’t panic.  You don’t have to memorize every last bit of English grammar in the world.  That would take far too long and be confusing in the long run.  Rather, break down your knowledge in several sections and strategies that will help you score the best you can.  Punctuation  -        Semi-colons: Used like periods in that they separate two complete sentences.  The only catch is that these sentences should be related to each other.  The most important part here is that there must be a complete sentence on e... Read More About How To Prep For The ACT English Section

ACT MATH: 60 questions in 60 minutes The best approach to the math section of the ACT is to break down the various questions into categories.  That way the page doesn’t look like a mish-mash of numbers but rather: two geometry problems, an algebra problem, and a graphing problem.  You need to know several main categories and memorizing a couple of formulas will help down the home stretch. Basics: Know how to determine the average of something and how to find percentages.  Know how to add and multiply fractions and how to work exponents. Algebra: This covers questions with “x” and “y” in it. ... Read More About How To Prep For The ACT Math Section

ACT Science: 40 questions, 35 minutesA lot of students worry about the science section of the test because they don’t feel very comfortable with science classes.  Good news!  You do not have to memorize any formulas from biology, chemistry, physics, or any other science class.  Almost every last piece of information you need to know for this section can be found in the graphs and charts provided for each passage.  There are three types of passages in the science section:  Charts and Graphs  These passages will have very little writing and feature large or multiple charts and/or graphs.  For these se... Read More About How To Prep For The ACT Science Section

ACT Reading section: 40 questions, 35 minutesFor most students, reading less is better.  This might seem counterintuitive, but most people take too much time reading the passage and then remember too little of it.  The better option is to attack the passage strategically so that you don’t have to read the entire thing, or if you do, read it in small chunks. Look at the questions and see if there are any key words.  These include proper nouns, dates or other numbers, or definition or category words.  Try to find that key word in the passage and then read the couple sentences around it.  Keep in mind that any word... Read More About How To Prep For the ACT Reading Section