The Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test is taken every year by sophomores and juniors. During the 2024-2025 school year at the Ridge, the test was taken on October 15th for sophomores and the 16th for juniors at 8:00AM. The PSAT is taken nationally and is used to evaluate students’ education.
At Shadow Ridge, many students were not looking forward to taking the PSAT, however it will help them in their future years of schooling. The test allows students to gain information on things they struggle with.
Mr. Wittmayer, a counselor at the Ridge, comments, “The PSAT can show you progress and help with the ACT and SAT because it is similar, it also shows you where your strengths are as well as your weaknesses, it does nothing but help you.”
The PSAT is taken so teachers can understand where different students need help learning. It offers a chance to look at the statistics and create curriculums.
Ms. Jordan, the Learning Strategist at Shadow, states, “The district requires it in order to drive instruction and also to test us with the norm of the United States and it allows us to see where our students are prior to taking the ACT. The relation of the exam and Shadow is to look at the data and assist our teachers in creating tier one instruction that is aligned with learning for the students at our school.”
Students tend to act differently during the exams and the ones who soar at the Ridge have shown different reactions over the years. Ms. Jordan has been overseeing the PSAT at Shadow and has noticed different kid’s behaviors.
“Depending on how our students are academically, the ones who have great grades are harder on themselves during exam time and they often want to know their results right away. However it takes about 6 weeks to load the results, and I have never had any emotional problems with kids or have anyone freak out and leave,” exclaims Ms. Jordan
Even though some students are harder on themselves and others aren’t, performing well on the PSAT can help students earn many different scholarships. One example is the National Merit Scholarship.
The National Merit Scholarship is given to students who score the highest on the PSAT exam, during the student’s junior year of high school. After a student is selected as a candidate, they have to plan to enroll in a college full time by the fall of the student’s senior year of high school.
As Ms. Jordan has been overseeing the test, she appreciates how both Shadow Ridge and the students are affected by this exam in a positive way.
Ms. Jordan states, “The scholarship is offered to the top 20% of students in the nation who are offered a full ride scholarship to whatever school they would like to attend. I like the fact that it gives the students an opportunity to do what they want to do after they graduate high school and how colleges use that information to reach out to the students for scholarships depending on scores that the students get. I also like how depending on your background like parents, culture, and education it can help earn more scholarships.”
