Words in Context: 12/15
Standard English Conventions: 11/15
Any idea or resources to help kid improve them? Thanks
Practice. Lots of practice.
I agree on your point. I believe he is lack on practice
Not just practice. Practice and analysis. The student has to understand the test, what the different types of questions are, which kind of questions he is getting wrong and how to fix the errors he made. Blind practice without the required analysis will not result in big improvements.
For words in context, I suggest he also read more if he’s not a big reader. Try magazines with a relatively high vocabulary level such as the Atlantic or the New Yorker. My kids read a lot of sci fi and fantasy which is also usually written with a pretty high reading level.
For standard English conventions, it sounds like he needs a good grammar review. Many schools really don’t teach much grammar any more - he might want to look through some standard text books or reference books or watch some of the Kahn Academy videos.
I agree wholeheartedly with @proudpatriot. Khan Academy is often a good source. Make sure he reviews what was incorrect.
Thanks for advice. I am worried if he has time to review them.
He planed to take SAT in August and PSAT again next year. Hope his PSAT can improve from 1420 to 1500 and SAT >1550. maybe I am too optimistic
He can definitely improve at least 100 points. Maybe even more.
He won’t see any money from colleges for his PSAT scores unless he hits the range needed for the National Merit Scholarship (or if he’s a minority for the National Achievement and/or National Hispanic Scholar designation) in your state. Take a good long look at his scores on other standardized tests over the years. Good? Not-so-good? Excellent? If the trend looks like he could hit the score range for money from the PSAT/NMSQT then prep for that one. Otherwise skip it (I took Happykid out to brunch on test day), and worry only about the SAT and/or ACT.