With the cancellation of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and American College Test (ACT) tests since last March, MHS students have not been able to take any standardized tests for college applications for almost a year now, at least not at MHS, said Principal Francis Rojas in a Zoom interview. However, MHS recently got the go-ahead to host the Preliminary SAT (PSAT) from the College Board, Rojas said. This new type of PSAT administration is different from usual due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rojas added.
According to the College Board website, Jan. 26 is the last date for testing of the PSAT. The PSAT itself cannot be submitted to colleges; its purpose is to qualify students for the National Merit Scholarship (NMSQT) or prepare them for the SAT, according to Rojas. However, there will still be an alternate entry into the NMSQT through the March SAT administration, according to National Merit Corporation. Other than that, juniors will have missed their chance to enter into the NMSQT, according to National Merit Corporation.
The NMSQT is only open to juniors, and there is a qualifying score one must get in order to even be considered for the scholarship as a semifinalist, according to National Merit Corporation. While the cutoff score, which is called by the National Merit Corporation the “selection index score,” varies from year to year, in California, it is relatively high, usually around 220, which translates to 1480 out of 1520 on the PSAT, according to Compress Prep. The selection index score weighs the reading/writing section more heavily than the math section, so the PSAT score needed may vary, according to Span Test Prep. Students can check if their scores will qualify easily by searching up “national merit calculator”.
This year’s PSAT will be very different from the usual. “I believe we have a little over 100 students signed up for [the PSAT], of our 11th graders. Mr. Mach and Ms. Rivera are the administrators organizing it,” Rojas said. “I believe there will only be 10 students for every proctor because that will help us maintain social distancing. PSAT is a paper booklet test, so it’s going to be done all in the classroom with those materials, and there’ll be PPE set up in there as well.”
As of right now, as long as the staff does not back out, the PSAT will not be canceled, Rojas said. Some principals of other high schools had to issue refunds and were not able to administer the test because they did not have enough proctors to run their tests, not because of the College Board, he added.
As for the PSAT 10, “We used to give the regular PSAT to all sophomores as an introduction to standardized testing. One big reason [for canceling the PSAT 10] is most of our students go to UCs and CSUs, which don’t use the SAT anymore as part of their admissions process,” Rojas said. “Really, the only need right now for the PSAT is only for National Merit Scholarship qualifying for 11th graders. If I were to waive [the PSAT 10] next to the risks of COVID, of course trying to get all 10th graders to test would not have much benefit at this point.”
The PSAT is also a pilot test to see whether MHS would be able to administer the March or April SAT, according to Rojas. The College Board now has a program called “SAT school day” which allows high schools to control which students get to take the test at their high school, Rojas said. Previously, when administering the SAT, MHS would have to open their testing site to students who did not attend the school, and as of now there are many safety concerns allowing students from other areas to take the test at MHS due to the risk of COVID-19 spread and exposure, Rojas said. It is also up to the College Board to decide whether or not MHS will get to use the program, as everything is run through the College Board, Rojas said. All MHS does is receive the packages, proctor the test, and send back the tests and money, Rojas added.
While some schools have been able to continue testing throughout the pandemic, MHS cannot, Rojas said. “Here’s the thing with private schools. Since their teachers aren’t unionized, they can just make their teachers and staff come to work and give a test. And so, the private schools were the first ones to actually go back and say, we’re going to offer the tests,” Rojas said. “I can’t force people to proctor the test, so I don’t have the staff needed, and that is why there are cancellation policies for [public schools].”
Vice Principal Jonathan Mach is in charge of all PSAT test day administration. “[I’m the one] to make sure that the day of the PSAT all of the kids get into class, get tested, and get them on their way safely. Then, [I’ll] be able to get the scores out to them and have a meeting to talk about what the scores mean,” Mach said in a Zoom interview. “Then, in case they do take the SATs, which are not mandatory, they’re able to understand how the PSAT correlates with the SAT. For those who scored exceptionally, I also need to talk about how the National Merit Scholarship may or may not affect them and what they have to do.”
According to Mach, there will be six to 10 students at maximum in a classroom, and 10 would be pushing it. The only reason for 10 students in a classroom would be if the school is short on proctors, Mach said. In that case, students will be informed beforehand to make sure everyone is comfortable if they might have to sit closer to one another, Mach added.
“We have to do a deep cleanse of the rooms that [students] will be using. For some of the rooms, teachers are actually going into their rooms for the first time [since the pandemic started]. On the day of, we will have to do another deep clean, and then we have to provide people with all the sanitary equipment, just in case people need an additional mask and there’s no gloves, and then we have to have Lysol wipes for just the chairs and everything else,” Mach said.
“Once you’re done, we have to go back and do [deep cleaning] again, which is almost three times total, just to make sure we adhere to safety guidelines. On top of that, we don’t open any of the books until the day of the test so there’s limited interaction. Then, on the day of the test, we have to clean the box, open the box, and clean the test again. We also have to provide cleaning equipment so that when we pass that to people who have already cleaned it you can open up the test,” Mach added.
The school is following the guidelines set out by the College Board, Mach said. Students will be required to wear a mask for the duration of their time on campus and are also encouraged to bring other items, which can all be found in a test day checklist on the College Board website, Mach added.
“More than 60% of the normal populace that would normally take the PSAT are not taking it, and I’m assuming because [the PSAT] has to be in person. We don’t get to decide on that. The College Board does the test; they send us all the material, so I can’t say, ‘Well, my kids don’t want to come in and take it,’” Mach said.
According to Vice Principal Cheryl Rivera, who is in charge of the announcements and planning pre-test day, most proctors will not be teachers, since teachers will need to be teaching as it is still a school day. The proctors will mostly be other staff , such as paraeducators and office administration, Rivera added in a Zoom interview.
While the National Merit Scholarship may seem like the easiest way to find tuition money, juniors also have a few other ways to receive tuition money for college, such as other scholarships and financial aid, which can be found on the College and Career Center website, Rivera said.
“Ms. Canez, who is the staff member who puts information out about scholarships and financial aid, has workshops where you can learn more. I or any other admin that receives information sends it to our liaison Ms. Canez and she posts that for us,” Rivera said.