Improve SAT & ACT Test Scores With OUR Learning Assessment
Gaining insight into HOW a student learns best is the key to Enabling them to reach their full potential
Illuminos offers an executive function Learning Assessment, which provides precise, unbiased insights into each student's strengths and weaknesses to enable them to set achievable goals and expectations. Additionally, the Learning Assessment helps Illuminos academic coaches create personalized test prep plans and strategies so your student can improve on previous scores or perform to their potential on the SAT or ACT test.
Differences between the SAT and ACT
The SAT and ACT are both standardized tests commonly used for college admissions in the United States, but they have some key differences:
Content: The SAT focuses more on reasoning and problem-solving skills, particularly in the areas of reading, writing, and math. The ACT, on the other hand, includes sections on English, math, reading, and science reasoning.
Structure: The SAT has two main sections: Reading and Writing, and Math, with an optional Essay section. The ACT consists of four mandatory sections: English, Math, Reading, and Science, with an optional Essay section.
Scoring: The SAT has a total score range of 400 to 1600, combining scores from the Reading and Writing section and the Math section. The ACT has a composite score range of 1 to 36, averaging scores from the four mandatory sections.
Timing: The SAT is 2 hours and 14 minutes, while the ACT is 2 hours and 55 minutes (without the writing section) or 3 hours and 35 minutes (with the writing section).
How the Learning Assessment helps a student decide between the SAT and ACT
Ultimately, the choice between the SAT and ACT depends on individual preferences, strengths, and the requirements of the colleges or universities to which a student is applying. The Illuminos Learning Assessment gauges ten cognitive abilities associated with academic and standardized test achievement. The assessment was created using exclusive algorithms through testing thousands of students over the last seven years to forecast SAT and ACT scores.
The following reports are available in the Learning Assessment: an ACT vs SAT Comparison, which identifies whether the student would be stronger at the SAT or SAT, and reports that provide a projected score for either the SAT or ACT.
The results from the report provides Illuminos academic coaches with valuable insights into the student’s individual learning needs, what test suits them, how to improve their test-taking skills, and how to best prepare for the test.
Learner Profile and Executive Functioning Skills
The assessment will provide valid, reliable measures of Executive Functioning skills, complex reasoning, memory, and processing. Illuminos uses the results to tailor our science-based, research-driven, Executive Functioning curriculum to your student’s specific strengths and weaknesses.
Is the Learning Assessment right for my student?
The Learning assessment benefits all students! Since our mission is to give students the personalized support they need to develop their executive function skills, the assessment is the first step in identifying their strengths and weaknesses.
Our coaches will review your student’s Learner Profile to develop a personalized success plan utilizing our Executive Function curriculum.
How does the Illuminos Learning Assessment work?
The online, one-hour Learning assessment is taken by your student. After the assessment is completed, an Illuminos academic coach will provide a 30-minute comprehensive analysis of your student’s Learner Profile, which includes a breakdown of strengths and weaknesses, along with how they can improve.
The SAT/ACT preparation assessment advises which test your child will perform better on and by how much based on your student’s natural test-taking capabilities and the nuanced differences between the two tests. The results are critical for your student to effectively prepare for their college entrance exam.
How to Take the Illuminos SAT-ACT Learning Assessment
Step 1: Take the Online Learning Assessment
Your student will take the one-hour, online, self-administered assessment to identify their learning strengths and needs. The assessment measures executive functions, complex reasoning, memory, and processing.
Step 2: Receive the Learner Profile
A Learner Profile is created within 3 business days that highlighting strengths, needs and strategies to improve learning. An expert analysis of your student’s test results, including projected SAT and ACT section scores will be provided as a 30-minute review meeting, scheduled at your convenience.
Step 3: Start Personalized Academic Coaching with Illuminos
An Illuminos academic coach creates a personalized improvement plan for your student. The coach provides individualized curriculum of Executive Functioning skills for academic improvement and test performance for the student.
“Taking the learning assessment
was actually quite fun!”
Learn More About How the
SAT-ACT Learning Assessment Benefits Your Child
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Frequently Asked Questions About the SAT-ACT Learning Assessment
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Cognitive skills are the best predictor of academic outcomes and show over 50% of the variability in student achievement, significantly higher than any other known factor.
Help your Illuminos coach understand why your child is struggling.
One hour online, parent monitored assessment provides your coach with a specific guide to your child’s needs.
Identify your child’s primary challenge - focus and organization versus a difficulty with understanding.
Gain clear objective insights into your child’s core capacities, free from bias.
Receive a personalized learning plan for your child.
Personalized instructional recommendations based on your child’s cognitive strengths and needs.
Individualized recommendations for home and school support.
Evidence-based results that you can share with child’s teachers, counselor’s, learning specialists case managers to help them understand and provide support for struggling or gifted students.
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The Learning Assessment is not a substitute for neuropsychological or psychoeducational testing. Additionally, the Learning Assessment does not provide a medical diagnosis and cannot be used for the purposes of seeking school accommodations.
However, the strengths and needs identified by the Learning Assessment do typically agree with the findings from neuropsychological or psychoeducational testing. Parents, professionals, schools, and academic coaches use the Learning Assessment in combination with other assessments and observations to make informed decisions about how best to help children with specific learning needs.
In short, the emphasis of neuropsychological or psychoeducational testing is primarily problem identification while the emphasis of the Learning Assessment is primarily solution strategies.
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Cognitive skills tests identify how a student learns, understands, and recalls information. Most school tests assess academic skills or achievements, which focus on what a student knows. Understanding a student’s cognitive strengths and needs can be the key to more efficient and enjoyable learning. As demands on students increase as they matriculate, maximizing efficiency is one of the keys to ongoing success.
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The Learning Assessment evaluates 10 core cognitive skills critical to learning proficiency:
Reasoning: Abstract, Verbal, Spatial
Executive Functions: Attention, Working Memory, Flexible Thinking
Memory: Verbal, Visual
Speed: Processing, Visual Motor
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The Learning Assessment questions are computerized and adaptive, meaning students receive different questions based on their answers. Unlike school achievement tests, there are no reading passages and no math computations.
There is nothing students need to do in preparation for taking the assessment, though it is important to take it in a quiet location with reliable internet access for the full hour. Most students describe the questions as a series of puzzles and often say it is fun.
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You will receive a detailed and personalized report called a Learner Profile, which provides a thorough explanation of a student’s performance across the ten skills. It then suggests specific learning strategies that can be used in school and at home to improve performance outcomes.
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The Learning Assessment is designed for English-speaking students ages 8 to 21 and is scored using national standardized data of same-aged students. However, there is an adult version of the assessment (utilized by NASA and other companies) that we are happy to arrange for interested parents. Just contact us for additional information.
Students should meet the following criteria:
Reading English at or above a 2nd grade level
Able to follow simple, multi-step instructions independently
Comfortable using a computer mouse & keyboard
Able to read a computer screen independently
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Here are some videos we recommend that explain the SAT-ACT Learning Assessment:
TED Talk: How your brain's executive function works and how to improve it