Reading and Writing
54 questions in 64 minutes
Information and Ideas
Where the points go
Command of evidence questions ask which quotation or which data point supports a stated claim. Students pick the choice that is true, or that sounds impressive, instead of the one that does the specific job the question named. The quantitative version, where the evidence sits in a table or a graph, is the one sophomores get caught by most often.
What we do in class
We separate the claim from the evidence on paper first: what exactly is being argued, and what would have to be shown for it to hold. On the graph versions, students read the axis labels and the units out loud before they touch a single answer choice.
Reading and Writing
54 questions in 64 minutes
Craft and Structure
Where the points go
Cross-text connections give two short passages and ask how the second writer would respond to the first. Students summarize both texts correctly and still miss the question, because they never pinned down the exact point where the two writers disagree. Purpose and structure questions fail the same way, described accurately but not in the terms the question asked for.
What we do in class
Before the choices, students write each author's position in a short phrase and mark where the two texts touch. For purpose questions we ask what a sentence is doing in the paragraph rather than what it says, which are two different questions with two different answers.
Reading and Writing
54 questions in 64 minutes
Expression of Ideas
Where the points go
Rhetorical synthesis hands a student a list of bullet notes and a stated goal, then asks for the sentence that meets it. Students study all the notes, burn time they need later in the module, and choose the sentence that packs in the most facts instead of the one that serves the goal. Transitions go wrong when a student picks the option that sounds smoothest.
What we do in class
Read the stated goal first, then the notes, then answer, because most of those notes are decoration for that particular question. On transitions, students say the relationship out loud (this one adds, this one pushes back, this one explains) before reading any option, so they are matching against a prediction rather than reacting.
Reading and Writing
54 questions in 64 minutes
Standard English Conventions
Where the points go
Grammar items are the fastest points in the section, and students hand them back by reading the whole sentence twice before deciding. The repeat offenders are subject-verb agreement when a long phrase separates the two, pronouns with no clear antecedent, and modifiers attached to the wrong noun. Sophomores in particular may not have had formal grammar instruction since middle school.
What we do in class
We drill the small set of patterns that generate most of these items, starting with finding the true subject when the sentence buries it. The goal is answering a conventions question quickly, which is how a student buys back time for the reading-heavy questions later in the module.
Math
44 questions in 70 minutes
Advanced Math
Where the points go
Quadratics in three different forms, exponential growth and decay, and function notation. Juniors are often partway through Algebra 2 when they sit the PSAT, and sophomores may not have reached this material at all, so it is common for a student to miss questions on content their class has not covered yet.
What we do in class
We teach the setups the test reuses instead of running a full Algebra 2 unit: reading a function in context, moving between standard, factored, and vertex form, and spotting an exponential pattern in a table. Students who have not met the topic get a first, careful exposure; students who have already covered it get the test's particular version of it.
Math
44 questions in 70 minutes
Problem-Solving and Data Analysis
Where the points go
Percent change, unit rates, two-way tables, probability read off a table, and line of best fit. The arithmetic is seldom the trouble. Students pull the wrong row or column, or answer a percent question with the new total when it asked for the increase.
What we do in class
We rehearse a fixed opening move: name what the question wants in its own units, then find only the numbers that feed it. Students also practice with the built-in graphing calculator, which is available for the whole math section and often reaches the answer faster than setting up the algebra.
