Problem-Solving and Reading Strategies for ACT® Preparation

A new path to graduation has been instituted for high school students in Ohio. Students now have the option to graduate by showing college readiness on a national college entrance exam. One such exam is the ACT®. This article gives methods and activities, from an intervention conducted during the 20122013 academic year, that merge problem-solving and reading strategies to help students prepare for the mathematics portion of the ACT®. eginning with the graduating class of 2018, the state of Ohio established new requirements to earn a high school diploma; a student must satisfy individual course and assessment requirements, as well as demonstrate a readiness to enter college or a readiness to enter the workforce (Ohio Department of Education, 2015). Readiness for college is demonstrated by receiving a remediation-free score from a national college entrance exam, e.g., at least an 18 in English, a 21 in reading, the state of Ohio will pay for the student to take their initial national college entrance exam. Improving college readiness is an area of focus because 37% of Ohio’s 2013 graduating class was enrolled in at least one developmental mathematics or English course upon entering college (Ohio Department of Education, 2014). Furthermore, prior research has indicated that students who enroll in developmental courses are less successful, when considering degree completion, than students who do not enroll in developmental courses (Noble & Sawyer, 2013). All state universities in Ohio recognize the ACT® as a part of their application process. This article details some problem-solving and reading strategies that aimed to help eleventh-grade students, enrolled in either high school Algebra II or Honors Precalculus, improve their college readiness by preparing for the mathematics portion of the ACT®. The methods and activities were integrated into their Mathematics and English courses and focused on using a framework to improve problem-solving strategies, using KWL charts to improve reading comprehension, and using word breakdowns to enhance student’s vocabulary. These intervention strategies spanned most of the 2012-13 academic year at a rural high school and included a team made up of a university mathematician, a high school mathematics teacher, and a high school teacher from English Language Arts. Research implies that reading comprehension plays an important role in how well students solve mathematical word problems (Pape, 2004; Passolunghi & Pazzaglia, 2005) and the majority of the questions from the mathematics portion of the ACT® are in sentence form. Therefore, merging problem-solving strategies with reading strategies helped prepare the students for the mathematics portion of the ACT®. Also, with an eye on each student’s future employability, proper verbal and written communication was also stressed. Proper communication and problem-solving ability are two of the top skills that employers expect from recent college graduates (Adams, 2014). The mathematics portion of the ACT® is the focus of this article, but it is also important to note that this intervention’s design can also help prepare students for the reading and writing portions.