Daily Practice for the SAT®
Mindprint Rating
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Mindprint Expert Review
Pros
- A reminder for daily practice can be what some students need to keep them on target.
- Offers authentic test questions, detailed answers of the incorrect response and the rationale for the correct answer, and a rating of question difficulty.
- Some students might appreciate the large font available on the iPad.
Considerations
- The design is cumbersome, particularly on the iPhone, particularly since questions and answers cannot be seen on a single screen.
- Some students might find the hints more confusing than helpful.
- The app has a surprising number of bugs, particularly in the reading section, which can be very frustrating.
Mindprint Expert Review
This is the official question of the day app from the College Board which encourages students to practice daily for the SAT with authentic practice questions. If a student registers, he can track daily practice stats, share performance with friends on facebook or twitter, and link to additional free instruction and practice on Khan Academy. Daily practice questions can be a good way to get reluctant students to practice a bit each day and using authentic questions and answers from the College Board can be a good option. In addition, every question is rated on level of difficulty and the percent of students who answered correctly so students have a good feel for how they are doing. They can choose to practice additional questions in the archive by test category (math with or without calculator, reading, writing & language). However, the format of this app can be a bit cumbersome. Students cannot see the question and the answer on the same screen and there is a lot of scrolling required, particularly with the reading questions. There are hints, but students might find them not so helpful and they can add a level of distraction. In addition, there is no option to time oneself on the question so students develop no sense of pacing. As a daily supplement to other test prep this app can be a fine choice to keep students studying, but it should not be intended to be a primary study tool.
Academic Benefits
Improves academic skills
- Provides sufficient and varied types of practice problems to maximize understanding and generalization of the targeted skill/concept
- Manufacturer claims alignment with Common Core/Known Standards
- Presents educational concepts accurately
- Explains answers so students can learn from mistakes
- Better for teaching the skill to new or struggling learners
- Better for practicing or refreshing the skill
- Skills are practiced through authentic, meaningful problems (not just rote practice)
Easy to Use
Understandable for children in the Mindprint recommended age range
- Has a free or trial version
- Provides teaching guidance for adults to support the child and set appropriate goals
- Provides an age-appropriate tutorial/first time users can work independently
- Student should be able to use independently after first use
- Has a multi-player option to foster in-person collaboration or cooperation
- Multiple users can save a profile
- Student graduates to the next level or topic only after meeting a benchmark
- Can play without sound and not distract others
- Students can save work between sessions
- Can effectively understand and monitor student's progress (email report or in product)
- Provides options to play in languages other than English/Good for ELL
- Presents information in multiple formats (voice over, pictures and text, etc.)
- Overall - Easy to use
Cognitive Concerns
May not be advisable for students with the following cognitive needs
- Attention
- Problems or examples are not interesting for the target age range
- Visually distracting with too many pictures, problems or moving objects
- Includes long written questions or text that students must be able to read on their own
- Flexible Thinking
- Numerical Fluency
- Student will need to copy or write multi-digit math problems
- Organization
- Problems or examples are not interesting for the target age range
- Includes long written questions or text that students must be able to read on their own
- Reading Basics
- Includes long written questions or text that students must be able to read on their own
- Reading Comprehension
- Includes long written questions or text that students must be able to read on their own
- Reading Fluency
- Includes long written questions or text that students must be able to read on their own
- Verbal Reasoning
- Includes long written questions or text that students must be able to read on their own
- Visual Discrimination
- Visually distracting with too many pictures, problems or moving objects
- Working Memory
- Student will need to copy or write multi-digit math problems
- Includes long written questions or text that students must be able to read on their own
Manufacturer Description
It’s not too early to start practicing for the SAT. Download the Daily Practice for the SAT® app and make practice a part of your daily routine.
With breakthrough technology and hundreds of new official questions, Daily Practice for the SAT® allows you to get ready for the new SAT whenever and wherever you choose – for FREE.
Key features:
• SAT Question of the Day
o Answer a question every day or binge from our pool of exclusive official content
o Get optional hints and answer explanations to help you improve your performance
• Scan and Score
o For the first time ever, instantly score a practice SAT by taking a picture of the grid through this app to receive scores, feedback, and personalized instruction. Go to sat.org/scoring to download the practice test and grid
Supporting features:
• Personalized progress tracking and comparisons
• Connect to Official SAT Practice at Khan Academy for personalized practice
• Access to SAT dates and registration deadlines