Monday, March 4, 2013

Last year I bragged on Ash's ACT score from the Duke TIP program; now it's Lucy's turn

    Last year I gave a big cockle-doodle-do to my son for scoring 24 on the Duke TIP sponsored ACT test. This year it's Lucy's turn.
    We got the magic score envelope in the mail Saturday and Lucy made a 27, with a 33 in English, a 30 in reading, a 24 in math (gasp!) and a 22 in science. For a seventh-grader, this is a pretty good score. It's actually not bad for a graduating senior, either.
    Last year I wrote about how we were using the Boost Your Score ACT Software to get Ash ready for the ACT. I suggest you read the review, which I've linked to, as I give what I think are a couple of good test-taking tips.
    I really like the company that produces the Boost Your Score software. When I first purchased it they told me an upgrade would soon be available at no charge. When it came out they promptly emailed me the upgrade.
    This year I found out that the ACT had put a new sample test on its website, which made all of the answers for the first Boost Your Score test wrong. I emailed them and they sent me an updated version at no charge. All of this for a $15 piece of software.
    Does practice make perfect? The makers of the ACT say it does. They say a good majority of students who take the ACT for a second time make a higher score. I think it stands to reason that taking practice tests will help.
    In Lucy's case, last year when she was in sixth grade she took the English portion of the ACT practice test and made a 25. This year she took the practice and made a 34. Her score on the real test was 33. I think being aware of what is on the test helps.
    Conversely, Lucy refused to take the science practice test. She is a willful child and I am an indulgent parent, so I did not make her. Her science score was 22, yet science is the most coachable portion of the ACT, and is in large part a reading test. If someone has a 30 in reading and a 22 in science it means they didn't familiarize themselves with the types of questions on the science portion of the test. (Only a small portion of the "science" test measures scientific knowledge; it measures the ability to read passages and interpret charts and graphs).
    I highly recommend the Boost Your Score software, and if you use the link on my page to buy it I think they will send me 50 cents or something.
    We are proud of our Lucy. She is among perhaps 2,000 students out of the relatively elite group of almost 70,000 Duke TIP participants to qualify to attend the "Grand Recognition Ceremony" held at Duke each year. If we can use some of our free-night certificates to get a hotel room I expect we will go.
     So pack your bags Lucy, we're going to North Carolina!


7 comments:

Pugnacious said...

Totally not related to the OP,Colonel, but you are the only blogger that has even commented on the unjust prosecution and conviction of Mary Sue Shields of first degree murder over in Lowndes county. I thought that with Dr. Haynes' testimony in that trial--claiming the dancefloor fight caused the death of Larry Martin who had attacked Ms.Shields with the first blow-- that there would be more defense lawyers getting on the bandwagon to set this woman free. Or at least allow her a chance at retrial, but NOT in the 16th Judicial District with its history of malicious prosecutions and judicial misconduct...upheld, I might add, by the MSSC. No Tom Fortners ,McDuffs, Tom Freelands, Radley Balkos or Mel Leventhals to be found. Or tha mysterious lawyer from Jackon with a craven for Scotch.

You seemed to have had some knowledge of the case, because you indicated that her case was been reviewed. Or that was my impression. That was two years ago, and Ms. Shields has written again to the Columbus Packet and she doesn't indicate that the wheels of justice are grinding away somewhere.
What do you know that can be revealed?

I don't know Ms. Shields, but I have followed her case through the writings of then editor Roger Larsen of the Columbus packet and now the new editor Colin Krieger,a transplant from New Orleans.

http://packet-media.com/2013/03/08/letter-to-the-editor-from-mary-sue-shields/

Pugnacious said...

Of course that is Anderson's "craving" for Scotch whiskey. I don't think that he is a "converted" Whiskeypalian, though.

Col. Reb Sez said...

Pug, I went to see Radley Balko when he was visiting the Ole Miss campus. Balko has been very active in trying to get justice for some of these people who are in jail on pretty flimsy evidence. My recollection is that he or another person mentioned the Shields case and the fact that they were working on it.

There have been a number of attorneys who are pretty unhappy with the Shields situation, I think including some of those you mention.

I think every attorney in the state bears a certain amount of guilt in allowing this type of crap to go on. I certainly haven't done anything to help other than to express outrage at the situation.

Pugnacious said...

In reference to your latest post on Freeland's threat to terminate the Terminator:Touche!

I,too, became a victim of Freeland's anger back in 2009 for posting Judicial Watch's List of Washington's Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians, which included Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd in 2009. Dodd also made JW's 2008 list. And if there is any bile to be found on Tom Freeland's cutting-room floor, it's from Anderson, Pike and Ben Toledano.

I found this quote, from of all places, (TBA)Anderson's blog just weeks before he summarily banished me. And I was just getting ready to provide him with a link to what really did NOT happen at Babi Yar.

I could never divide myself from any man upon the difference of opinion,--Or be angry with his judgement for not agreeing with mee in that, from which perhaps within dayes I should dissent myselfe.~Sir Thomas Browne.

I know now that it was all just windowdressing.

Col. Reb Sez said...

Pug, I really wasn't trying to be critical of NMC. In fact, I didn't agree with Terminator's comments. Just pointing out that the piling on of Scalia is a bit unseemly.

Pugnacious said...

Colonel~

The Hyena has left his lair. You do have a way of baiting him, though. It's obvious that Pike has a problem with white identity. I suspect that he/she is cut from the same ethnic cloth as Anderson, Toledano and Dershowitz.

On the praise of Elana Kagan, I've included a link to Kevin MacDonald's expose in the Occidental Observer. There is more to Kagan than she does Christmas dinner at the local Chinese restaurant.

Maybe you can add The Occidental Observer to your "other links."

http://www.theoccidentalobserver.net/category/elena-kagan/

Gregor Renk said...

I can so very much relate my sister to this post. She has studied hard for her exam. She even went for the Bar Review Courses and practiced a lot. Practice does make permanence and it helps in retaining the information. She got better with practice and was able to improve her speed and accuracy.