On October 11th, 2023, Jesuit Dallas freshmen, sophomore’s, and junior’s took the first online PSAT. In order to better understand the outcome of this drastic change, I met with Assistant Principal of Curriculum and Academic Support, Ben Kirby.
Interview
Hello Dr. Kirby, thanks for meeting with me. Today, I wanted to go over some questions about the recent digital PSAT.
Firstly, how did Jesuit respond to the initial news of the transition to online test taking from College Board?
“Well, we didn’t have much of a choice whether it was digital or paper, but we were actually pretty excited about it because all of our test prep with Ray Dass is digital, so it allowed for it to be in the same modality as the test prep.”
Could you go over the specific steps which Jesuit took to ensure a smooth a secure testing environment?
“Sure, college board gives us a list of required steps that we have to do, so we follow that checklist. However, we took certain steps that I believe put us ahead and in a good position like the pre administration work ahead of time with the students. For some of the classes we did it in small groups and in others we did it in full classes in the terry center. That allowed us to make sure that everyone was registered and had a device that worked properly so that on test day there would be no technical problems.”
Were there any surprising difficulties which happened during or following the test?
“Actually we had zero difficulties, on our end it was a very successful experience.”
On behalf of Jesuit Dallas, how do you think that the shift from paper to digital tests will affect results?
“I’m optimistic that it increases student’s scores, partly because it was a shorter test so the endurance wasn’t the same. I think this worked in the favor of everybody, but I think it’s going to be a while before we start to see any significant differences or change in performance.”
Will Jesuit change the way in which it prepares students for standardized test taking, now that they are nearly all online?
“We will probably remain using Ray Dass because it is all digital and so it allows for it all to be kind of seamless. I think whats going to be interesting is how Ray Dass and other test groups change their ways in preparation because it’s a shorter test and more condensed. Because of this I think they will alter the way that they administer the practice tests.”
Can you explain the process for students to receive their digital PSAT scores and access their results?
“Sure, so yesterday everyone should’ve gotten an email from me with instructions on how to get their test scores. They have a few different ways to access your scores, you can go through your college board app or through the website, or you can go through the BigFutures app which is a new technology. If you are having problems logging in to either of these, you can come see your counselors or come see me and we can get it figured out.”
What can Jesuit do to improve for next year’s PSAT?
“As far as the test administration there’s really nothing that I would change, it went really smooth on our end. I think what I would continue doing is encourage the students to take it seriously and prepare starting today for the test next October.”
Thank you for your time and input on this year’s digital PSAT.
Stay tuned to The Roundup for more school news!