ACT Prep Transcript

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[Intro Music]

Kevin

Hi and welcome back to the Interns’ Chair. I am your Ascension Public Schools Public Information Office High School Intern and host Kevin and I’m here with Assistant Principal of Donaldsonville High School, Mr. Hilton. 

Today we have a few questions for Mr. Hilton about ACT Prep and how it helps and contributes to students' academics, but before we jump right in, tell us a little about yourself?  

Mr. Hilton

Well, the most important thing is that I’m a proud husband and a father. Father of 15 years now. I know it doesn’t look like it, but that’s why I don’t have hair. No, not really. And I’m a father of four children, yes four children. Two boys and two girls. Everything else about me, Some things people don’t know is that I ran track for LSU, I like sports, I’m a bit of a self-proclaimed nerd, and I’m a pastor at my church.  

Kevin

That’s very interesting now, Mr. Hilton let me start off with question one. When was your first time taking the ACT?

 

Mr. Hilton

My first time taking the ACT was actually in the twelfth grade. Yeah, and you would think otherwise right? The only reason why I got interested in the ACT was as kids my dad did a great job I would really say at establishing an expectation within us. I have an older sister and a younger brother and there was an expectation of going to college… We didn’t know necessarily how we’re going to get there, but there was an expectation. Long story short, my sister made the required score to get TOPS and my senior year I took the ACT and I tried to get a score as well. It wasn’t required back then for high school students to take the ACT, so I waited till my senior year just like everybody else.    

Kevin

Was there anything you could’ve or wanted to change when you took the ACT?

Mr. Hilton

Well I mean I was comfortable with the test I didn't know how much I need to prep and it wasn't until I was dating this young lady who went to another school who had taken a prep course and she had scored the 24 and that I said you know I'll probably be some prep also. I was 19 at the time, and I didn’t get any prep but she gave me her book from her prep course. I would love to say I spent hours with the book I didn’t, but I looked at a couple of little things that it said that will possibly help me to save time and score better and I applied those things and went up two points. 

Kevin

How did you take an interest in teaching an ACT Prep Class? 

Mr. Hilton

It was all about luck man. It was truly, it was a happenstance, it was luck. I was in a place where I was tryna do anything extra. I don’t think people realize the reality about how low teachers get paid. Right? When I started teaching, my actual annual salary was $27,400 dollars. That's terrible okay, so I would do side jobs especially over the summer because I was a teacher so I didn't work over Summers and this summer I can't remember which number it was but I can almost go back to it let me see my daughter is 8 years old which means it was probably the summer of 2010, cuz she was born in 2012 and I was working at LSU during study skills course for them. They had an instructor who got sick. I’m sorry rewind she got pregnant. That's not sick and so she couldn’t do the course so I stepped up and did it. Rewind it must’ve been 2011, and so they like me so much they said hey she's going to be out some more there's an ACT prep course would you be interested absolutely cuz they told me they pay like $40 an hour. Ahhh.. little bit well do people call me from the company and it's still through LSU but there's another company work with them over the phone at a phone interview they like me problems to work out I work them out where the second conversation and I started the same week and my daughter was born which is why I went back to her age The weekend she was born, was the first day that I was supposed to go in trap but I told him, sorry, so I went the next week and it's been 8 years and a lot of learning all in between. 

Kevin

That’s crazy sounds like it went really smoothly for you. 

Mr. Hilton

It did. It really did. It was weird I have this passion to get work done and stuff

Kevin

When teaching ACT Prep do you first break down the subject that most students have trouble with or do you often pick a random subject?

Mr. Hilton

Good question, so I have a systematic approach to teaching ACT and I believe that you can have any type of approach you want to but there's one thing that I tell students that for me is really much more important and effective than focusing on I need to do better in an area unless you have a purpose for the ACT, one has the opportunity to improve on the ACT. The problem is students don’t look at the ACT like they should. They look at it like the test they have at school. That means if I didn’t do well on that test I need to find out what I didn’t do well and improve, but those are criterion-referenced tests which means you’re gonna have a certain amount of information on specific subjects. What's the ACT score for the English test, for example, gas 75 questions call criteria there are standards but it's a composite score that the school is going to look at it so your 1921 North 25 whatever your score might be assisted score at each level or it could be a maximize score in to test with a general score into other test so instead of trying to get if I want to 21 instead of trying to get a 21 on his chest what else I'm not so great at math but I can get a 19 baby and a scientist has the most difficult because the language is so difficult what does that mean for the English test if I'm stronger than English reading and I get a 23 in English and it's 23 a reading I'm still on try to focus on for the research in the reading that I've done.

In particular, John Maxwell said you should spend the majority of their time focusing on their strengths and less time don’t ignore the areas where you want to improve, but less time on those areas you’re tryna improve in. In particular, you should spend 25% of their time on the areas they’re trying to improve, so What if I spent 75% of the areas where I’m strong? I’ll give you an example. Had a young student, she was in 7th grade; I had convinced her mom she needed to take the ACT. This young lady in 7th grade, she made an 18….A 7th grader. Most people say that’s a pretty good score and 18 oh my goodness, that’s fantastic. When I worked with her you should not be getting less than 21. She was a little nervous, but two years later. Earlier last year in February of 2019 her mom reached out to me,” She’s going to take the test again.” She’s a ninth-grader in high school now. Just two years later, I sat down and said we’re going to focus on your two areas of strength instead of looking at all four test we’re gonna look at your two areas of strength. She improved eight points. She has a twenty-six on the ACT right now. We focused on her two areas of strength and she made thirties on both of them, they were reading and English and she made decent scores on her math and science. Her mother wants me to work with her on the math some more and we will, but she has a twenty-six composite score because she focused on her strengths, so I don’t pick little areas where the kids might struggle. I have a systematic approach I have to say what’s your strength, but also what’s the easiest test? The most easiest test on the ACT is the English test. You see that’s the test with the most problems that’s why it’s the easiest. You don’t get as many problems on a more difficult test, because there’s no way in the world for it is that difficult you won’t be able to finish. 

Kevin

That’s something. That really is something. So basically I’ve been thinking about it the wrong way the whole time. It’s very inspirational. 

Do you think that teaching ACT Prep is not only beneficial to you, but also to the students as well?

Mr. Hilton

Good question, so I have an average of about 2 points increase but I had kids score all types of scores.  I haven't had a kid get a perfect score yet, but I have had a kid score a 32, he came to me and said Mr. Hilton I want a 34 I said okay here we go. He got his 34. He emailed me and said he got his 34, thank you very much. Ayyye you did the work I just showed you where to focus. Right? That is extremely beneficial for a student when they reach their goals. Right?

You can not ever truly pay me for the personal satisfaction that knowing that I helped a kid do that or the personal satisfaction when a parent reaches out and says thank you so much my kid got to go to the school they were shooting for. We thank you so much, you are God sent, all of that. That’s more.. I mean that’s the heart of a teacher. Right? That’s why we get into education, we know we’re not gonna get paid a lot right? So the benefit for me is way beyond what I can make as far as a monetary recompense for my time. The benefit is seeing the smiling faces, the happy hearts knowing that my kids are going to college ready and have the access they needed, because I was a part of that story for them. 

Kevin

It’s beneficial both ways. It helps them develop their own character.

Mr. Hilton

Yes..Yes. 

Kevin

Do you think that the ACT has more benefits than the SAT?

Mr. Hilton

Another good question, so it depends... It depends on where you live really. Uhh...depends on which school you’re trying to attend. The SAT is used not as much in the Southeastern part of the United States as it is maybe on the Upper East Coast or even on some of those West Coast Schools so it really just depends. There is within each school a scale generally where you had to take the ACT and they look for more for the SAT and they’ll say since you took the ACT this score is equivalent with the SAT score would be and vice versa, so it really just depends on where you live, what the school looks for, you really need to know the college your approaching or you’re trying to attend and what they refer. If the refer to SAT you take the SAT, if that score prefers the ACT then you should be taking the ACT.

Now when it comes down to scholarships most people don’t know how to look at scholarships and how to look at their scores that work for the SAT or the ACT. I think it’s in the 11th grade. I don’t really know. I don’t focus on the SAT as much but in one of those grades. I think it’s the tenth grade you take the Pre-SAT and your score on the Pre-SAT would determine your eligibility for national merit, scholars and honors and so I don’t know the required score, but if you get a certain score you can get scholarship offers coming out of every nook and cranny toward you, because you did well on the Pre-SAT, so there’s benefit they're right? The 90th percentile on the ACT is a 27 or 28, so generally when you score a 27 or 28 schools have scholarships already set up for students who score that on the ACT, so you just.. You just need to know what scholarships are available and of course, require for those scholarships when you’re looking for scholarships. Truly, that’s the most beneficial part of either of these tests and not to mention college admissions right? So the benefit between the two I mean.. There’s no difference really. They’re both college entrance exams, so you just need to make sure what the school wants and focus on that. 

Kevin

That’s a lot of information to take in. 

How long do you think students should practice for the ACT? 

Mr. Hilton

Never stop practicing for the ACT. Yeah so, the ACT is an interesting test. The company that I work with out of LSU.. they used to say something. I'm happy that they changed their lingo, because they taught us, instructors, to say that the ACT is a skills test primarily, not a content test. That’s a lie. It’s one hundred percent a content test, but the content will mostly be found in the English and the math test. Right? Where does this content come from? It comes from grad school to high school. And so really, if you’re not doing a good job with studying and doing great in studies at school. You’re gonna have a tough time with the English and the Math portion on the ACT, because you really never stop practicing for the ACT.

When you’re in class you’re practicing for the ACT, whether or not your teacher is intentional about using ACT standards and incorporating and bending that in their instruction. As long as they’re teaching you English or standard English or as long as they’re teaching you algebra or trigonometry. You’re getting prep. As long as they’re requiring you to read, write, edit, analyze and proofread or write, that’s getting ready for the reading test. As long as they’re teaching you science, how to use data, interpreting data to make decisions…. They’re preparing you for the ACT. So, in my prep course, I do 20 hours. Right? But my statement to every student and every parent….20 hours isn’t enough. If you don’t take and put in more time behind what I’m telling you… good luck to you, because it’s not really about your time being spent with me.

Your time spent with me is only going to energize you. It’s going to encourage you, it’ll motivate you, but it takes 21 days to break a bad habit. So what if your bad habit is how you look at the English Language Arts? or how you’re analyzing those different sentences to make sure they have the appropriate subject and appropriate verb? What if I’m looking at it the wrong way? It takes 21 days to break that and it takes another 21 days to establish a new habit. That’s 42 days… OK? 20 hours….42 days…. You do the math. Like so, I tell my students to spend at least an hour studying outside of their time with me on a daily basis. On a daily basis, 6 days a week, so that’s another 6 hours on top of that and a week on top of the 20 hours and they meet with me for 5 weeks, so that’s another 30 hours, so really my students are getting 50 hours of prep if they use that one extra hour that I instruct them to do. The students that do it they learn the skills, they learn the strategies, they’re more adept at applying those strategies and it’s over, but any kid that goes here…  and not just my prep course, but any prep course if you don’t put in the personal time to build an understanding and structure of what you’re using you won’t use it. What you will do is what you did the last time you took the test.             

Kevin

Do you have any techniques that can help first-time students taking the ACT to stay calm and focus?

Mr. Hilton

Preparation builds confidence. Right? The first thing I tell a first-time student is you need to be preparing. Okay, if you want to do well if you want to be confident you don't want to be nervous and you want to stay calm and stay focused. Then you need to look at the act type problem don't let the first time that you see those have a problem be when you sit down and take the test and don't let the last time be the first time. Welp, I’m taking the test again February 8th or when's the first time you took it? December 12th. Have you looked at things in between? No, not really. That is not what you want, preparation builds confidence and when you're confident you're not nervous, you’re calm. Right? Also not just with a systematic approach to how I organize my prep systematically train students to look at the test in that way or I use the word systematic a lot, so I'm trying to be careful not to use it again but truly my students approach this test from a very systematic mindset, in other words, my students know that 75 questions and 45 minutes on the English test and my students know that 60% of the problems as a correctly is going to give me the average scores 21 or just about any test for the English test that 45 problems. My students know that 45 problems is only three of the five English passages which means that even if I can't finish the test I can do well. Guess what just happened? All kinds of weight just got lifted off of them, because they know it.

I don't just drill it I require them to know it, I require either to set a goal. If your goal is 21 I'm not going to say just do 45 problems and you’re giving yourself any space. I wanna say focus on four passages and that 5th passage you’re gonna wait for the last five minutes but before you do anything you're going to feel in your letter of the day on that passage, on the English test and I’m just using the English test as an example right? But if my goal is a 21 I only need 45 questions correct, so that 5th passage, if I fill in the letter of the day. I've already removed the stress of trying to finish the entire test. This is not a test in school where I need to get a 90% to get an A if A is in 21 for me and a 45 question out of 75, and that means that those 45 minutes now I'm one minute per problem instead of 36 seconds per problem. Weight just got lifted off my shoulders right? Then I teach them how to spend 10 minutes on each of those passages on the English test. It was just the first four they're focusing on a 21 I say spend 10 minutes on each and learn how to do that.

Practice doing that at home, practice timing yourself with those 10 minutes. Learn what it feels like feels like you're developing a muscle memory that says I know how long 10 minutes feels also within a 10 minutes I'm learning how to use these strategies I'm going within my session room at the Hilton so that I can use it efficiently so at the end of 40 minutes I finished those 4 passages and I have  15 more problems that I have five minutes ago and so now in those 5 minutes I’m not going to try to answer every problem. I know which ones are the easy ones, because my students have a systematic approach. They know which ones are the easy ones and they’re gonna find that easy problem and reach that circle in that letter of the day they’re going to read that problem and they're going to answer correctly you're going to increase their scores. So, how do I get the stress off? They have a systematic and we do that for each of the tests. The English test is just one. We do it on the math test, reading test, and the science test. 

Kevin

Sounds like magic.

Mr. Hilton

It feels like it sometimes, but it’s just simple. Yes. 

Kevin

Yes, mind games.

Mr. Hilton

That’s it.  

Kevin

Alrighty then. This is our last and final question. Where do I go to find out more information about ACT Prep? 

Mr. Hilton

So, number one you need to go talk to your counselor. They have all types of information on the SAT and the ACT themselves. They send information to every high school counselor, they consistently send it out and we get emails as administrators, counselors, people at the district level. Go talk to them. You really don’t have to go far, because of the internet and the admin of it, it’s power now. Type in ACT into google. I mean you don’t have to go far, it’s not hard, it’s not difficult. Every branch of the library in Ascension Parish has a free ACT test at least twice a year, possibly if not more, and it’s actually an ACT prep test. Why is that important? Because you will get experience taking the ACT, timing, the type of questions, all of these things.

You can also talk to… you can google in ACT prep and see what companies come up right? There are a lot of different companies out there or you can just call Mr. Hilton. You can go to a lot of different prep companies, but if you aren’t a prep individual… good luck to you, because you’re only gonna get so much. They need to be knowledgeable, they need to stay knowledgeable, they need to stay sharp for the changes ACT has. For example, they implemented this consistent expectation on the reading test you’re gonna have on dual reading passage. Some kids don’t even know there will be a dual reading passage.

Many people don’t know at the beginning of this year now ACT has implemented a one test focus where they can take one test instead of taking all four and they can prep for that one test. Those same hours prepping for that one test I’m really just doing what Mr. Hilton talked about. Focusing on my strengths. If it is an area where I need to focus then I’m going to focus on that by itself and now we’re gonna be able to use that. They don’t know that some schools have a super score. Yes, this will take all of your best scores from your times taking the test and that’ll be your super score and we’re gonna use that to get you in or which schools supply those opportunities because not all schools do that. LSU doesn’t do that, Southern doesn’t do that, but there are other schools that do, so what you need to know is which schools… you have to know the information. It’s on your fingertips. You can use your cellphone or it’s right there in front of you when you’re talking to those teachers and counselor’s everyday passing by their offices. It’s not far. You just have to be willing to knock on somebody’s door or search for it. 

Kevin

So you’re basically saying that..umm collect or find your resources? 

Mr. Hilton

Yeah, I mean they’re right there. They’re right there. They’re right in front of you. It’s very easy even online at ACT.org. You can practice online right? So it’s not difficult. We live in an information age. I don’t know if people recognize that, but that’s what they call this age and the information age is this. When I was your age I can’t tell you how phone numbers I had to memorize, but nowadays we don’t have to memorize phone numbers, because we have phone numbers stored in our phones, I can’t tell you how much knowledge I had to know and so rote memorization even in school was extremely important, but nowadays it’s not as important because it’s at your fingertips. What that has done is allow some people to be lazy, because it’s right at my fingertips. When I sit in front of that test you can’t use google, so I have to have built some knowledge, so if you’re gonna build some knowledge you’re gonna have to put some effort into it. People like me and my company we’re gonna send out all types of marketing, so you have to be attentive to it. You have to be looking for it, but in all honesty, if someone wants to do better on the ACT and they’re not putting forth the effort to find where those resources are, they only have themselves to blame.

Kevin

Ok folks, this wraps up our interview with Mr. Hilton. I'm glad you came to this interview and to all of you listeners out there I’m you Public information Officer, high school intern, but remember I’m still the intern.  

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