Varsity Tutors can connect you with skilled ACT Reading tutors who can guide you as you work on preparing for your upcoming test. When you work with an ACT Reading tutor, you give yourself the resources you need to take your test preparation efforts to the next level. Not only are experienced personal instructors familiar with the content of the ACT, but they are also aware of how the Reading section of the test is scored, and the format and time limitations of this portion of the test.
You can take the ACT throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada during February, April, June, July, September, October, and December. You'll want to give yourself plenty of time to prepare, so take the dates into consideration and plan ahead when scheduling your study sessions.
The ACT is one of the most important tests you will take, and you deserve professional guidance as you prepare for it. Continue reading to learn more about what is on the Reading section of the ACT, how it is scored, and how working with a private tutor can help you prepare for this high-stakes exam.
What is the ACT?
The ACT is one of the most popular college admissions exams in the country. Admissions officials from universities may consider your ACT score as one of the determining factors in the admissions process. There are four required sections of the test; English, Reading, Mathematics, and Science. An optional Writing section can be included, and some colleges you want to apply to may even require it, but it is not considered as part of your final composite score.
What is the format of the Reading section of the ACT?
You will have 35 minutes to answer 40 multiple choice questions for the Reading Section of the ACT.
The Reading portion of the ACT is made of four sections. Three of these have long passages, and the remaining sections have two shorter reading selections. All of the reading material is similar to what you will encounter during your freshman year at college.
The sections that have two shorter reading selections may require you to pull information from both passages to answer some of the questions. The ability to perform this type of information synthesis is something you can work on developing with ACT Reading tutors.
Some of the other skills you will need to be proficient with for the Reading section of the ACT include summarizing information accurately, reading and understanding different types of texts, drawing logical conclusions from data, understanding individuals words and phrases, author's tone, finding supporting evidence, and evaluating the validity of information.
While ACT Reading tutoring can certainly cover any of the skills above, it is not limited to these. Your private instructor can work with you on any reading skills you may be struggling with or wish to refine.
How is the ACT scored?
The scoring range for the Reading section of the ACT is between 1 and 36 with an average score for this portion of the test being a 21. Unfortunately, most colleges expect students to score much higher. Many top universities require applicants to have a composite score over 30. This means if you want to get into your favorite college, you may need to do much better than average.
The Reading score is comprised of three content areas; Key Ideas and Details, Craft and Structure, and Integration of Knowledge and Ideas. However, these three content areas are not equally weighted.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas is between 13 and 18 percent of the total score. These questions may require you to differentiate between opinions and facts, analyze arguments, and evaluate evidence and reasoning from different sources.
Craft and Structure are between 25 and 30 percent of the entire score. These questions may ask you to analyze the word choice of an author, discern phrase and word meanings, analyze the point of view of a character, interpret the author's point of view, and differentiate between perspectives.
Key Ideas and Details is between 55 and 60 percent of the entire score. These questions may ask you to identify key themes and central ideas. You may need to draw inferences or conclusions and you will need to be able to summarize information and ideas. You may also need to understand cause and effect, sequential relationships, and comparative relationships.
ACT Reading tutors know how these components of the exam are weighted and can help steer you towards working to develop the skills that will have the greatest impact on your score first. They can also help you work on improving your time management skills so you can maximize the limited amount of time you have for this section of the ACT.
How can working with an ACT Reading tutor help me prepare?
The ACT is supposed to evaluate how well prepared a student is for their first year in college. The general assumption is that students will have been taught all they need to do throughout their academic career. Unfortunately, this is often not the case. For a variety of reasons, students can miss mastering key skills. Even students with higher GPAs may have slight to moderate deficiencies that can show up on the day of testing.
One of the interesting things about the Reading section of the ACT is that it does not rely on rote memorization. You don't need to remember specific formulas or sets of data to navigate this section of the exam successfully. This portion of the test measures your ability to skillfully read and decode information in written form and apply that understanding to the questions being asked. Working with an ACT Reading tutor allows you to build the individual skills that will help you work to process the information presented during the test more effectively.
If you're not sure you're prepared to reach your scoring goals, sessions with a private instructor can help you work to rectify the situation. The skills you develop in preparation of the ACT will be beneficial long after the day of the test. These skills will play a crucial role in your ability to integrate into college classes, which is why they are tested so thoroughly. Without these skills, all of the individual courses you take in college will be more difficult.
When reading the vast quantities of data you will be required to review as part of your college education, you must be able to quickly identify the main point and move through textbooks, tests, and assignments without becoming bogged down by irrelevant information.
How is ACT Reading tutoring different from working in a class?
One of the reasons many students haven't mastered all of the skills evaluated on the Reading section of the ACT by the time they are approaching graduation has a lot to do with the differences found between a typical classroom and private instruction. In a standard classroom, teachers have to move at a fixed pace to cover state-mandated curriculum centered on individual benchmarks that teach specific skills. If you happened to miss mastering some of these skills, you might not get an adequate opportunity in future years to do so. Since most academic skills build upon one another, this can cause a cascade effect that ultimately means that some skills are never fully developed.
When you work with a personal instructor, their full focus is on you. They can take the time to get to learn about your educational and ACT scoring goals, your learning style, and your academic strengths and weaknesses. They can use this information to create a personalized curriculum that can pivot and change as you improve in key areas. Each of your sessions will focus only on topics and skills that you need to work on rather than a generalized curriculum that covers concepts you may already be adequately familiar with.
You can choose to connect with a private instructor in-person or online. Both options offer the same learning environment and benefits. The main difference between the two is that the face-to-face interaction in person is in close physical proximity and online it occurs in a secure digital learning environment.
When you work with your instructor via our Live Learning Platform, you will have greater scheduling flexibility and access to a larger pool of instructors. If you limit your search to individuals near your physical location you may have fewer scheduling options. Since the ACT is a national exam, there are skilled instructors located all over the country. You can easily connect with those in different time zones, which can make it easier to accommodate sessions very early in the morning or later in the evening.
How can I get started with ACT Reading tutoring?
Varsity Tutors makes it easy to connect with highly qualified ACT Reading tutors. Whether you want a comprehensive review of the reading skills covered on the ACT or you want to narrowly focus on a few problem areas, a skilled private instructor can help you work on your learning goals. If you're ready to get started with ACT Reading tutoring, contact Varsity Tutors today.
