Yes, the discrepancy where there hadn’t been one is what concerns me.
I didn’t want to get into her personal business, but she was very ill in middle school and missed huge swaths of instruction. The pandemic/virtual instruction hit right as she was starting to return to school. She has come out of her illness with learning challenges she didn’t have when she was younger. She improves every year, so I never really know what we are working with.
In both Geometry Honors and Algebra 2 Honors , she had an F for the first half of the year. Work turned in later, a generous retake policy, and some pandemic grade inflation are what got her to a B+ in Geometry and a B- (with $3K in tutoring) in Algebra 2.
In IB Math, she is holding her own vs her classmates, but they are all struggling. On the first version of each test, most people fail, with scores as low as 12. There’s a ton of extra work required for the retake, and then DD does ok (sometimes well) on it. Retake grades are capped at 86, even if you get a perfect score, but the whole system covers up how much kids aren’t learning to begin with (to me).
So yes, DD has a B in math, but that doesn’t give me confidence in her skills. She often needs online tutoring to get through homework. To me, the much lower math score says her foundation isn’t there. She’s is starting to adopt a “math is hard, I am dumb” attitude, and I feel she needs some sort of support here.
She’s very proud of her verbal score and has shaky self esteem - I don’t want to have to tell her next year that she should go test optional. For some kids, it won’t matter, but for her, it would reinforce some bad feelings about herself.
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So to sum up - lots of great advice here. I’m 
on board with “everyone needs a strong math foundation.”
D24 has some challenges that are unique to her and some that are common with kids who had one full year of virtual high school.
A 190 point spread, when there hadn’t been much of a spread at all through 7th grade, says to me that something is going on beyond “not everyone is a math genius.”
Thanks, all, for your thoughts and feedback.
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One of the kids was desperate to win a scholarship that required an SAT. At 12 he took all 11 of those Kahn SAT tests plus workbooks etc. it is definitely possible to raise scores significantly just by repetition and practice.
Did he check which types of problems he got wrong most often to find out where doing additional preparation would give the most benefit?
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I think that this is a very good thing to think about.
One daughter used a tutor. They gave her a practice test to see exactly this – what areas were the ones where she needed the most practice. Then they focused their effort where it would matter the most. It only required a few sessions (perhaps 3 or 4?) and did seem to make her more confident heading into the SAT. We used a very small local company (I think that they have a total of 3 or 4 employees for the entire company).
Of course there are also some very good test optional schools and some that do not consider the SAT/ACT at all.
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Yes. He reviewed every problem. Some of the math he simply didn’t know and wasn’t going to learn in time. So he learned to spot anything he wasn’t going to “win” and not waste time with it. He was also able to pick up speed, see common types of questions, and pick up tricks, etc.
Ironically, we found out later he has a significant gap in processing speed compared to all other parts of his brain but working like a mule for something he really wanted allowed him to conquer standardized testing.
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In reading your story, what struck me was: 1) her learning spread has changed; 2) this has been impacted by both health and virtual learning considerations; 3) her math foundation is shaky due to these considerations; 4) she has a processing speed that currently is slower, and has general school accommodations that take that into account - but not test accommodations; 5) her self-esteem is currently, as you describe, somewhat “shaky”.
In synthesizing the thread, I’d say that she is a student with clear interests in one area, and a shaky math foundation in the other. A tutor will help her in establishing a stronger math foundation for A) current school work; B) upcoming ACT/SAT potential testing; C) life and the working world.
Explain to her that many parents have children who also are in similar positions - health issues (or not) with kids who did not do well with virtual instruction. She shares similar struggles to many other students, so she should not let her PSAT score define her.
The issue is what to do moving forward. The PSAT is meant to be an early testing diagnostic in many ways, so this is good information to have. Get that tutor so that she can develop confidence in her skills - again, for her course, and upcoming testing, and for life.
What is incredibly important is to understand who she is as a student, and to pick schools that suit her abilities accordingly. Many schools are difficult for full-health, driven students. So find potential schools that will be the right kind of learning environment for her.
Who she is in college doesn’t define who she is in life - but she shouldn’t feel trapped to attend some “impressive” college that doesn’t suit her current learning style and learning needs. She will have lots of physical and mental health growth in the next few years - focus on meeting those needs, for both short and long-terms considerations that are tailored to her, and that’s probably the best way to honor her needs.
You’ve got this. Good luck!
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