College Algebra CLEP

The College Algebra CLEP exam covers material that is often taught in a one-semester college course. High School Algebra 2 covers that same material, but stretches it across a full year.

Students can accelerate their first two years of college by using CLEP as a final exam to the courses they are already studying in high school.

Why Your Student Should Take the College Algebra CLEP

He is likely already studying Algebra 2 for high school credit.
College credit is often awarded for the equivalent Gen Ed math course.
Some liberal arts college degrees require only 3 math credits. Done!
College’s may use it as a placement indicator
If *just* elective credits are awarded, refer to reason #1.
When should your student NOT take this exam? If he or she is pursuing a math-oriented major and the required credits begin with Calculus. The earning power of these credits would be limited.

5 Steps to Exam Prep

1. Familiarize yourself with the exam content.

2. Include exam-specific resources in your student’s high school studies. While this is typically the advice I give, Algebra 2 is, well, math. Book publishers will have stylistic differences, but the course content is similar. For this reason, incorporating test-specific knowledge into the high school course isn’t required. Students should complete their HS course with gusto!

3. Take a practice exam. This will help identify areas of mastery and highlight areas that students may need to review.

4. Study your wrong answers. Limiting review to targeted areas is a proven study technique that helps students shorten the review process. Use these quality online review resources to help fill in the learning gaps: resources compiled by the College Board, KhanAcademy.org, MathTV.com and ModernStates.org (free CLEP Voucher available).

Repeat: The process of test and targeted review should take about 3-4 weeks. Students should strive to achieve 60% on at least two practice exams before scheduling the official test.

5. Schedule and take the test! Test scores are “banked” for 20 years with the College Board. Note the instructions for using the online calculator that is integrated into the test. Students are not allowed to bring their own.

Congratulations! Plan Your Lunch Date!

When Should You Hire a Tutor?

Math can be a difficult subject for some students. Lack of confidence can be a hurdle, as are effort and practiced study habits. If your student is an average or above learner, yet struggles with math, I would recommend being evaluated by a quality math tutor. Sometimes just being accountable to someone for regular check-ins can help motivate a student to work through their difficulties.

Math success is important because the story we tell ourselves at the time of graduation is the one we tell the rest of our lives. Many adults will carry the lie, “I’m not good in math” through their career.

Not everyone will study advanced math in high school, but every student can be confident in their abilities, no matter the math level they achieve.

Why Your Student Might Be Struggling

When I have tutored high school students for algebra, I have found that very often one of the reasons they are struggling is because they do not have their math facts memorized. Students should have them down cold.
NOTE: The exam contains approximately 60 questions to be answered in 90 minutes.
They should be able to look at 7x=49 and instantly know that x=7. This is important for two reasons. The first is because they shouldn’t be spending too much time working out the arithmetic portions of their problems. If they are, they’ll get frustrated with the more complicated, longer problems and simply quit. The second reason is simply to help avoid “stupid mistakes.” If they’ve forgotten/don’t know that 7×7=49 and somehow think it’s 7×7=54, they’ll end up getting the entire problem wrong. If you have a student who is having trouble with algebra or higher maths, stop and make sure this isn’t contributing to his struggles.
For concepts that need extra help, Khan Academy has a large selection of videos. I also like MathTV.com. One of the neat things about Math TV is they have different people explaining the same concept, so if you watch one video and are still not sure, you can watch another and hear it explained in a different manner that might make more sense to you.
~Jennifer homeschoolcollegeusa.com
Reprinted with permission

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