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test-prep-strategy

How to Build a School Test Prep Plan That Doesn’t Disrupt Teaching

  • April 7, 2025

Let’s be real: squeezing test prep into an already jam-packed class schedule can feel next to impossible.

“Our No. 1 question is: ‘How am I supposed to fit this in? I have 45 or 50 minutes, and I have all of these skills and standards that I need to teach outside of this,'” Dr. Mya Asberry, Director of Instructional Services at MasteryPrep, said during a recent webinar, drawing on insights from MasteryPrep Professional Development sessions.

The good news? With proper planning and structure, test prep can actually enhance your existing instruction rather than compete with it. Here’s what educators need to know about building an effective strategy for their school or district.

  • Creating a Structured Approach to Test Prep

The first step to building a test prep strategy is to establish a clear structure. At MasteryPrep, we recommend starting by creating a calendar or schedule that aligns college readiness skills with your current curriculum.

  • Plan Ahead with an Alignment Calendar

Start by mapping college readiness standards to your existing scope and sequence. Many of the skills tested on college entrance exams like the ACT, SAT, and TSIA2 align with standards you’re probably already teaching.

For example, when teaching functions in math class, this directly connects to college readiness skills tested on the ACT and SAT, which are easily accessible online. Similarly, reading skills like the author’s purpose, word meaning, and inference also appear on high-stakes assessments.

“You want to plan ahead when it comes to how your test prep calendar is going to look,” Dr. Asberry says. “This could be focused on when standards are introduced, it could be when your students are testing, it could be genre-based.”

Planning this alignment in advance helps you identify natural opportunities to introduce test-specific strategies while teaching your regular curriculum.

“When you plan ahead, you’re not caught off guard as to when you’re going to teach each skill to our students,” Asberry says.

RELATED RESOURCE

Webinar Recording: Merging Test Prep Strategies with Everyday Classroom Teaching

Hear from Dr. Mya Asberry, Director of Instructional Services, about how educators can improve student outcomes without sacrificing valuable classroom time.

Webinar-Mockup-DrMyaAsberry (2)
  • Implement Micro-Practices

Rather than dedicating entire class periods to test prep, MasteryPrep recommends incorporating “micro-practices” throughout your regular instruction. These brief, targeted activities respond to specific classroom situations and create teachable moments about test-taking strategies.

A micro-practice has four key components:

  1. A clear goal that explains the benefit to students
  2. A natural teaching moment that arises from classroom observation
  3. An opener that launches the conversation
  4. A follow-up discussion that helps students create an action plan

For instance, if you notice students leaving answers blank on assessments, this creates a perfect opportunity to discuss why that strategy doesn’t work on standardized tests and how to approach difficult questions instead.

Another tip from Asberry: “Create a teachable moment out of something that’s naturally happening. We don’t have to make it up. This has presented itself to us. So, we’re going to go ahead and talk about how this relates to the ACT and SAT assessment.”

 

  • Use Mini-Lessons for Targeted Practice

As part of your school or district’s test prep strategy, we also recommend implementing mini-lessons—short 5- to 15-minute learning experiences focused on specific skills or strategies.

“As teachers and administrators, we’re well familiar with mini-lessons, but we want to do them in a very targeted way when we’re thinking about college readiness,” Asberry says.

These can be incorporated as:

  • Quick one-question daily warmups (or bell ringers)
  • End-of-class wrap-ups
  • Group practice activities
  • Classroom competitions

By planning these mini-lessons in advance and strategically integrating them into your teaching, you can build test familiarity without sacrificing curriculum time.

"As teachers and administrators, we're well familiar with mini-lessons, but we want to do them in a very targeted way when we're thinking about college readiness."

Dr. Mya Asberry, Director of Instructional Services
  • Harness Data-Driven Goal Setting

An effective test prep strategy should be informed by data. At MasteryPrep, we recommend using previous assessment scores to help students create individual goals and develop personalized plans.

Unlike general classroom instruction, which often focuses on addressing weaknesses, college readiness prep should emphasize building on strengths. As Dr. Asberry explains, “It’s a little bit different for college readiness assessments. You want to focus on students’ areas of strength. Help them focus on their areas of strength.”

This approach allows students to maximize their composite scores by leveraging their strongest subjects while still addressing areas for improvement.

“In many cases, that strong area can outweigh that weak area, and then you get a composite score,” Asberry says. “That is where the students need to be in order to get into the schools of choice.”

  • Devising a Comprehensive Test Prep Strategy

By combining these elements—alignment calendars, micro-practices, mini-lessons, and data-driven goal setting—schools can create a comprehensive test prep strategy that enhances rather than disrupts regular instruction.

The key is intentionality and planning. When test prep becomes an integrated part of your teaching approach rather than an add-on, both everyday instruction and college readiness improve simultaneously.

For school leaders, this means creating structures that support teachers in this integration, providing appropriate resources, and establishing a school-wide approach to college readiness that values both content mastery and test-taking strategy.

With the right planning and implementation, test prep can become a seamless part of your school’s instructional approach, better preparing students for their futures without sacrificing valuable classroom time.

Upcoming Webinar:
Building a Test Prep Strategy That Works for the 2026–27 School Year

Building a clear, sustainable test prep strategy is critical—but it shouldn’t come at the expense of core instruction. As schools prepare for the upcoming academic year, Dr. Mya Asberry, Director of Instructional Services at MasteryPrep, will walk through a practical framework for integrating college readiness into everyday teaching.
Register Now

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