Nicole Oringer, Partner and College Counselor of Ivy Education Services, recently alerted us to inappropriate requests at test sites in NJ during the Feb ACT administration to have students clear their calculators of RAM memory. 1

This request clearly goes against existing policy of the ACT: https://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act/taking-the-test/calculator-policy.html " target="_blank">https://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act/taking-the-test/calculator-policy.html 

This request would also go against existing policy of the SAT: https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/taking-the-test/calculator-policy.html" target="_blank">http://https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/taking-the-test/calculator-policy.html 

I frequently encourage my students to store strategies and formulas, some executable and some look-ups, under the PRGM key on their calculators. These look-ups are primarily helpful as a student practices and prepares for a real test. However, they can also be very useful when taking a real test – whether it is the ACT, the SAT, or the SAT math subject tests.

If you are a student taking an upcoming test, I recommend that you arm yourself with protection against such an inappropriate proctoring request by printing out one of these letters provided by Ivy Education and bringing it with you to the test site:

For the ACT -- https://ivyed.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/CalculatorLetter2017.pdf" target="_blank">http://https://ivyed.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/CalculatorLetter2017.pdf

And for the SAT – https://ivyed.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/CalculatorLetter2017SAT.pdf" target="_blank">http://https://ivyed.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/CalculatorLetter2017SAT.pdf

It is always good to stay informed, stay alert, and be prepared!

1 https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/calming-calculator-confusion-standardized-tests-nicole-oringer" target="_blank">http://https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/calming-calculator-confusion-standardized-tests-nicole-oringer