Dr. Gary Gruber, Leading Expert on the SAT, Test-Taking, and Critical-Thinking Skills, Brings His Exclusive Methods to the ACT
For more than 30 years, Dr. Gary Gruber (www.drgarygruber.com) has been the leading authority on testing and test preparation. His “Gruber Method” has helped thousands of students develop critical-thinking skills, dramatically boosting their scores on standardized tests. This January, he takes his exclusive methods to helping students with the fastest rising test on the market: the ACT.
In 2009, 1.48 million U.S. high school graduates took the ACT – a 4% increase since 2008 and a 19% increase since 2005 [ACT.org]. The number of students taking the ACT is increasing and today’s students are looking for practical advice on how to work with the test instead of fight it.
In Gruber’s Complete ACT Guide 2010 (9781402226625, January 2010), Dr. Gruber helps students by taking them through a personal study plan that shows them their strengths and weaknesses through a revolutionary approach—evaluating not just what answer the student chose, but why they chose it. Once the students know this, they can focus their studies on the areas that will boost their scores.
Featuring three full-length practice tests, Gruber's Complete ACT Guide has all the tools students need, including targeted sections on the English, math, reading, science, and writing sections, plus strategies derived from understanding how the questions were written.
Many other ACT programs try to use “quick fix” methods or subscribe to memorization. These “quick fix” methods can be detrimental to effective preparation because of the ACT designers constantly change questions to present “gimmick” approaches.
In more than 30 years of writing preparation books for standardized tests such as the SAT and ACT, Dr. Gruber has developed and honed the critical-thinking skills and strategies that are based on all standardized tests’ construction. So, while his method immediately improves your performance on the ACT, it also provides you with the confidence to tackle problems in all areas of study for the rest of your life.
Dr. Gruber’s Top Tips Students Must Do to Work With the ACT:
There is no penalty for wrong answers so test takers should always guess if you can’t answer the question.
Gruber urges test takers to take an administered actual ACT for practice, but only if you will learn from your mistakes, especially since you can get your exam back for some dates of the exam. Taking the ACT merely for its own sake is a waste of time and will reinforce bad methods and habits.
Don’t use “quick fix” methods or subscribe only to rote memorization. Many quick fix methods do not work on many questions and rote memorization methods do not enable test takers to answer a variety of questions that appear in the ACT exam. Learn the Critical Thinking Strategies.
Test takers must be familiar with the directions to the various items on the ACT before testing day. Take as many practice tests as possible.
About Dr. Gary Gruber
Dr. Gruber is recognized nationally as the leading expert on standardized tests and originator and developer of the critical-thinking skills necessary for use on standardized tests. It is said that no one in the nation is better at assessing the thinking patterns of “how” a person answers questions and providing the mechanism to improve the faulty thinking approaches. His SAT score improvements with students have been documented to be the highest in the nation.
Dr. Gruber’s unique methods have been used by Public Television(PBS),Sylvan Learning Centers, and Grolier’s Encyclopedia, and are being used by school districtsthroughout the country, in homes and workplaces across the nation, and by a host of other entities. Most recently he has trained the University of California’s teachers to create programs for specific critical-thinking and problem-solving skills for the minority programs.
Dr. Gruber (doctorate in physics) has published more than 30 books with major publishers on test-taking and critical-thinking methods, with over 7 million copies sold. (At one point, three of his books were listed among the 30 top-selling trade paperback books in the nation.)
Dr. Gruber’s quest started in fifth grade when he received a 90IQ (below normal) on an IQ test and became determined to find out what made up intelligence. He subsequently developed powerful thinking strategies which are now used by millions. Because of Gruber’s tenacity, enjoyment, and creativity in solving problems and using the strategies he has developed and honed for years, the Washington Post has recently called him “the super genius.”
Dr. Gruber’s work is consistently featured on numerous national television programs including Good Morning America, The Today Show, NBC Nightly News, and in newspapers and magazines throughout the country. One of his earlier SAT books, Gruber’s Inside Strategies for the SAT,was rated bythe Washington Post as the best commercialSATbook and “the only book that would help a test-taker.” Dr. Gruber also writes syndicated newspaper articles regularly on the SAT, test taking, creativity and intelligence, (syndication by the Los AngelesTimes Syndicate,the New YorkTimes Syndicate,Universal Press Syndicate, and Gannett News Service).
