Using HSPT Practice Test Scores to Track Progress and Set Goals

Desiring an excellent score on the HSPT is a great goal, especially if you hope to get into the Catholic High School of your choice. Yet, don’t be discouraged if you don’t know how to get there—we’ve got a roadmap! For any goal you wish to achieve, tracking progress is a viable way to see the payoff of your effort over time, reinforcing the positive change you have made thus far and directing your next steps. In this blog, we’ll show you how to use your HSPT Practice Test Scores to inform your study efforts. As always, Peterson’s is here to make the most of those study sessions! Access our 3 full-length HSPT practice tests, a diagnostic test, 1192 HSPT practice questions, 17 video lessons, 34 flashcard sets, and 20 interactives through our online HSPT course. 

Why Track Your HSPT Practice Test Scores?

• Identify Strengths and Weaknesses—Scores on practice tests can help you see where you excel and where you need more practice within the reading, language skills, mathematics, quantitative skills, verbal, and optional science sections. You may be strong in some areas and need a little support in others.
• Measure Improvement Over Time—Seeing scores increase over multiple practice tests can be reassuring and motivate you to continue studying. When you’ve got traction on reaching your goal, you’ll be more likely to take the following steps to conquer it.
• Set Targeted Goals—Scores can guide goal-setting for specific sections or skills, making study time more effective by knowing which skills to fortify.

How to Analyze HSPT Practice Test Scores

• Break Down HSPT Practice Test Scores by Section—Review each section: Verbal Skills, Quantitative Skills, Reading, Math, and Language, and look at individual section scores to pinpoint strengths and areas for growth.

• Review Incorrect Answers—Analyzing incorrect answers carefully to understand common mistakes caused by a lack of knowledge or test-taking errors.

• Note Timing Issues—Track the time spent on each section to identify pacing issues, especially if you consistently run out of time.

Setting SMART Goals Based on Practice Test Scores

Harnessing the power of SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) will benefit test-taking and apply to the rest of your life, no matter the achievement. SMART goals allow you to get specific and granular about what you want to achieve, when, and how you plan to go about it.

Examples of SMART Goals:

• Specific: “Improve math section score by 5 points.”
• Measurable: “Score at least 80% on all vocabulary questions.”
• Achievable: “Increase reading section score by focusing on inference questions.”
• Relevant: “Focus on quantitative reasoning, as it’s my lowest-scoring section.”
• Time-bound: “Achieve my target score within the next two weeks.”

An example of an entirely crafted SMART goal would be to ”improve my math section score by 5 points, as it’s my lowest score, and do so by November 21st.”

Break down the ultimate goal into smaller, achievable targets to track incremental progress—this approach can help prevent burnout and build confidence.

Use Practice Test Scores to Track Progress

Create a Progress Chart—Record scores from each practice test using a chart or a spreadsheet—helping you see your progress visually over time. 

Adjusting Study Strategies Based on Progress

• Reevaluate Weak Areas—Focus your study sessions on consistently challenging areas, using targeted practice resources or tutoring if needed. Peterson’s 3- and 6-month subscriptions give you access to a live tutor.

• Shift Focus if Necessary—Adjust your study priorities if you consistently do well in certain sections and struggle in others.

• Celebrate Milestones—Celebrate small wins to maintain motivation, like achieving a target score in a single section.

Preparing for Test Day with Confidence

• Look at Final Practice Test Scores—Take a full-length, timed practice test before the HSPT to get a snapshot of your final score. Full-length HSPT practice tests are available through Peterson’s.

• Reflect on Improvements—Review your progress to build confidence and feel ready for test day. Seeing your progress over time can help bolster your confidence and set you up for success.

• Set a Final Score Goal—Reset your score goal for test day based on recent practice test performance. If you didn’t study enough to achieve the score you are after, let this be a lesson to inform future tests by preparing yourself well in advance with a test prep course. You’ve got many more tests ahead of you! Each is an opportunity to open doors to your future.

Practice Test Questions

Here are a few free HSPT practice test questions based on each section so that you can familiarize yourself with the formatting and types of questions that will appear on the HSPT exam.

Reading 

Refer to the following passage:
The dark and the sea are full of dangers to the fishermen of Norway. A whale might come and destroy the floating chain of corks that edges the nets, break it, and carry it off. Or a storm might come suddenly, unexpectedly, out of the night. The sea seems to turn somersaults. It opens and closes immense caverns with terrible clashes, chasing boats and fishermen who must flee from their nets and the expected catch. Then the fishermen might lift their nets as empty as they set them. At other times, the herring might come in such masses that the lines break from the weight when lifted, and the fishermen must return home empty-handed, without line, nets, or herring.

But often the nets are full of herring that shine and glisten like silver. Once in a while, a couple of fishermen will venture in their boats along the net lines to see whether the herring are coming, and when the corks begin to bob and jerk as if something were hitting the nets to which they are attached, they then know that the herring are there. The nets are being filled, and all the fishermen sit in quiet excitement. They dare only to whisper to each other, afraid to disturb, and quite overcome by the overwhelming generosity of the sea. Eyes shine with happy anticipation; hands are folded in thanks. Then muscles strain with power. It is as though the strength of the body has doubled. They can work day and night without thoughts of weariness. They need neither food nor rest; the thought of success keeps their vigor up almost endlessly. They will take food and rest when it is all over.

Question: Which is the best title for this passage?

1. “Hard Work in Norway”
2. “The Perils and Rewards of Fishing”
3. “Risky Business”
4. “The Generosity of the Sea”

Language Skills

Directions: Look for errors in capitalization, punctuation, spelling, or usage. Mark the answer choice that contains the error. If you find no mistakes, mark D on your answer sheet.

1. Does anyone know what’s being served for lunch in the cafeteria today?
2. Katora was the first to finish the marathon; Shana was the runner-up.
3. The nearest gas station, in Pinedale, also sells coffee and hot dogs.
4. (No mistakes)

Mathematics 

The square root of 198 is between

1. 98 and 100
2. 90 and 100
3. 19 and 20
4. 14 and 15

Quantitative Skills 

What number is 11 more than 5 squared?

1. 1
2. 14
3. 21
4. 36

Verbal

Mollify means the opposite of

1. Gladden.
2. Aggravate.
3. Shrink.
4. Soften.

Find answers to these questions at the end of this article.

Sum-Up

Use HSPT practice test scores to identify strengths and weaknesses, measure Improvement over time, and set targeted goals to help you achieve the HSPT test score you want. Improving your practice test scores is a gradual process. Aim for growth instead of perfection—trust your preparation and confidently approach your HSPT test day. 

Reading

The correct answer is 2. 

The first paragraph speaks of the perils of fishing; the second talks about its rewards.

Language

The correct answer is 4. 

There are no mistakes.

Mathematics 

The correct answer is 4. 

First, determine the value of the squared numbers: 142 = 196; 152 = 225. This shows us that the square root of 198 must fall between 14 and 15.

Quantitative

The correct answer is 4. 

5 squared is 25, and 11 more than 25 is 36.

Verbal

The correct answer is 2. 

Mollify means the opposite of aggravate.