The Science of Learning: A Smarter Approach to ACT Prep

How the Science of Learning Actually Improves ACT Scores

(And what students, parents, and teachers should be doing instead)

For as long as I’ve been around ACT prep, the advice has sounded the same:

• Take more practice tests.

• Do more questions

• Grind harder

And on the surface, that advice feels logical. The ACT is a test, so practicing the test should help…right?

But here’s the uncomfortable truth I see every year:

More practice doesn’t automatically lead to higher ACT scores.

(If you’ve been around long enough, you’re probably thinking, “Yes, Ashly, you keep saying this… but what does it mean? Hang in there, and I will show you.)

In fact, for many students, it leads to burnout, frustration, and that awful feeling of being “stuck” at the same score no matter how much they work.

I’ve watched students take test after test, highlight every grammar rule, complete stacks of math problems — and still walk out of the ACT saying, “That felt nothing like what I practiced.” I’ve watched brilliant, capable students with excellent grades sink when they can’t successfully reach the goal they have set for themselves. I’ve had students attend classes or tutoring sessions religiously, only to tell me that their scores didn’t improve. 

So what’s going wrong?

The problem isn’t effort. The problem is where that effort is being directed.

And that’s where the Science of Learning comes in.

The Real Problem With Traditional ACT Prep

Most ACT prep follows a pretty predictable formula:

• Cram a lot of material in a short amount of time

• Take repeated full-length practice tests

• Review by re-reading notes, highlighting, or watching explanations

These strategies feel productive. Students are busy. Parents see hours logged. Teachers see work completed. But busy doesn’t always mean effective. Students are checking the wrong boxes. 

What I see instead is this:

• Students recognize answers without really understanding why (or even more so, they know their answer is wrong, but they don’t know why)

• Scores bounce around from test to test because it’s luck of the draw

• Skills look solid one week and disappear the next

• Students peak too early and lose that stamina long before test day

That’s not a motivation problem. That’s a learning problem.

And cognitive science explains precisely why this happens.

What the Science of Learning Actually Says

The Science of Learning comes from decades of research in cognitive psychology studying how the brain encodes, stores, and retrieves information.

One of its most important conclusions is simple — and a little uncomfortable:

Learning is not measured by how familiar something feels; It’s measured by how well a student can retrieve it later.

In other words, if a student can’t pull a skill out of their brain under pressure, with a clock ticking, on a mixed-skill test like the ACT,  then they don’t really own that skill.

And that matters a lot on a test where:

• Every section is timed

• Skills are mixed

• Anxiety is real

• There’s no partial credit

The ACT doesn’t reward familiarity, but it does reward retrieval.

The Science of Learning Principles That Actually Raise ACT Scores

1. Retrieval Practice (The Game-Changer)

Real learning happens when students try to recall information — not when they re-read it.

That means effective ACT prep looks like this:

• Students attempt ACT-style questions before seeing explanations

• They can explain why an answer works based on prior knowledge, and not just which one is correct

• Wrong answers get analyzed for misconceptions and patterns instead of being erased and forgotten

Retrieval practice is powerful because it:

• Builds speed and accuracy

• Strengthens long-term memory

• Reduces test anxiety by making recall feel familiar

The ACT is a retrieval test. Prep should be too.

2. Spaced Practice (Why Cramming Backfires)

Cramming creates short-term performance, not long-term learning.

It’s why students can ace a practice test on Saturday and then forget half the content by the following weekend.

Effective ACT prep spaces learning out:

• Students revisit grammar rules, math concepts, and reading strategies over weeks

• Skills are intentionally cycled instead of “covered and checked off the list”

• Students are allowed to forget a little before relearning (and even more importantly, are led through the process of understanding what they forgot to reclaim the lost skills)

Spacing out learning matters because ACT Prep isn’t a sprint; it’s a marathon. 

Spacing:

• Prevents burnout

• Keeps skills sharp from one testing period to another

• Helps students peak on test day, not before

3. Interleaving (Practicing the Way the ACT Actually Works)

The ACT never says, “This is a comma question,” or “This is a system of equations problem,” yet when we prep students, we often teach ACT skills in isolation. 

On the ACT, students must be able to switch gears between different skills and determine what a question is asking before attempting an answer.

Interleaving helps by:

• Mixing question types instead of practicing one skill at a time

• Combining grammar and rhetoric in English

• Blending algebra, geometry, and reasoning in Math (New skills AND old skills)

This trains students to recognize which tool to use, and not just repeat a pattern, because the pattern will not always be the same. 

That’s exactly what the ACT demands.

4. Desirable Difficulty (Why Struggle Is a Good Sign)

One of the hardest mindset shifts for students (and adults) is this:

Struggle is not failure. It’s evidence that learning is happening.

When prep is too easy — or overly scaffolded — students feel confident but don’t retain much.

Effective ACT prep:

• Lets students attempt questions before instruction

• Encourages productive struggle

• Avoids jumping to the answer too quickly

This is huge for:

• ACT Reading stamina

• ACT Science reasoning

• Staying calm when questions feel unfamiliar

The goal isn’t comfort. The goal is resilience.

5. Feedback That Fuels Growth

Not all feedback helps.

“That’s wrong. A is correct” doesn’t move scores.

Effective feedback:

• Explains why an answer is correct

• Highlights common ACT traps

• Forces reflection: What will I do differently next time?

Reflection and analysis turn mistakes into assets instead of confidence killers, and improve accuracy far faster than taking test after test ever could.

So What Does This Mean for ACT Prep?

High scores don’t come from:

• Endless practice tests

• Memorizing shortcuts

• Grinding harder and harder

High scores come from:

• Intentional practice

• Strategic struggle

• Learning that actually sticks

The Science of Learning shifts ACT prep from quantity to quality — and that’s where real growth happens.

What’s Coming Next

In the posts ahead, we’ll dig deeper into:

• How retrieval practice boosts ACT scores and how to implement it effectively

• Why students peak too early and how to prevent it

• What ACT Science really tests (and why background knowledge matters less than you think)

• How parents can tell if ACT prep is actually working

• What practical ACT study plans actually look like and how to use your prep time wisely

Final Thought

Better practice beats more practice. Every. Single. Time.

If ACT prep hasn’t worked before, it’s usually less about a student’s capability and more about the practice not being aligned with how learning actually works.

And the good news?

That’s fixable.