+5-6
Average composite improvement among my ACT students over the past three years
About the instructor
Hi, I'm Adam Lang.
I'm a high school teacher in Kansas City, and I have been teaching test preparation since 2015.
I started taking the ACT seriously for a practical reason. My first score left my first-choice college financially out of reach. I needed two more points to qualify for its competitive scholarship program.
I started working through old tests and paying close attention to why I missed questions. Over time, I began to see patterns in the test and in my own mistakes. I raised my score by four points.
That improvement earned me an invitation to the scholarship competition, where I received more than $100,000 in college scholarships. I later earned another $50,000 in scholarships for my master's degree.
Those four points changed the direction of my life. They opened the door to the college I wanted to attend. I graduated from college debt free and have been able to pursue my master's degree without taking on student debt. That has been an enormous blessing to me and my family. It is also one reason I care so much about helping students understand what their ACT score may mean for their future.
I graduated summa cum laude with honors and was named Teacher of the Year at Augustine School in 2021. I have spent years learning how to explain difficult ideas to high school students. Over the past three years, students in my ACT classes have improved their composite scores by an average of five to six points.
Teaching style
I teach students what to do when they get stuck.
A student may know how to solve a math problem and spend too long trying to make it come together. A strong reader may keep returning to the same paragraph without knowing what to look for. After several difficult questions, a student may begin rushing through questions they could have answered.
These are problems students can learn to handle. In class, we talk plainly about when to move on, what to write down, how to narrow the choices, and how to recover after losing time.
Instructor credentials
Why I'm qualified to teach this course
99th
Percentile ACT score as a high school student
Honors
Graduated summa cum laude with honors
2021
Teacher of the Year at Augustine School, ranked in the top 5 highest achieving schools in the nation by the CLT
Four classes during ACT week
The course concentrates on the mistakes, timing problems, and decisions that are most likely to matter on the upcoming test.
Explanations students can remember
I explain each strategy in concrete terms and give students time to practice it. By Saturday, the process should feel familiar enough to use without a teacher beside them.
Scholarships are part of the conversation
I teach in Kansas City and pay attention to the scholarship programs families here are considering. Scholarship decisions vary by school, but families should know when another point or two may affect the cost of college.
Upcoming classes
Find the class scheduled for your ACT date.
The course meets during the week leading up to each listed ACT. View the schedule, check the remaining seats, and choose the test date your student is preparing for.