Cheryl Somers, associate professor of educational psychology at Wayne State University, believes it\'s important for students to take the precursor to the ACT college entrance exam, also known as the PLAN test. The test will help seventh-, eighth- and ninth-grade students measure the depth of their academic abilities. \"If you frame it to the child as if the test is truly diagnostic -- to determine how much they know at that point -- and you tell the child you don\'t have explicit expectation for their performance, then in theory, there should be no pressure,\" Somers said regarding the test taking difficulties for students.