A little practice, every day.
Build accuracy and stamina with tougher, original SHSAT-style questions. Each date draws a new mix from a large generated bank and full reading-passage sets.
Make today’s set yours
Ready when you are.
Today’s questions stay the same if you return with the same settings. Signed out, answers and past reviews are not saved after you leave.
Frequent updates: Northstar is being improved often. Browser-saved history may not always carry through site updates, browser cleanup, or device changes. Download a backup in Past reviews and restore it later if needed.
Past reviews
Review finished sets, see your accuracy by skill, and find what to practice next.
Study plan
Choose a test date and daily study time. Your plan will focus on areas to strengthen from saved practice, when available.
Help & strategies
Accessibility
Adjust the reading display for your comfort. These choices are saved in this browser.
Make each set count
- For a full practice, use the 100-question set and give yourself 180 minutes.
- Read each passage once for its central idea and structure, then return to details as questions require.
- For revising and editing, identify the sentence’s subject and purpose before choosing a correction.
- For math, write down what is known, define the unknown, and check that the final answer fits the units.
- Flag uncertain items, skip and return later, then use the review to find patterns in mistakes.
- Use untimed mode to learn a method, then try the same skill under a timer.
This is independent practice inspired by skills assessed on the SHSAT. It is not an official test or a score predictor.
What to expect on the SHSAT
The NYC Public Schools guide describes an ELA section with 50 questions, reading-comprehension and revising/editing passage sets, and a 180-minute test. It also notes that responses can be changed within a passage set before that set is submitted.
Read the official SHSAT preparation guide ↗Passage library & credits
Reading passages marked “Adapted from” are newly written practice retellings based on public-domain novels. The original authors and books are credited with links to Project Gutenberg. These are not verbatim passages and are not official SHSAT texts.
Contact
Have a question, found a mistake, or want to suggest a topic? I’d love to hear from you.
Contact details
Email me with questions, corrections, or suggestions:
Northstar is an independent practice resource and is not affiliated with NYC Public Schools or the SHSAT program. Please don’t send private student information by email.
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Practice works without an account. Signed out, completed sets stay only on screen until you leave. When Google sign-in is configured, past reviews can be saved in this browser under your Google account.
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Use the Google button below to sign in. Your answers and history remain in this browser; they are not sent to Google.
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http://localhost:8000. Double-click start-practice.command to open the page on that local address. This local file itself cannot sign in.