What is the Acosta Act Shortcourse and Who is Dr. Lanny Acosta?


The Acosta Guided Tour to ACT Success is the only course actually written, developed and taught by the author himself. I have carefully developed this course over the course of 25 years of helping students prepare for the ACT and I know how to help students understand the skills and information needed to succeed on the ACT.

My course does what all the others fail to do - it actually teaches students the real fundamentals ofReading, Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics, Biology and English Grammar. My Doctoral research was on ACT preparation and I have personally taught thousands of students ACT prep in the last 25 years. I know how to teach and what to teach.

My years of success helping students prepare for the ACT exam is based on one simple idea - the only way to improve your ACT score is to increase your usable knowledge and understanding of Reading, Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics, Biology and English Grammar.

Most programs boast of using only real ACT materials. Actually, that is their weakness.

My materials are designed to "teach" not just "test". That difference in philosophy is a crucial factor in changing what my students know, what they understand, and the base of knowledge they can rely on to do their best on an ACT exam. My course teaches students to use clear logical thought, not guessing games.

Compare the content of my course to the content of my competitors. They teach no science and make mathematics solutions complex and difficult. My course is a powerful teaching tool that makes math and science easier by teaching the fundamental skills that the ACT is designed to test as well as the logical thought process required to attack the exam and produce your best results.

If you are serious about improving your ACT score, willing to work hard and learn more about the fundamentals tested on the ACT exam, go no further.

Who is Dr. Lanny Acosta?

   Dr. Lanny Acosta, author and creator of the Acosta ACT Short-course, did his doctoral research on ACT prep techniques.
He is a published author and has been teaching ACT Prep Courses since 1985.
Formerly the principal at St. John High School and Superintendent of Schools for the Catholic Diocese of Biloxi, Dr. Acosta has taught his ACT Short-course in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.
He has even taught his classes at the Mississippi and Alabama Schools for Math and Science.
Research shows that 82% of his students improve their composite score on the ACT exam by an average of 2.2 points.
A graduate of Southeastern Louisiana University and the University of Southern Mississippi, Dr. Acosta enjoyed working for a number of years as a Reliability Engineer for North American Rockwell on the Saturn I program and later went into education as a teacher, principal and superintendent.
Now retired, Dr. Acosta is devoting much of his time to study and ACT course development.    

Personal Resume:
         Lanny J. Acosta EdD
         12446 Windance Drive
         Gulfport, Ms.  39503
         228-831-1928
 

EDUCATION:
Earned Doctorate in Education in 1986, University of Southern Mississippi 
Doctoral Dissertation-A Study of Computer Assisted ACT Preparation
Masters Degree in Education in 1971, University of Southern Mississippi
     Bachelor of Science Degree in Science in 1964, Southeastern
     Louisiana College
 

PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS:
    
April 1992–Was presenter at the NCEA conference in New Orleans, topic was modern software for school administration
July 1990–Florida Panhandle Education Consortium–Presented Software developed for Instructional Management.
     December 1989–Atlanta–Southern Association of Colleges and
Schools.  Made a presentation of software approach for Instructional Management Systems.  Placed system in 27 school districts in Southeastern United States after presentation.
     April 1989–Presented a two-day workshop on 5 educational systems that I have copyrighted to Delta State.
     December 1988–Atlanta–Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.  Presented system of Computer Assisted Instruction at their annual meeting.
     “A Comparison of Textbook and Microcomputer Instruction in for the ACT”, Journal of Computer Based Instruction, vol. 15, Number 3, summer 1988.
1985,87,96–Copyrighted and Published “Acosta ACT Short-course” which includes a booklet, 6 hour video and computer software. 
 

PROGRAMMING EXPERIENCE:                                         
1996 to present–Developing and marketing new school management software plus installing networked computer systems, designing new business programs and creating web pages for businesses.
 

1990–Completed development of TEAMS–An advanced education software system designed to do most administrative tasks at secondary or elementary school. Based upon Advanced Revelation Technology
and Multitasking.  Networked system using Ethernet cabling.
Began marketing in December 1990.
 

1986–Wrote under private contract a program to calculate the power
of the implant to be used in corneal implant surgery.  Designed
for IBM PC’s or compatibles.
 

1985-1989–Copyrighted programs for ACT preparation, school, payroll, computer assisted learning, attendance reporting and others.
 

1985–Developed and installed comprehensive Medical Office system.  Custom designed for Ophthalmologist and IBM PC.
 

1985–Under private contract, developed comprehensive Employee and Staff Development program for use on IBM compatible PC’s. The program statistically analyzed performance data on 36 criteria from as many as 100 different evaluators.  (For local bank). Designed for IBM PC’s and compatibles.
 

Work Experience:  Education
 

Retired on January 11, 2005
 
July 1998 to January 2005:  Superintendent of Schools for the Catholic Diocese of Biloxi.  Responsible for the 19 Catholic Schools in the Diocese.
             
July 1976 to June 1998: Principal at St. John High School in Gulfport.  At St. John, I have worked to establish a Development Program that has resulted in the establishment of an Endowment currently with $190,000 principal, plus approximately $500,000 of Insurance policies and $50,000 of real property.  I have secured many substantial grants and donations for the school. 
1974-1976:  Assistant Superintendent and High School Principal,
     Newton High School.
1972-1974:  Assistant Principal, Pascagoula High School.
1971-1972:  Teacher, Chemistry and Biology, Picayune High School.
1970-1971:  Teacher, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology, Ridgewood High School.
 

Work experience:  Engineering/Data Processing
 

1965-1970:  Employed by North American Rockwell at the Test Facility as a Reliability Engineer.  My responsibilities included the verification and functional failure analysis of all flight vehicle anomalies.  I had the opportunity to serve as the Reliability Engineering representative on the Static Firing team for nine of the flight boosters, including the booster used on the first moon landing and received one of the first “Snoopy” awards for my work on the POGO effect problem with space vehicles.  During my final years with North American Aviation, I served in the capacity of Project Engineer for the “Certification of Flight Worthiness” which was the final NASA contractual buy-off of the flight vehicle.
 

1964-1965:  Employed by Chrysler Corporation Space Division at the Michoud Assembly Facility as an EDP Analyst in their Engineering Data Center.