All Articles tagged high-school.

Understanding the Value of Tutoring with My Learning Springboard

February 27, 2024 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

Differentiated Instruction

With expertise differentiating for a wide range of learners, our private tutoring and test preparation work with families is designed to meet the needs of neurotypical and neurodiverse learners. Our faculty includes Learning Specialists, Classroom Teachers, Professors, and Subject-Matter Experts with varied backgrounds and cross-training. Moreover, our private tutoring and test preparation services are designed to give families top priority with our Leadership Team through in-person appointments, phone or video conferences, and e-mail.

From Remediation to Acceleration

From “Back To Basics” instruction to “Accelerated and Enrichment Teaching”, our skillful faculty provides direct instruction in person or remotely depending on a family’s preference and geographic location. All tutoring and test preparation efforts benefit from a team-based approach internally in addition to collaboration with outside professionals at a family’s preference. This internal, team-based approach leverages our deep knowledge of curriculum and instructional design, specialized instruction, and educational psychology to consistently create successful outcomes. And all work provides a vehicle for the authentic development of executive function skills provided the intention is set with explicit instruction.

To address skill gaps and/or accelerate instruction, private tutoring is the most effective solution. Meeting once weekly or twice weekly is most typical. High-dosage tutoring is generally defined as intensive 1:1 tutoring at least 3x per week, or for about 50 hours over a semester.

For students with reading and writing challenges needing Orton-Gillingham, Wilson, or PAF curricula in addition to other scaffolded instruction in math and other subject areas, we have this expertise. And for our students who don’t necessarily need this specific instruction, they benefit from our specialized training, too.

Benefits of Tutoring with My Learning Springboard

Direct partnering with Brad Hoffman and Faya Hoffman, the only Board Certified Educational Planners in NYC at the K-12 Level (located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan), and both of whom are Learning Specialists with expertise in Curriculum and Instructional Design.

Notably, Board Certification through AICEP is the highest level of credentialing in the Educational Consulting space. It requires a significant commitment to continuing education and professional development, demonstrated educational leadership, and regular school visits and engagement with school professionals. Re-certification occurs every 5 years, and Brad and Faya were just re-certified this month.

Moreover, Brad is a Literacy Specialist and Elementary Math and Science Specialist; Faya is a Literacy Specialist. In partnership with our faculty, we create a teaching team for each family, and we leverage our deep knowledge of various school settings (including mainstream, specialized, and therapeutic) and curricula in order to offer a unique perspective for strategic planning purposes.

Developing, implementing, and/or managing targeted plans for remediation, acceleration, and test preparation as well as executive function coaching.

Brad and Faya’s collaboration and instructional coaching with faculty members for all private tutoring and test preparation programs.

Unlimited availability for parents, guardians, or caregivers with Brad and Faya, during normal business hours, regarding instructional matters related to tutoring or test preparation programs (scheduling for calls and meetings is required).

Access for families to our integrated services and instruction with our highly-credentialed, skillful, and multidisciplinary faculty in order to meet the diverse needs of each student or siblings within a family.

Teacher access to our Virtual Library of professional resources and curated curricula material.

Collaboration with parents, school faculty, and related service providers per a family’s preference.

Flexibility with in-person or remote instruction as well as teacher choice for each family.

All tutoring and test preparation programs intentionally integrate executive function skill building.

Support with referrals to related service professionals, including psychologists, psychiatrists, speech therapists, OTs, etc.

Review of school report cards and progress reports as they become available quarterly or semesterly for strategic planning purposes.

Initial support with accommodations approval processes and planning (more complex planning efforts and appeals processes require separate, ad hoc consultation).

20% reduction on ad hoc consultation (1-10 hours) while engaged in tutoring and test preparation services, which may be related to planning for parent-teacher conferences, navigating interactions and requests with school administration or classroom teachers, crisis management (e.g. disciplinary action, medical leaves), and strategizing for upcoming processes, such as school transitions or college planning.

Privacy, discretion and confidentiality within our boutique, multidisciplinary educational consulting firm.

Scheduling A Planning Meeting

Whatever your need or wonder may be, please don’t hesitate to contact us. An initial planning meeting is usually the best way to get started. These meetings can be 30, 45, or 60 minutes by Zoom, by phone, or in person per a family’s preference. A single planning meeting allows us to talk more substantively about your family’s specific needs, priorities, and goals so that we can determine possible next steps. We’re committed to developing unique solutions for unique learners!

We look forward to hearing from you!

Warm regards,
Brad Hoffman and Faya Hoffman,
Co-Founders and Learning Concierges, My Learning Springboard

Math Specialists

January 24, 2024

At My Learning Springboard, our Math Specialists and Learning Specialists support students of all ages from preschool through high school and beyond. We focus on developing conceptual understanding, logical reasoning, and problem solving strategies along with strong number sense, mental math skills, and mathematical reasonableness. Moreover, we tailor instruction to the meet the needs of all types of learners, including students with learning challenges, such as ADHD or dyscalculia, and/or anxiety related to math performance.

We help students achieve success by taking an individual’s learning profile into careful consideration in order to differentiate our instructional approach while also choosing materials that complement the existing school program. For younger learners, we typically find success by first introducing concepts concretely, then progressing to pictorial representations, and finally moving into the abstract representation of math problems. We may employ a similar sequence for older learners if they encounter conceptual challenges in more advanced math.

Our Math Specialists often conduct comprehensive math diagnostic assessments at the beginning of our work together in order to fully assess a student’s performance level. We use these types of diagnostic tools when addressing both remediation and acceleration in order to develop an appropriate and targeted instructional plan. Our approach to diagnostic work is differentiated depending on the particular circumstance and purpose.

Our diagnostic tools, preK through 12, are informed by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Principles and Standards, Common Core State Standards, and NYS Next Generation Learning Standards; and we utilize materials and research from known math experts, including Kathy Richardson, Marilyn Burns, and Dr. John A. Van de Walle. Our math work is also informed by the CTP content standards from the Educational Records Bureau (ERB) and IB Standards, as appropriate, for students at schools making use of these assessment tools and/or curricula.

Popular Math Programs

Remediation or Acceleration: preK-5

Counting and Cardinality
Basic Facts and Computation (math fluency), including addition, subtraction, multiplication and division
Number Operations and Algebraic Thinking, including fractions and long division
Measurement and Data (representation and analysis), including graphing
Geometry
Problem Solving and Reasoning

Standards for Mathematical Practice

Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
Model with mathematics.
Use appropriate tools strategically.
Attend to precision.
Look for and make use of structure.
Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

$Math Center Manipulatives$

We also help families to create math centers in their homes. We select age-appropriate math manipulatives and resources that support classroom and tutoring instruction. We also teach parents and/or caregivers how to use these resources more comfortably. Since students are used to accessing these materials in their classrooms, it makes sense to have them available at home when completing homework or exploring mathematical ideas. Materials are divided by primary grades (K-2) and intermediate grades (3-5), and these materials may benefit older learners as well. Having a complete math center in your home is a strategic investment in your child’s math education.

Please contact our office for more information.

What is A Holistic Review For College Admissions?

December 3, 2023 Brad Hoffman

Grappling With College Admissions: Test-Optional Policies And Holistic Reviews

We’re observing that many families are feeling overwhelmed and/or confused by the state of college admissions (e.g. test-optional policies, holistic reviews) and what they should be doing. We’re here to help you make sense of it.

If we had to boil it down to one sentence, we’d say: Do everything within your control from grades 9 to 12 – including standardized test preparation – and cast a wide enough net (12-15 applications).

But unpacking what a holistic review means for your student cannot properly be boiled down to one sentence, and it keeps changing, so here’s quite a lot of information that’s important to carefully consider and digest. Go make an espresso or a cup of tea and settle in!

Common App Research Brief: Application Trends Through November 1, 2023

To better understand the state of college applications, here’s some interesting data recently published by Common App in this research brief dated November 15, 2023. It reveals application trends through November 1, 2023 benchmarked against pre-pandemic norms from the 2019-20 admissions cycle. NOTE: the UC system is NOT part of Common App.

Key Findings:

65% increase in total application volume (3,353,516) to 834 institutions that have been part of the Common App membership since 2019-20 (last application season not affected by Covid).
41% increase in distinct first-year applicants (836,639) planning to enroll for the 2024-25 academic year.
About 68% of domestic applicants (565,045) live in ZIP codes with family incomes above the national median; students early to the application cycle are often targeting Early Decision and Early Action programs.
34% (421,161) of applicants submitted standardized test scores. However, Common App member institutions requiring standardized testing is just 4% in comparison to 55% in 2019-20.
Applications to public members grew more than those to private members since 2019-20 (82% vs. 47%). Growth in applications since 2019-20 was slowest for those most selective institutions (admit rates below 25%) and highest for more selective institutions (admit rates between 50% and 74%).

Demographic Trends:

67% increase for applicants identifying as an underrepresented minority race/ethnicity (URM) in comparison to the 2019-20 season, driven largely by an 86% increase for applicants identifying as American Indian or Alaska Native, and a 70% increase for applicants identifying as Black or African American.
30% increase in applications by non-URM students
67% increase for first-generation applicants, about twice the rate of continuing-generation applicants over the same period.
Increase in applicants from lower-income ZIP codes (52%) was substantially greater than by their peers from higher-income areas (34%).
Domestically, the ten highest volume states for first-year applicants include: New York (#1 with 50% growth since 2019-20), Florida, Texas, California, Illinois, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, and Virginia.
Domestically, growth in applicants is roughly equal across urbanicity levels, though growth was by far the fastest in the Southwestern regions (109%). Nebraska, Texas, South Carolina, Alabama, and North Dakota were the fastest growing states.
International applicants increased by more than twice the rate of domestic applicants since the 2019-20 admissions cycle (87% vs. 38%). This growth is fastest among applicants with citizenship in Ghana (1,066%), Bangladesh (514%), Nepal (470%), Ethiopia (369%, and Nigeria (347%).

What does it take to be a “competitive” applicant?

From our perspective, competitive applicants should NOT be giving up any ground. We urge all parents to be more skeptical about the messages they may be hearing from well-intended school faculty, admissions representatives, and the national media about holistic reviews and admissions criteria. The hard truth is that college admissions criteria are more subjective than ever, and families ought to apply control where they can; the opportunities to shine aren’t even across all colleges, and the goal is to keep as many doors open as possible.

When high school seniors ultimately submit applications for college, they have the following ways to differentiate themselves from their peers:

Academic achievement via grades, class ranking, and GPA
Academic achievement via standardized testing, including ACT, SAT, APs, and IBs
Extracurricular activities, including clubs, sports, and volunteer work
Independent study and/or college coursework
Awards and accolades
Internship or part-time job
Art or music portfolio
Auditions
Sports recruitment
Demonstrated interest of a particular college(s) through ongoing engagement, summer programming, and early application processes
Successful interviewing with admissions officers, alumni, and/or student representatives

For good reason, institutions are working to ensure they receive more diverse applicants – broadly defined – which has necessitated the disruption of standardized testing as a barrier to entry, but students are now subject to holistic review relative to the context of their circumstances. Not all of the items above are attainable or manageable for every student, especially with the demands of a rigorous and selective high school program, so families have to realistically assess what they’ll be able to bring to the table when it comes time for college admissions.

What is an “Individualized Holistic Review” for admissions?

The College Board published a 28-page document titled “Understanding Holistic Review in Higher Education Admissions”. Optimally, three common characteristics are included:

Mission alignment, which is focused on advancing the institution’s core educational goals through the admissions process.
A two-part inquiry for assessing applicants, which considers: a) their likely ability to succeed and thrive at a given institution, AND b) their ability to enhance the educational experience of their peers in and out of the classroom.
Consideration of multiple, often intersecting, factors – academic, nonacademic, and contextual – that, in combination, uniquely define and reflect accomplishments and potential contributions of each applicant in light of their background and circumstances.

Here’s an example of this language in practice at Stanford.

Stanford: Holistic Admission

At Stanford, we practice holistic admission. This means that each piece in your application is reviewed as part of an integrated and comprehensive whole.

One piece tells us about your background and life experiences, another about your school and your academic achievement. We learn from others about your character and intellectual contributions. In your essays, we learn about your ideas and interests, and what is meaningful to you.

Each year (and in conformance with the law) we aim to enroll a class of diverse backgrounds and experiences, talents, academic interests, and ways of viewing the world.

In a holistic review, we seek to understand how you, as a whole person, would grow, contribute and thrive at Stanford, and how Stanford would, in turn, be changed by you.

Context

Just as no two Stanford students are the same, each applicant to Stanford is unique. This means that as we review each application, we pay careful attention to unique circumstances. We take into account your background, educational pathway, and work and family responsibilities. By focusing on your achievements in context, we evaluate how you have excelled in your school environment and how you have taken advantage of what is available to you in your school and community.

Considering Your Own Circumstances

Therefore, if students are undergoing a holistic review during the application process, families must logically consider their own circumstances:

At which school is your child enrolled? Which type of school is it (e.g. mainstream, specialized, therapeutic)? Private? Public?
Which colleges and majors are you most interested in?
Which class levels has your child opted into (e.g honors, advanced, regular)? Is AP testing available to showcase subject-matter knowledge?
Can your student manage standardized testing based on their learning profile?
In which ZIP code does your family reside?
Who is your child’s direct peer competition?
What other evidence might differentiate your child (academic and nonacademic)?

To Test or Not To Test?

Depending on your answers to these questions, we would argue that opting out of standardized testing isn’t a good strategy for everyone as part of a holistic review. And proceeding without standardized testing may create friction following an acceptance with regards to accessing certain majors or avoiding certain courses, particularly math. Anecdotally, almost all of our students continue to apply with standardized test scores, and this hasn’t changed since the 2019-20 academic year. As a result, we continue to experience tremendous success with college admissions, and our students continue to secure multiple acceptances to desired schools. Exceeding expectations has always mattered, and it still does.

Especially for families at selective private and public schools, nothing about a holistic review and the current admissions landscape makes things any easier than they were before the pandemic started. Though many school administrators, college counselors, advisors, and college admissions representatives may appear to emphasize and rally around eased admissions criteria with regard to test-optional policies, we worry tremendously that many families are misunderstanding and giving up considerable control in a high stakes process.

School faculty can’t roll out different messages for different students. There has to be a single message (which, ironically, runs counter to the notion of differentiation and individualization). So if an auditorium full of parents from diverse backgrounds are all brought together for a level setting conversation about college admissions and holistic review, it’s not surprising that a school would message that standardized testing isn’t that important anymore. Doing so diminishes short-term stress and frustration among their constituents while aligning with the heavy marketing push from colleges; and college representatives are keen to drive up application numbers and boast more selective acceptance rates.

In order to sufficiently rack up experiences and accomplishments to shine in a climate of “holistic review”, students need help making the most of their entire high school experience both in and out of school. Therefore, this planning should really start in late 8th grade or the beginning of 9th grade in order to avoid a scramble; it’s stressful enough with a solid and actively managed plan in place! In this article, we backmap this planning to 7th grade.

For standardized test preparation, we currently lean heavily in favor of the ACT while monitoring seriously big changes with the newly established digital-only SAT set to roll out in March 2024. We recommend formalizing test preparation with diagnostic work as early as January of 10th grade; and if you’ve passed that point already for your 11th grader, it’s not too late. We have always valued standardized test preparation as a vehicle for auditing prerequisite skills and bolstering college readiness, which is proving more important than ever with diminished academic performance and reported grade inflation as a result of continuous disruptions over the past several years. Notably, the national average for the ACT has plummeted to a 30-year low of 19.5.

Take Action And Make A Plan

Please contact us with your questions and wonders so that we can have a more cogent discussion by phone or by Zoom. We urge each family to put on blinders to those around them and focus discussions on your needs and goals, based on your particular circumstances, with an eye towards your student’s holistic review and application process.

By Brad Hoffman, M.S.Ed. and Board Certified Educational Planner, and Faya Hoffman, M.A. and Board Certified Educational Planner

High-Dosage Tutoring

November 27, 2023 Brad Hoffman

Following several years of significant operational disruptions, schools are focused on stabilizing routines and expectations and reconciling underdeveloped skills given the overwhelming data on pandemic learning loss experienced to some degree for the majority of learners in both private and public schools. In a recent research brief from July 2023, NWEA estimates that the average student needs 4.1 additional months of reading instruction and 4.5 additional months of math instruction in order to catch up to pre-pandemic levels. Nationally, the average 8th grader is one full year below grade level.

The antidote to skill gaps is high-dosage tutoring, which is generally defined as intensive 1:1 tutoring at least 3x per week, or for about 50 hours over a semester. We’ve seen an increase in the requests for high-dosage tutoring over the past 18 months, and this trend has continued this fall.

Our conversations with parents and school faculty in addition to our own observations confirm the following concerns across the curriculum:

Writing skills across all grade levels, and for all writing purposes (e.g narrative, informational, and persuasive), needs improvement. Subcategories of writing work include:
- Prewriting strategies
- Basic and advanced grammar and syntax
- Sentence fluency and varying sentence structures
- Transition words and phrases
- Sequencing and chunking ideas to create effective, multi-paragraph pieces
- Incorporating quotations and citing references
- Systematically editing and proofreading
- Incorporating stronger vocabulary
- Improving close reading skills, including note taking, annotating, and properly outlining, is a common need for students in the upper elementary, middle, and high school divisions.
Decoding, reading fluency, and comprehension work with students in elementary and middle school, which includes effectively summarizing texts and determining / justifying the main idea of a non-fiction text.
Automaticity of basic math facts (all four operations).
Work with fractions is complex and spans common fractions, decimal fractions and percentages. We see a lot of skill gaps here.
Executive function skill building is needed, particularly as it relates to work prioritization, goal setting, time management, minimizing distractions, and developing enhanced metacognition so that a student learns to set themself up for optimal performance under particular circumstances.

As a result of academic doubt, we’ve seen a return to admissions testing requirements at most NYC day schools and some highly selective boarding schools in addition to many colleges. Despite the continued use of “test-optional” language at various schools, this testing is NOT really optional for everyone. It remains a filter. We know that media buzz can sometimes be confusing and misleading, and this is absolutely true as it relates to test-optional policies for the majority of our students. We continue to help our students achieve success with school and college admissions because we continue to take the harder, more steady road exceeding expectations everywhere we can. Submitting strong test scores continues to be a way to demonstrate academic mastery in a climate where there is considerable doubt. Moreover, “holistic reviews” by admissions committees take each student’s specific context into consideration, so “being competitive” is relative to each student’s situation and environment.

Of note, the average baseline performance we’re seeing for admissions testing is lower than the average performance we saw prior to the pandemic. This data is reinforced by the lower scores we’ve seen at large on private school achievement test data, such as CTPs or MAP testing. Therefore, students engaged in ISEE, SSAT, ACT or SAT work have the specific advantage of auditing prerequisite skills and systematically closing any gaps before moving onto accelerated instruction.

With most planning and establishing new routines, it’s important to not let perfect be the enemy of good. Plans can always be tweaked or recalibrated as more information becomes available. With that in mind, if you have any questions or concerns about your child’s academic performance, or if you have an interest in pursuing a private school or college admissions process, please contact us to schedule an appointment for further discussion without delay!

By Brad Hoffman, M.S.Ed., Board Certified Educational Planner, and Faya Hoffman, M.A., Board Certified Educational Planner

Redefining Educational Consulting

November 20, 2023 Brad Hoffman

For us, the start of the school year is always filled with excitement and anticipation – a fresh start, new opportunities and challenges, and always a lot of surprises. This year is particularly special because we’re celebrating our 15th anniversary as My Learning Springboard! It’s been an incredibly fulfilling journey, and we’re tremendously grateful to all of you for your trust, partnership, and collaboration over the years.

As we plan for this school year and consider today’s evolving school landscape with our “future glasses” on, we find that educational consulting is often a confusing term. To many people, it exclusively means college counseling or admissions consulting. To our families — and to us — it means that and so much more.

In his book, The Answer To How Is Yes, Peter Block discusses four archetypal images involved in getting each of us to act on what matters. These four archetypes are: 1) The Engineer, 2) The Economist, 3) The Artist, and 4) The Architect. Block explains that “each represents a strategic stance, a way of thinking, and a way of acting that brings a set of beliefs into the world.” The challenge lies in integrating their qualities, and that’s exactly what we aim to do in our work with families.

In 2009, Faya and I wanted to find a way to bring together experienced educators and learning specialists at all levels — preK to college — to collaborate on developing the best program for each student while growing with a family over time. We did so by founding My Learning Springboard, a boutique multidisciplinary educational consulting firm, whose comprehensive and integrated model was the first of its kind.

Different from most Educational Consultants, our leadership team brings together decades of expertise that spans many roles and credentials, including: Curriculum and Instruction Specialist, Reading Specialist, Math Specialist, Special Educator, School Principal, Family Advocate, General Educator, Learning Concierge, Corporate HR Talent Development Specialist, Public Relations Director, and Entrepreneur. Additionally, we leverage our robust faculty of master teachers and experts across many fields in addition to our vast network of related service professionals (e.g. psychologists, speech therapists). These perspectives inform our creativity, flexibility, and tenacity.

Where the engineer and the economist are allies according to Peter Block, and the artist serves as ballast for them, the architect “integrates both worlds” and aims to bring the engineer and the artist together. In our work as Educational Planners and Managers, we’re inspired by all four archetypes and, like the architect, aim to bring the various perspectives of all stakeholders into practical, cohesive action. Key stakeholders always include each student and their parents and caregivers. Additionally, we often collaborate with classroom teachers and learning specialists, school administration, and other professionals who may be involved.

Educational consulting efforts come in all shapes and sizes, thus our hourly consulting model has been preferred by our families for the past 15 years in order to facilitate maximum flexibility. Consulting needs could range from a single meeting to several meetings over a period of time to a bigger, more complex planning effort. Private tutoring or academic coaching services at home or remotely are often a part of the plan. Common engagements with parents, caregivers, and students, include (but are not limited to):

Managing a school transition and related application process, PreK-12
Managing a college application process
Supporting course selection and navigating related school discussions
Preparing for and/or responding to parent-teacher conferences
Initiating or escalating requests with classroom teachers or school leadership
Discussing educational trends, approaches, research, curricula, or programs
Demystifying “park bench chatter”
Conducting classroom observations to inform planning at school and/or at home
Advocating for specialized instruction within public and private school settings
Facilitating IEP and 504 processes as well as tuition reimbursement cases
Parent and/or caregiver coaching regarding in-home strategies or enhanced systems to support their learner(s)
Reviewing, discussing, and interpreting school documentation — including report cards and neuropsychological evaluations — to create an action plan at school and/or at home
Benchmarking reading levels, spelling levels (stages), and writing needs
Benchmarking math performance across all domains
Developing, implementing, and/or managing targeted plans for remediation, acceleration, and test preparation
Crisis management, including student disciplinary action and mental health challenges

Depending on the structure of a school’s calendar, it’s typical for families to meet with us quarterly or each semester. Ongoing and active management of each child’s school journey allows for timely recalibration and any necessary course correction. This active management is important whether a student might be transitioning to a new school or not. The intention is to help each child self-actualize and make the most of their current school setting and experience.

We are deeply grateful to the many families and schooling professionals who have trusted us and partnered with us in pursuit of helping each student to realize their full potential over the past 15 years, and we look forward to continued success and growth as an organization dedicated to helping children and families thrive.

For any educational consulting and management needs or questions, please contact us to schedule further discussion.

If anyone you know could benefit from our support related to any type of educational question or matter, please kindly share our information and we would be happy to connect with them.