All Articles tagged Testing

Changes to the ACT

June 8, 2014 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

In 2015, a series of changes to the ACT test and the associated score report went into effect. Most of the changes to the test itself were relatively minor (and according to InsideHigherEd, ACT officials predicted that “a student taking the exam this year (under the current system) and next year (under the new one) might not notice the difference during the test itself”).

The biggest change? The addition of a new set of scores along with the existing score report. The ACT previously assessed students on a scale of 1-36 in each section–English, math, reading, and science–along with a composite score. Revised score reports now include “readiness indicators” as supplements to those scores. According to the ACT, these supplemental scores give students, parents, and educators “more detailed insights so that they may better plan for future success.”

The readiness indicators (from the ACT website) include:

STEM Score

This score represents the student’s overall performance on the science and math portions of the exam. The ACT is the only national college admission exam to measure science skills. This new score can help students connect their strengths to career and study paths that they might not otherwise have considered, particularly when used with their results from the ACT Interest Inventory.
Progress Toward Career Readiness Indicator

This measure helps students understand their progress toward career readiness and help educators prepare their students for success in a variety of career pathways. It will provide an indicator of future performance on the ACT National Career Readiness Certificate™ (ACT NCRC®), an assessment-based credential that certifies foundational work skills important for job success across industries and occupations.
English Language Arts Score

This score combines achievement on the English, reading, and writing portions of the ACT for those who take all three test sections, enabling students to see how their performance compares with others who have been identified as college-ready.
Text Complexity Progress Indicator

This measure tells students if they are making sufficient progress toward understanding the complex texts they will encounter in college and during their careers. The information helps students plan future study to improve their readiness.

The changes to the ACT were announced only three months after the College Board announced major changes to the SAT that took effect in March 2016.

What does this mean for your student? The ACT views students as the primary beneficiaries of the new information that will become available: according to Wayne Camara, ACT senior vice president of research, the ACT is “simply expanding the information that they provide to give students a better, clearer map of the road to success.”

For information about test preparation and tutoring for standardized tests, please contact our office.

Written by: Editorial Team, My Learning Springboard, Inc.

What is the Reggio Emilia Philosophy?

May 16, 2014 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

The Reggio Approach derives its name from its place of origin, the town of Reggio Emilia, located in northern Italy. Following World War II, Louis Malaguzzi, a teacher, along with a small group of parents, became interested in building a new school in Reggio Emilia where education would be viewed as a communal activity and sharing of culture would take place through joint exploration between children and adults. Malaguzzi’s approach focused on young children’s development in a setting where they would be encouraged to explore their environment and express themselves through multiple forms (movement, words, arts, dramatic play and music).

In the last several years, what is now known as the Reggio Approach, has become a popular model in the United States, particularly in early childhood education. Traditionally many preschools have employed pre-planned and theme-based curricula where the teachers choose the topics to teach and select activities to accompany them. In this model, the teacher presents only activities deemed age appropriate and plans monthly or weekly themes and lesson plans for an entire year before it even begins. The selection of themes is often based on the assumption that all children will benefit and be interested in the chosen subject. This traditional model lumps children into projects based on age rather than interests, capabilities and learning styles.

In contrast, a cornerstone of the Reggio philosophy is emergent curriculum. Emergent curriculum responds to children’s immediate interests rather than focusing on a narrow or calendar driven topic. As the name suggests, the study of a topic emerges from the interests and ideas of the children. The topics explored are gleaned from children’s discussions as well as interests demonstrated throughout different areas of the classroom. Once the topics of interest are identified, teachers act as co-collaborators, helping the children make decisions about the direction of inquiry and launch into in-depth studies of the concepts, ideas and interests that arise. The resulting investigations have no time limit and can span from several weeks to the whole school year.

The environment serves as a third teacher in the Reggio philosophy. The approach advocates that teachers play close attention to the myriad of ways that space can invite interaction. Small touches such as storing colorful objects in transparent containers can pique children’s curiosity and imagination. The design and use of space in a classroom encourages encounters, communication and relationships. Every corner of every space has an identity and purpose, rich in potential to engage. Spaces are valued and cared for by the children and teachers.

In the classroom, children should have the opportunity to explore and use many materials to discover and to communicate what they know, understand, wonder about, question, feel and imagine. In my classroom, there are an abundant variety of quality materials available to the children, beautifully organized and maintained by the adults and children together. In order to encourage young children to investigate their environments to the fullest, tools are placed carefully within the reach of the child so he or she explore, investigate, question and create. Through their ongoing explorations, children are then able to learn the qualities, possibilities and limitations of each material.

Written by: Editorial Team, My Learning Springboard, Inc.

Too Much to Learn and Too Little Time? Effective Cramming

February 7, 2014 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

Cramming.

The term is usually frowned upon, but as a medical school student, I’ve come to learn that “cramming” doesn’t deserve the negative connotation it comes with. The vast amount of material that has to be learned in short periods of time leaves little option but to make extremely effective use of the time given to study. Focused and strategic learning in a limited amount of time- this is what I mean by “cramming”. It’s a skill I learned out of necessity, but the value of it can be appreciated by most students. Choosing to treat your normal study sessions with a cramming mentality could be a more effective use of your time than endless hours of unfocused “review.”

Be intentional about studying in the time you have committed to doing so- knowing that you promised to yourself that this is all the time you will be spending specifically studying, be sure to treat it accordingly. Cut out all distractions, have out only the books and notes you need to study with (some extra paper and pens for you tactile learners wouldn’t hurt either!), and get to it. Take frequent breaks- after each chapter/major topic/ at least every hour. The breaks shouldn’t be long at all- just enough time to walk around, think, maybe send a few texts, or have a snack and water. Take a good half hour for meals. Right before you break after finishing a section, be sure to either try some questions testing your recall and understanding, or try to quickly teach yourself (and not just re-reading) what you just learned. Come back from your break and do the same- either try a few questions or teach yourself (or a friend). Questions that test your recall and use of the information you just studied will make it possible to retain information.

Always make sure to get enough sleep afterwards- you must make sure you treat your body to some well-earned rest.

You don’t need to be forced into situations to cram- choose to study efficiently by being intentional about studying in the time you want to, and you’ll find you can really learn more information than you usually would have. It gives you more time to doing the things you would want to, and get to do them without feeling guilty for having not studied yet!

Written by: Editorial Team, My Learning Springboard, Inc.

National Mentoring Month: Why Tutoring?

January 1, 2014 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives. ~Clay P. Bedford

Can you remember your favorite teacher? Tour guide? Facilitator? What made that experience so memorable? January is National Mentoring Month, and we believe that those memorable experiences always come down to relationships and connections.

Passionate, engaging teachers tend to have passionate, engaged students. A master teacher really makes a difference. A master teacher is invaluable at all stages of life. With the help of a great teacher, mentor or coach, we can push ourselves that much farther and realize our full potential.

It isn’t about competition with others; it’s about self-empowerment, self-motivation, curiosity, and a desire to achieve for one’s own gratification. Tutoring comes in all shapes and sizes. Beyond school consultation, we generally work with families for one of three reasons:

A student is struggling in a particular subject area and needs help to fill a learning gap or reinforce material.
A student is seeking additional challenge or wants to pursue a specific curiosity with an enrichment teacher or academic coach.
With busy schedules and stressful workloads, the homework and study front is sometimes best facilitated by a neutral 3rd party rather than a parent.

Ultimately, the goal is to help students develop effective studying strategies and confidence that will lead to self-empowerment and independence. Whether the focus is support or enrichment, tutoring may be short-term to jump-start the process or long-term to provide more ongoing instruction. In the case of short-term tutoring, students often need a teacher, mentor or coach to help them springboard into success.

A common question is “How long does it take to create a habit?” There are varying opinions ranging from 21-66 days. But the bottom line is that consistency and practice are needed for any habit or behavior change to stick. This idea applies to tutoring as well. If a student needs support to develop organizational systems, study habits, or new behaviors, then tutoring may be a short-term engagement to help get on the right path and take off.

Tutoring may also be short-term if the learning goal is narrow. For example, you may want to spend several sessions with a language tutor getting ready for an upcoming vacation, business trip or study abroad experience. Or you may want to meet with a museum educator to help bring a historical unit to life. Other students have sought out short-term support to prepare for a specific exam or to expedite progress in a particular area. Longer term tutoring may begin as specific academic support but then evolve into broader academic coaching.

Once the relationship is developed, my students often request that the tutor stay on as a resource for continued support, enrichment, motivation and structured practice. I’m so impressed with how much ownership our students assume. We have students as young as fifth and sixth graders that directly manage scheduling, send text messages when they have questions and prepare the agenda and work priorities for the upcoming session. As a teacher, you can choose to be the “Guide on the Side” or the “Sage on Stage.” Both have their time and place, but more often than not we look to be the “Guide on the Side” because that means our students are equal partners in the process.

As a classroom teacher, my colleagues and I used to say that an “A” has 3 points: 1) the student’s accountability, 2) the teacher’s accountability, and 3) the parent’s accountability. Another way of saying this is “my job, your job, our job.” When all 3 points are working together, a student’s achievement is unstoppable! Contact us to discuss tutoring as a springboard to achievement for your child.

Happy National Mentoring Month!

By Brad Hoffman, M.S.Ed.
Board Certified Educational Planner and Learning Specialist
My Learning Springboard, Inc.

College Planning and Test Preparation

December 16, 2013 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

So, you are ready to take on the seemingly monumental task of beginning your college planning and test preparation for the SAT or ACT exam. Because of the rote nature of preparing for such tests, it’s rare for students to find the process itself intrinsically interesting. That being said, now that you’re about to start, it’s time to get excited about test prep!

First, you need to ask yourself why you’re starting this college planning and test preparation process, and the answer, “My parents are making me!” won’t cut it. Test preparation is just one aspect, albeit an important one, of putting together a competitive application to the colleges you’re interested in. Whether you have already begun work with an admissions coach or only have a vague idea of which colleges fit you, it’s important to start thinking seriously about potential college choices now.

You should then check online to find the SAT or ACT ranges for a few of the colleges that you’re interested in. This will allow you to see approximately how many points you need to add to your baseline scores to be a competitive applicant for your schools.

While your score isn’t everything, improving your baseline scores to within the ranges of the colleges you might be interested in will certainly help ensure that admissions offices will consider your application. It’s important to keep this big-picture motivation in mind throughout your tutoring sessions, homework assignments, and practice tests.

So how do you get from your baseline score to your target score? Let’s say you want to raise your SAT Math score from 540 to 600 (out of 800) or an ACT English score from a 28 to a 32 (out of 36). It’s helpful to know not just the number of points you want to improve, but how many more correct answers that equates to:

SAT students:

For the SAT, a good rule of thumb is that for each score improvement of 10 points, you’ll need to answer approximately one more question correctly that you previously answered incorrectly. So for the hypothetical increase from a 540 to a 600, you’d need to start getting approximately 6 more questions correct on the Math portion of the SAT exam than you did on your baseline assessment.

ACT students:

For the ACT, the rule of thumb is slightly more complex, but still very useful. For each 1 point you hope to improve your score on an individual ACT section, you’ll need to answer between 1 and 3 more questions correctly on that section. The number varies based on which subject you’re setting your goal for, and how high or low your initial score is. You can come up with a more exact ACT improvement goal using the test’s scoring guide.

Having a college or two in mind that you’re excited about, as well as setting a quantitative test preparation goal will help make the nebulous and seemingly overwhelming task of improving your score more manageable and attainable. Click to learn more about the differences between the ACT and SAT.

Good luck as you start your college planning and test preparation journey!

Written by: Editorial Team, My Learning Springboard, Inc.

All Articles tagged Testing

Changes to the ACT

The readiness indicators (from the ACT website) include:

STEM Score

Progress Toward Career Readiness Indicator

English Language Arts Score

Text Complexity Progress Indicator

What is the Reggio Emilia Philosophy?

Too Much to Learn and Too Little Time? Effective Cramming

Cramming.

National Mentoring Month: Why Tutoring?

College Planning and Test Preparation

SAT students:

ACT students:

Company Overview

School Planning

Private Tutoring

Test Preparation