March 31, 2013

School board nixes same school teacher tutoring

Editor’s Note:

This controversy has been brewing for months. The Crossroads of Learning Journal curated an article on 2/16/13, concerning a hearing in December of 2012 which resulted in the teacher’s union taking a position on school teacher tutoring being appropriate. [ Click here to read previous article.]

The following story was written by Dan Glaun, The Island Now, originally published on 3/14/13

The Great Neck Public School Board banned private tutoring between teachers and students within their buildings at Monday night’s meeting, capping months of debate between advocates concerned about potential conflicts of interest and opponents who said the change would harm students. Trustee and policy committee chair Susan Healy acknowledged in a statement the concerns of parents who use private tutors but argued that the change was necessary to guard against the appearance of favoritism or unfairness.

“The prohibition on tutoring students in one’s own building is directly related to the appearance of a conflict of interest,” Healy said. “We do not do so because there are inappropriate situations. We do it so that those situations cannot occur.”

The policy, which was approved unanimously following the fourth public hearing on the topic since September, expands the district’s tutoring restrictions from teachers and students within the same class to those within the same building. The board and several administrators and teachers who testified in favor of the change said the move was necessary to avoid placing teachers in compromising situations, creating the perception of unfairness and corrupting the teacher-parent relationship with money.

To read more click here.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Filed under: Commercial Providers,Government,High School,Small Private Practices,Test Prep,Tutoring Practices

August 12, 2011

Fairfield Prep revokes use of school for Revolution Prep SAT practice test

Orignally published on ctpost.com on 7/5/11

Fairfield College Preparatory School has revoked permission for an SAT practice exam to be given there Friday after learning the free test would be offered by a for-profit company. A Prep spokeswoman said the school had agreed to let several alumni, now college students, use a classroom for what officials had been led to believe was an informal session. But permission was quickly revoked Thursday when school officials learned the alumni represented a California-based company that charges fees for SAT preparation courses and tutoring.

The company, which markets itself both as Ivy Insiders and Revolution Prep, issued a news release June 27 announcing the practice exam at Fairfield Prep was free and open to students of any school. Based in Van Nuys, Calif., Revolution Prep offers two levels of preparation courses — one for $599, the other for $899 — plus one-on-one tutoring, according to the company website. The privately owned company had annual revenues of $11.6 million in 2009, the most recent available.

Colleen Adams, Fairfield Prep’s director of communications, on Friday said no practice exam would be conducted at the North Benson Road school on Friday.

The alumni also improperly used a Fairfield Prep student directory to solicit students to the practice exam, Adams said. The solicitation stated the school was “hosting” the session. In a subsequent email to parents, Fairfield Prep Principal Robert A. Perrotta said the school did not endorse the program and apologized for the improper use of the school’s mailing lists. “Fairfield Prep is not hosting this program nor does it in any way endorse this or any other program which is not under the direct control of Fairfield Prep,” he said in the email.

To read the full article click here.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Filed under: Commercial Providers,Test Prep

August 20, 2010

Trio forms group to help teens overcome testing fears

by Matt Wilson, MercuryNews.com, originally published 6/24/10

No three letters in the alphabet strike greater fear, dread and anxiety in local high school students than S, A and T.

The SAT Reasoning Test is seen as a monster by many college hopefuls, but three recent Monta Vista High School graduates are devoting a chunk of their summer to helping local students slay the beast.

Sofia Liou, Annie Wu and Tarun Galagali, all 2009 graduates who have returned home for the summer after their first year of college, are co-managing their own SAT tutoring branch.

The young SAT masters will share their tips and tricks in the classroom as they take on the role of teachers.

“Our obligation is to help high school students our age beat this exam,” says Galagali, who just finished his first year at Dartmouth College.

The highest score is 2,400, which is the combined score of three 800-point sections covering math, critical reading and writing. The test can take nearly four hours to slog through, and the students-turned-teachers plan to teach the SAT a different way.

“We’re looking at this from a game theory perspective. The exam has a structure, and it’s not like a typical test,” says Galagali, who earned a 2,290 score on the SAT and a perfect 800 in the critical reading section. “It tests the same thing, the same way every time. It’s beatable. You do not have to be the smartest person to beat this, but those that know the test the most will do the best.”

The trio is part of an organization called IvyInsiders, which supplies their teaching material. The group claims that on average students can expect a 263-point improvement in their SAT scores. The three are putting themselves in direct competition with big-name SAT prep companies.

They create low pressure approach to tacking the test. “If they look at it as a test of intelligence, they will get stressed out. The SAT is not a comprehensive knowledge test and looking at it as a game alleviates a lot of student pressure,” Galagali says.

To read more click here.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Filed under: Small Private Practices,Test Prep

October 31, 2009

Tutors Toolkit: Answering an Essay Test

The following information is from Cuesta College and was accessed on 10/15/09

Answering an Essay Test

Essay tests can have on them the following types of questions: short or long answers, fill in the blank, and sentence completion. Use the following suggestions to help you with essay-type tests:

Make a brief survey of the entire test. Read every question and the directions. Plan to answer the least difficult questions first, saving the most difficult for last.\
Set a time schedule and periodically check your progress (to maintain proper speed). With six questions to answer in 60 minutes you should allow a maximum of 10 minutes per questions. If your 10 minutes passes and you have not finished the question, continue to the next one and come back to the other one later. Do not sacrifice any question for another.
Read the question carefully. Underline key words: e.g., list, compare, WWII, political and social, art or music, etc. As you read, jot down the points that occur to you beside that question.
Organize a brief outline of the main ideas you want to present. Place a check mark alongside each major idea and number them in order of presentation in your answer. Do not spend too much time on the outline.
When you answer, always rephrase the question.
Example: Explain Pavlov’s theory of conditioning. Answer: Pavlov’s theory of conditioning is based on…
The remainder of the answer is devoted to support by giving dates, examples, stating relationships, causes, effects and research
Present material that reflects the grader’s personal or professional biases. Further, stick to the material covered in the reading or lecture, and answer the question within the frame of reference.
If you do not understand what the instructor is looking for, write down how you interpreted the question and answer it.
If time does not permit a complete answer, use an outline form.
Write something for every question. When you “go blank,” start writing all the ideas you remember from your studying – one of them is bound to be close!
In sentence-completion items, remember never to leave a space blank. When in doubt – GUESS. Make use of grammar to help decide the correct answer. Make the completed statement logically consistent.
If you have some time remaining, read over your answer. You can frequently add other
ideas which may come to mind. You can at least correct misspelled words or insert words to complete an idea.
Sometimes, before you even read the questions, you might write some facts and formulas you have memorized on the back of the test.

Click here to read more.

Popularity: 17% [?]

Filed under: Pedagogy,Study Tools,Test Prep

July 28, 2008

10 Tips on How to Solve Math Word Problems

Originally published by the Academic Support Center at Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo County, CA

The most difficult homework assignment for most math students is working story/word problems. Solving word problems requires excellent reading comprehension and translating skills.

Students often have difficulty substituting English terms for algebraic symbols and equations. But once an equation is written, it is usually easily solved. To help you solve word problems follow these 10 steps:

Step 1 - Read the problem three times. Read the problem quickly the first time as a scanning procedure. As you are reading the problem the second time, answer these three questions:

What is the problem asking me? (Usually at the end of the problem)
What is the problem telling me that is useful? (Cross out unneeded information).
What is the problem implying? (Usually something you have been told to remember). Read the problem a third time to check that you fully understand its meaning.

Click on the following link for more of 10 Tips on How to Solve Word Problems

Popularity: 20% [?]

Filed under: Study Tools,Test Prep

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