Key Academics Wins Best of Plymouth Meeting Tutoring Award

Key Academics recently received the 2015 Best of Plymouth Meeting Award in the category of Tutoring Instructors.

            The annual award honors local businesses that use best practices to generate long-term value. The program works with local business owners, professional associations, and other business groups to gather the information and data used to choose the winners in each category.

College Board Loses Points With SAT Mistake

After a misprint in test booklets regarding the time allotted for taking part of the SAT on June 6, the College Board said that it would not score two sections of the exam, and would waive its fees for students who wanted to take the test again in October. 

The June 6 test booklets said students would have 25 minutes to complete the last of three reading sections. Proctors, however, were given instructions that students would have only 20 minutes for that section. While some proctors noticed the error and informed students in advance, others did not discover it until alerted by test takers. The confusion distracted some students during the exam.

Although the misprint appeared only in the final reading section, some students may have been taking their final math section in the same room as other students completing the reading section and been affected by any confusion, so the board said it would not score either section.

The board apologized for the error and it would still be able to provide reliable scores for all students because the SAT is designed to collect enough information to provide valid and reliable scores even with an unscored section.

If only that were true! Timing confusion during the test surely had a negative impact on some students' performance. And what if a student found an eliminated reading passage or math section easier than the ones preceding it? It’s a well-known fact in test theory and analysis that fewer items lead to less reliable scores. It’s easy to see how a 660 reading or math score, for example, could turn into a 630.

Also, scheduling a free test for October conflicts with Subject Tests at college application crunch time. The College Board should score the June 6 test both with the affected sections and without them, letting students and their parents decide which score to report. If neither one is satisfactory, students should have the option of taking a free retest in September. 

Printing glitch zeroes out a section of SAT

There was a printing error in the  test books Educational Testing Service provided to U.S. students taking the SAT on Saturday, June 6. In an update on Monday, June 8, at 5:30 p.m. EDT, the College Board and ETS said the affected sections will not be scored. They said they will still be able to provide reliable scores, within the usual timeframe, for all students who took the test. This kind of error is really unacceptable. The confusion during the test no doubt had a negative impact on some students' performance. Eliminating a Math or Critical Reading section is also a big deal. What if a student found a reading passage, or math section, easier than the one being dropped? 
https://lp.collegeboard.org/information-regarding-the-saturday-june-6-sat-administration

Need Assistance With A College Application Essay?

The summer months are a great opportunity for rising seniors to begin working on their college application essays. 

Colleges want to know how well students write and whether they can address a given topic. They also hope to find out who you are and what’s important to you. When the admissions staff has finished your essay, they should have a vivid sense of your personality.

That’s why you want to reflect on a significant personal experience. Include specific details that make you sound like a real person. Be reflective, insightful and proud of your achievements, but don't brag.

Use language that is sophisticated and conversational. Read aloud a short, powerful passage from literature or serious reporting and figure out how it works sonically. Alliteration? Parallel construction? Varied sentence length? Then read your own work aloud for the same.

High school students may lack the writing experience needed to show how they can enrich a campus. To speak with a professional editor who can help with brainstorming, drafting, and revising this important part of the college application process, please call Key Academics at 610-940-1625 or contact us online.

2015 And 2016 SAT Test Dates

If you're looking for the SAT test dates after June 6, 2015, you won't find them on the College Board website. In fact, you won't find them on the web, period. But now you can find out the dates, thanks to Key Academics. And how did we find this valuable information, you may ask? Truth be told, simply by calling the College Board and speaking with a helpful representative, who explained that the dates have just been released and are unofficial but generally very reliable at this point. 

So without further ado, here are the SAT Test Dates: Oct. 3, 2015; Nov. 7, 2015; Dec. 5, 2015; Jan. 23, 2016: March 5, 2016 (no Subject tests); May 7, 2016; and June 4, 2016. The new SAT debuts with the March 5, 2016 test. 

Schools can administer the PSAT on Oct. 14 or Oct. 17. 

Here, as well, are the upcoming ACT test dates: June 13, 2015; Sept. 12, 2015; Oct. 24, 2015; Dec. 12, 2015; Feb. 6, 2016; April 9, 2016; and June 11, 2016.

New SAT A Topic Of Concern To Parents And Students

The new SAT will soon be a big concern for parents and students. They will need to decide whether to stay with a radically revised version of the popular test or join the growing numbers switching to the more straightforward and known quantity of the ACT. 

The SAT is set to undergo a significant revision in March 2016, as is the PSAT in the fall of 2015, with changes to scoring, format and questions. 

There are always problems with new test roll-outs, so Key Academics is advising an ACT-first mindset for the class of 2017, the first to potentially take the new SAT. The ACT is a relatively stable test with minor changes planned for fall 2015 to the essay and math sections. All in all, there’s a lot to like about the ACT, especially for rising juniors.

The SAT changes every 10 years or so. In 1995 it was re-centered so 500 could continue to approximate the mean score. In 2005, the test was changed to Critical Reading, Math and Writing, for 2400 points, while eliminating analogies and quantitative analysis. 

The updated SAT reflects an emphasis on problem-solving instead of rote memorization, as well as a closer alignment to the type of material and instruction seen in the highest level high school courses. The test will return to a 400 to 1600 scale, there will be no penalty for wrong answers, and the expanded essay will be optional.

​The new SAT will also include:

• Reading and Writing tests that require students to cite evidence for their answers;
• A Math test that emphasizes algebra, de-emphasizes geometry and puts more questions in a real-world context; and 
• Questions and content that better reflect the work that students undertake in the best high school courses.

Market share is a huge driver of the latest SAT change. In 2010, 1.57 million students took the ACT and 1.5 million the SAT. And the ACT now has assessment contracts in 17 states versus three for the SAT.

Students taking the ACT in September 2015 will also see changes. They’ll need to prepare for a more complex essay and some alterations in the Reading and Mathematics tests. They will receive new scores for English language arts and the combined fields of science and mathematics.

For assistance in selecting which test will maximize results, as well as information regarding comprehensive tutoring programs that teach test-taking strategies and content, please contact Key Academics at 610-940-1625 or visit www.keyacademics.com.

Whitemarsh Parks & Recreation Offers SAT And ACT Summer Programs

For rising juniors looking to take a fall college entrance exam, and rising seniors preparing to take one again, summer is the perfect time to prepare for the SAT or ACT. Of help to these students will be an eight-session summer course from the Whitemarsh Township Parks and Recreation Department and Key Academics.

 

The tutoring will take place at the Parks and Recreation building at Miles Park in Lafayette Hill, with SAT lessons from June 23 to Aug. 11, on Tuesday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m., and ACT lessons on Thursdays from June 25 to Aug. 13 at the same time.

“Enrollment is limited to 10 students for each course to maximize the benefit of small classes,” said Key Academics President Bill Silverman. “Each course will include 16 hours of in-class instruction, a 400-page workbook, and a practice test. For students who are unsure as to which test to take, Key Academics will provide optional diagnostic tests upon registration.”

The cost is $479 for Whitemarsh residents and $499 for non-residents. To register, please call Whitemarsh Parks and Recreation at (610) 828-7276 or visit whitemarshparks.org. Key Academics provides in-home tutoring for students at all grade levels throughout the Delaware Valley and can be contacted at (610) 940-1625, or by visiting www.keyacademics.com. 

Headquartered in Plymouth Meeting, Key Academics provides in-home academic and college entrance examination tutoring in Montgomery, Bucks, Delaware, Chester and Philadelphia Counties.