ACCOMMODATIONS FOR STUDENTS TAKING THE ISEE Educators are fully aware that many very capable students struggle taking standardized tests because they have learning or physical challenges. This is why accommodations are offered to students who "are unable to take the ISEE under standard conditions" These challenges must be documented and upon approval, a student may be eligible to receive [...]
September is when families are embarking upon the admissions process for the following school year. This is a time to gather information about the schools to which you're applying and plan for their specific requirements for admission. One of the most important pieces of advices that we give parents is to make sure you are not holding up [...]
Whether you understand the meaning of a test question or not may depend on whether you’re the one who wrote the test, or are the one who’s taking it. As experienced teachers, we've seen this first hand. We would write questions for tests that seemed perfectly fair. The material had been covered in class, [...]
The first thing to know about the reading comprehension section of any test is that it is not a test of how well you read. It's a test of how well you take a reading test. What this means for test takers is that to do well on this test section, [...]
One of the great myths out there is that students who know the material taught in class will be prepared for standardized tests. But the reality is that except for a few naturally great test takers, knowing only the academic material is going in half-prepared. One concept we try to instill in our students is that [...]
The SSAT and ISEE test dates are here! In preparing for your exam, there is nothing better than continued, ongoing practice to make testing language second nature. But if you’re gearing up to test in the coming days and haven’t had a chance to formally prepare, there are three pointers that by keeping them in mind can [...]
In the classic movie Bull Durham, Kevin Costner walks along dark street at night and stops underneath a streetlight. A gift wrap tube is sticking out of the nearby garbage can. Costner picks up the tube and practices his swing while finding his reflection in a window. This scene brilliantly captures what every master-of-their-craft knows [...]
"My child is a great student. He works hard and earns excellent grades. He just doesn't test well." How many of us have made that same observation about our own child? As teachers and test-prep tutors, this phenomenon of good students struggling at test time seems to be more the norm than the exception. What [...]
While most of us are focused on enjoying our summer vacation, independent school parents are thinking about getting their child ready for the independent school entrance exams ISEE and SSAT. In our experience as independent school educators, we’ve come up with a test preparation plan that will work, without piling on unnecessary homework, wasting [...]
At ETP, we are pleased to share with you some exciting changes to the ISEE testing process. We say exciting, because we believe that these changes will make things much better for students. In August 2016, ERB will announce a new option – multiple testing. With this change, all students will be allowed to test three times during a single admissions cycle. Each test may be taken once during a four-month testing window. The windows are: Fall (August – November) Winter (December – March) Spring/Summer (April – July) So what does this mean for your placement strategy? […]
