Spring Cleaning in January? By Mikey Smith, M. Ed.

Spring Cleaning in January?
Preparing for a Successful Second Semester
by Mikey Smith, M. Ed

Remember August? Sparkling school supplies sat waiting to be used by students who sat down at the same time, in the same place each afternoon to diligently work on the evening's homework before laying out clothes and supplies to be taken to school the following day. As the school year wore on, however, these routines seemed to fade away, (or never got adopted in the first place) making each day a stressful blur. January is the perfect time to get back into great habits or to start some new ones. Here are some suggestions:  

--Clean out your student's backpack, lunchbox, binders and folders. By December many students' backpacks are as big as they are, usually packed to bursting with a bunch of outdated and unnecessary worksheets, notices and papers, not to mention piles of candy wrappers and a few wads of gum. Take no prisoners! Dump everything out. If your student doesn't know for sure whether to keep or dump something, to be on the safe side, put it into an appropriately-sized storage tub so that it can be found if need be. Don't recycle or trash anything unless you are 101% sure it will never be needed again.

--Check schedules - some schools change electives or other classes at mid-term. . . and some parents never find out until the end of the year! Make sure you know what classes your child is taking and have teacher contact info for all teachers.

--Re-stock your school supplies. You started the school year with a selection of supplies that would make Office Depot jealous, but now you're down to a few pencil nubs with no erasers and a bottle of crusty White-Out.  While most stores don't have huge school supply sales in January like they do in August, Dollar Stores almost ALWAYS have basics like pens, pencils, folders and notebooks for rock bottom prices.

Papers, Presentations and Projects, Oh My! Tips to Survive the End of the Fall Semester

Papers, Presentations and Projects, Oh My!
Tips to Survive the End of the Fall Semester

by Mikey Smith, M.Ed

It is a ritual as old as the education system itself. The dreaded end-of-semester term paper (or book report, or research paper, or science project). Every year it goes just about the same way: the teacher assigns the paper or project and hands out a rubric or set of guidelines that probably seems simple to her, but seem like instructions for launching the space shuttle to you. There are notecards to be organized, books to be read, dioramas to be built, and sources to be cited. Everyone's life begins to revolve around this paper or project. Finally, as the deadline draws dangerously near, the unthinkable happens.

Unfortunately, the unthinkable can change from year to year, child to child, and assignment to assignment. One time, you might find yourself out of ink, paper, or Internet access altogether. Another time you might discover, while reading your student's paper at the last minute, that he or she has taken some liberties with sources cited (or not cited). Still worse, a family emergency might occur which requires you to be away from home so that your student is not able to finish a big assignment at all. Don't let this be your household this year. With the end of the first semester approaching, take some time to read these suggestions for success from veteran teachers.

Problem #1: Waiting Until the Last Minute
Hands down, teachers will tell you that this single factor is the root cause of most deadline disasters.

Don't let a far-off deadline assigned at the start of the school year lull you into believing that you have tons of time. In August and early September, most students (and their parents) are refreshed and revitalized, and feel like they can tackle the world. After the school year gets going, however, that energy starts to fade and most students, parents, and teachers are counting the MINUTES to the holiday break. What can you do?

Meet the ISEE & HSPT: Private School Placement Tests

Meet the ISEE and HSPT:
Private School Placement Tests

by Mikey Smith, M.Ed

Ninth grader Ann Bennett (not her real name) was terrified. The cause of her fear?  The ISEE, or Independent School Entrance Exam. Even though she had taken some practice tests, Ann still did not feel a sense of confidence when taking the actual exam, which she knew would play an important role in the admissions process at the high school she wanted to attend. "Whenever I took the test I was very scared," she recalls. "The first section was vocabulary. I rushed through that section really fast thinking I wouldn't have time to finish." Hurrying through the test to save time, however, was not the best strategy either. "I ended up finishing 15 minutes early. I went back to check and noticed that I got a lot wrong and had to change them."

Ann's experience is one shared by many students across the country who apply to a private school. Any parent thinking of enrolling a student in a private school will quickly become familiar with either the ISEE (Independent School Entrance Exam) or HSPT (High School Placement Test), or both. These exams are required by many private schools as part of the admissions process. While no school uses a test alone to determine admission, a strong performance on either or both tests certainly can help a student's chances of getting in to a particular school.

Here's how the tests stack up:

ISEE Test

Structure
The ISEE test is a timed test with several distinct parts. It features verbal and quantitative reasoning questions which assess a student's learning capability,  reading comprehension and math achievement tests which pinpoint areas of strengths and weaknesses in those subjects, and an essay. There are 3 different levels of the test (Lower Level, Middle Level, and Upper Level) based on the grade level of the student at the time of administration, but each level of test has the same basic blueprint. Basically, the time allotted and the amount and difficulty of questions per section differ from level to level. This test is not usually given at a particular school but at a local testing center.

Scoring
The multiple-choice sections of the ISEE test are scored by the ISEE Operations Office, not by individual schools. The essay is not scored at all, but is copied and submitted to each school indicated by the student at the time of the test administration. A Student Report is generated and sent to parents and to each private school the student has selected. The ISEE test scores are based on the number of correct answers, so there is no penalty for guessing.

For more information on the ISEE, click here: http://erblearn.org/parents/admission/isee/isee-test-overview


HSPT Test

Structure
The HSPT is typically given to 8th graders to determine placement in 9th grade. Because it is only given to one group of students, not multiple grades, there is only one level of test; however, there are two versions of it.

The Open HSPT is usually given at a particular school and scored by that school's personnel. Skills tested include verbal and quantitative skills, reading, mathematics, language, and at some schools, science.  Testing time for the Open HSPT is close to 2 hours and 30 minutes.

The Closed HSPT is administered at a particular school, but the tests are not scored by school personnel. Instead, test materials are returned to Scholastic Testing Service and an individual report is generated for each student. In addition to the areas tested by the Open HSPT, schools may also include tests in mechanical aptitude and Catholic religion.


Scoring
Whether tests are scored at the school itself (Open HSPT) or at the testing service (Closed HSPT), the results are forwarded to parents and schools. Like the ISEE, there is no penalty for guessing on either version of the HSPT.

For more information on the HSPT, click here: http://www.ststesting.com/hp_1.html


Although Ann was nervous when she took the ISEE, she did end up doing well on the test and was accepted to the private school she wanted to attend. Why take a chance on your student's ISEE and/or HSPT performance? Enrolling in a targeted test prep program can give your student the tools needed to perform confidently and capably on any private school exam.

With most testing dates in the Houston area scheduled for January 2014, now is the time to start preparing for success!

Raising the Bar offers test prep for both the ISEE and HSPT. For more information, contact us at:

info@raisingthebarcc.com
832-661-5407

Decoding the NNAT, by Mikey Smith, M. Ed.

Decoding the NNAT
by Mikey Smith, M.Ed

 

SAT, STAAR, AP, PTO. . . the World of Education is filled with some fairly familiar acronyms. One acronym, however, may not be so familiar: NNAT. It stands for Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test, a test that might play an important role in your student's academic life. Jennifer Smith, veteran educator and administrator, helps break down the basics of the NNAT (or Naglieri) test.


In a nutshell, what is the NNAT?

The NNAT, also called the Naglieri, is a test commonly used for identification of students for Gifted and Talented programs. This test assesses a child's spatial intelligence (visual skills).

How is the NNAT different from other standardized tests?

It is different from other tests because there are no passages to read or math questions to answer. In fact, there are no words at all! The test is made up of only pictures that students have to analyze.