Jessica is a highly experienced and enthusiastic tutor.  She has her BA from Columbia University and received multiple scholarships and fellowships for getting master’s degrees in art and music from Wesleyan, Brandeis, and Bard.  Over her eight years of tutoring in New York City, she has worked with hundreds of elite independent school students in a wide range of subjects: SATs, ISEEs, SHSATs, SSATs, PSATs, and other standardized test preparation, as well as academic subjects including mathematics, English, history, sciences, and music.  She has also served as the coordinator for the Brandeis University tutoring program, taught intensive SAT prep classes through the Ivy League Tutors Foundation, and taught a range of art and music courses as a graduate teaching fellow at Wesleyan University.  She believes that tutoring should reinforce the student’s strengths, rectify misunderstandings, and nurture independent thinking.  This allows students to gain the knowledge, skills, and confidence to feel empowered and excited about their academic success. She loves teaching and loves learning.

Alisa has a Ph.D in the humanities.  She has been listed in “Who’s Who in American Educators” and has taught a variety of humanities courses at the college level.  Alisa has extensive experience with standardized test preparation and has published on writing techniques for different learning styles.  Prior to working with PWP, Alisa taught SAT and GRE prep for the Princeton Review.  She is expert at developing proficiency in standardized test content, teaching test taking strategies, and building academic self confidence so that students feel ready to successfully take exams.  She has a fun, irreverent approach, siding with the student to outsmart the test, and has a record of substantial score increases for the vast majority of her students.

Regina has an MFA from Columbia University and an MA in Liberal Studies from The Graduate Center.  Regina has been teaching and tutoring for over 10 years.  Before coming to work with Partners With Parents, Regina worked as a private tutor for the Princeton Review.   Her classroom experience has included time as an English teacher at Hunter High School and she has done one-on-one test preparation for a wide array of tests: the ISEE, SHSAT, PSAT, and SAT, among others.  In addition to working with test prep clients, Regina creates and implements curricula for homeschool students, as well as provides academic coaching and conventional subject tutoring.  On the non-tutoring front, Regina recently impressed us all with the breadth of her knowledge as a 4-day champion on Jeopardy! Look out for her on the Tournament of Champions!

If you have general questions about the ISEE, SHSAT, or the SSAT or if you are interested in learning more about Partners With Parents’ other services, please call our office at (212) 928-5016/5014 or e-mail us.

DATE: Saturday, November 21, 2009

LOCATION: The New York Public Library  328 East 67th St. (between 1st & 2nd)

TIME: 10:30am (The library opens at 10:00am, the test will begin promptly at 10:30am, and it will finish at approximately 3:00pm.)

COST: Free.  Space for this practice administration is limited, so preregistration is required!  Please contact us using the subject line ”ISEE Test Registration” or call 212-928-5016 to sign up.

Bring three sharpened pencils and a snack.

It is important to realize that test preparation cannot merely begin at the registration deadline, which is usually less than a month prior to the test date.  To ensure a confident, level-headed approach on test day, the material must be examined and taken seriously well in advance.  Standardized tests are not measures of any innate intelligence or ability; in a sense, performance on these exams is just an indicator of how well you perform on these exams. This is why our schools and universities rarely make test scores their first criteria in decision-making.  Meaningful preparation that results in actual mastery of the material usually raises a student’s score substantially.

As you look ahead to your child’s exam schedule in the upcoming year, don’t miss your registration deadlines, but be sure you don’t forget to accommodate the learning process that comes far prior to registration, either.  Make a study plan a year in advance that includes understanding how the test works.  Take a practice test each month in real test conditions to develop ease with test-taking itself.  Break down the test into discrete concepts and commit to learning one each week – triangles this week, probability next.  Learn a new word or two each day.  There are hundreds of resources for each standardized test at your disposal – books, word lists, worksheets, computer programs, etc.  This kind of preparation will leave many students well-prepared for test day.

If you know your child faces a struggle with a standardized test, professional test prep is always an option.  We all know this is a huge industry, with thousands of classes and private tutors in New York City alone.  One piece of advice: Research your options and know how much you are willing to spend in total.  It can get very expensive.  Another piece of advice: If you know you are going to have a few sessions with a tutor, do the majority of them months in advance.  That way, you’ll know where you stand and have the time to address areas of weakness.  Then you can have the last couple of sessions right before the test date for lingering questions and final preparations.  For self-disciplined learners, a good tutor will be able to identify gaps in knowledge and create a plan of action that the student can follow independently.  For those students who need more attention, there are rigorous programs that provide step-by-step instruction over the course of months.

The bottom line: Make a plan!  Get familiar with the test as well as the dates that serve you.  If you don’t feel confident with some of the content, target those areas for extra attention.  Seek outside resources. (You might as well start by checking out free or low-cost options before jumping right in with tutors who charge hundreds of dollars an hour.)  Practice, practice, practice!  Then, the night before the big day, relax a little.  If you’ve done a thorough preparation, the confidence will be there, and the results will come.