Vogel Prep is a tutoring and test prep resource which helps students excel, due to its excellent tutors and proprietary strategies and solutions that really work. At Vogel Prep, we are proud to provide the best tutoring and test prep options in Arizona. This is the reason why we have had students coming from as far as Texas and Florida. Our adaptation of technology (Zoom) now provides us the flexibility to tutor your student from anywhere, whether it is at home, in college, or while traveling.
At a time when our society is talking about self-driving cars, phones that use facial or voice recognition and students spending endless hours playing games with friends on the internet, we find that some students are not motivated enough to struggle with algebra. So, we have come up with some reasons why your students should embrace the study of algebra:
The HSPT is a challenging test even for grown-ups, and for many 8th graders it is the first timed test that counts in their scholastic career. For 2 hours and 30 minutes (150 minutes), students must answer 298 questions, or spend 30 seconds per question. Questions will be divided in five subtests of questions in the five-major areas of knowledge (Math, Reading, Language, Verbal Skills and Quantitative Skills) that 8th grade students should have been exposed to during their last 7.5 years of school.
In the four amazing months since the pandemic took hold, we’ve seen dramatic changes in our educational system on a daily basis. Earlier this week, most Phoenix area school districts changed their opening plans to reflect the spiking virus numbers in our state. Scottsdale Unified District (SUSD) said its in-person classes will wait until the case numbers improve and not before September 8th. Initially, SUSD was focused on two major options for its fall campaign: “Return to Learn Program.” The options were either Full Return to Campus Live or Full Time Online. However, they have changed their earlier offer to deliver in-person classes, to insure the safety of all stakeholders. Interestingly and confusingly, all schools are having to adapt and change their plans depending on the guidance from the AZ health department and our government officials. These new developments are coming just weeks before schools are scheduled to start. And parents are expected to respond immediately and make provisions for their family’s many needs. Easier said than done!
The choices made in high school and later in college will set a person’s life’s journey. The type of skills and jobs that we will do starting right out of college will be impacted by the subjects studied as undergraduates. Studying physics will empower individuals because they be able to understand how the world that surrounds them works.
At a time when our society is talking about self-driving cars, phones that use facial or voice recognition and students spending endless hours playing games with friends on the internet, we find that some students are not motivated enough to struggle with algebra. So, we have come up with some reasons why your students should embrace the study of algebra:
In July, The ACT released a new study that evaluated the validity and fairness of different score-usage policies. An older study had indicated that underserved students were less likely to take the ACT multiple times. But now with the availability of fee waivers and free studying resources, it is believed that there is a fairer playing field for all students. In addition, now the ACT has announced that, starting in September 2020, they will automatically calculate and report the superscore for all students! While the ACT encourages colleges to evaluate their own policies, they believe superscoring provides a more valid and fair report.
As the temperatures rise and students begin to look forward to exciting summer plans, I want to remind all of them to remain focused and finish the school year strong. As the end to the school year approaches, so do AP exams and finals and I encourage students to apply themselves and to stay focused so that their grades do not suffer. For rising seniors, this is especially important because many college applications deadlines fall in November and December so Fall Semester grades will not be included in your applications. Below are a few more notes for juniors and seniors.
Since both the SAT and ACT are acceptable for colleges, how do you decide which take to take? The tests are a bit different, and some students might do better on one than the other, depending on the student’s thinking style, academic knowledge, time management, and test-taking savviness. So how do you find out which test is best test for your student? You expose and test them on both tests’ formats, then compare the results and discover if one is more favorable for your child.
How can we expose students to both formats? Here are some options:
It’s true that verbal and abstract reasoning are the cognitive skills that predict academic achievement. The ability to make sense of complex information is undeniably essential to learning at every age.
But once students leave the K12 classroom, research suggests that flexible thinking might be equally important to college and career readiness. As explained by author Eric Barker, “Schools reward students who consistently do what they are told— and life rewards people who shake things up.”
Attention Sophomores and Juniors who took the PSAT in October 2018!
Both Sophomores and Juniors are eligible to take the PSATs. Scores will be out in just a few days. If your student took the PSAT you want to look at the overall results to evaluate their comfort level with standardized testing as well as any potential strengths and weaknesses. If your Junior took the PSAT in October, you may want to compare the results with previous years and also assess if they qualify to enter the 2020 National Merit Scholarship competition.
Regardless of whether your student is a Sophomore or a Junior, PSAT scores should provide parents and students an understanding of where students might be in terms of College Readiness and potential future College Entrance Exams at the time of the test. Here are some of the major insights that could help evaluate the situation:
Has it really been ten years? It seems like only yesterday that we set out to equip students with the tools necessary to realize their potential by creating the most personalized tutoring service in the Valley, but it’s true—we started this business in the summer of 2008, and it’s with a combination of pride, exhilaration, humility, and gratitude that we look back at our first decade serving Arizona students and recall the hard work that it took to get here. But hard work is far from the whole story.
