Friday, December 30, 2011

Victory Step's Newest Test Prep Center in Fort Worth!


In keeping with our company’s goal of helping every student reach their full academic potential, we here at Victory Step are opening our new office in Fort Worth on January 2, 2012! We hope this new location will help us reach out to college-bound students in Fort Worth and surrounding areas.

These are some of the high schools our new location will be catering to:
- Eastern Hills High School
- Dunbar High School
- North West Christian Academy
- Nolan Catholic High School
- Arlington High School
- Kennedale High School
- Temple Christian Schools
- Arlington Martin High School
...and many more!


The new location will offer the same excellent services as our Dallas and Irving offices, with private instruction and group classes available from our highly qualified, caring instructors, at the same affordable prices. Click here to look at our upcoming class schedule at our Fort Worth Center - http://www.victorysteponline.com/SAT_Schedule.html.


As always, we encourage our clients to share their experiences and success stories with friends and family, and to take advantage of our Refer ‘n’ Win program. With the opening of our new location, more students than ever before will be able to improve their standardized test scores!

Take a step toward your bright future today!

Victory Step In Fort Worth
5601, Bridge St, Suite 300,
Fort Worth, 76112

Monday, December 26, 2011

Managing Anxiety is Important for Success!


As students, tests always seem to be waiting for us on the horizon. Never does much time pass between tests for various classes; as soon as one is finished the studying for one, three, or five more has started. They are unavoidable in any class and help students and teachers assess both the understanding of materials for the class and a variety of skills relevant to higher education and the real world work environment. These skills include the abilities to prepare a schedule for studying, to balance studying for different classes, to manage time effectively during a test by assessing knowledge learned and questions best left skipped, and to control the anxiety that comes with important events and deadlines. With a test as important as the SAT, all of these skills are challenged even more as many students find themselves studying without the familiar classroom resources and as the importance of getting a great score increases test anxiety.

This anxiety over the SAT was the subject of a recent CNN Schools of Thought blog debating the merits and challenges of getting extended time to take the SAT. The option is certainly a necessity for some students, it is a valuable tool for students with documented physical and mental disabilities, but a small percentage of students suffering from test anxiety have also qualified for a 50% or 100% increase in time for the SAT. While test anxiety is a real problem for many students, additional time may not be the answer for students seeking to perform well in college.

Managing anxiety is as important for success in college as it is in high school and on the SAT. For many college courses, tests become even more central to grades as the importance of homework grades declines. Being able to perform well on these tests means learning and practicing how to deal with the anxiety that comes from high-pressure situations. Thankfully, that learning process is started early in any student’s education; by the time the SAT rolls around during junior or senior year, students have had ample opportunities to practice taking tests in their classes.

It is important to realize that these tests are not there only to cause unnecessary stress for students or to provide an endpoint for the material of a course, but exist as an integral part of the learning process. Tests do not exist purely to assess how well a student has mastered information, but to reinforce that information and the skills that accompany these stressful situations. Tests help students learn; they create organizational patterns of information and provide an opportunity to strengthen the neural pathways used in recalling information. Properly preparing for a test reinforces good study habits in addition to the material covered on the test, and trying to harness test anxiety into productive testing energy is a skill which every test provides a new opportunity to hone.

The best method for reducing or controlling test anxiety is not to rely on extended time, but to practice managing that anxiety while taking tests. This practice can occur throughout high school during tests or in a prep class for the SAT. Practicing specifically for the SAT (or any other standardized test) helps create reasonable expectations for performance on the test by providing opportunities to take the full test under ideal conditions, the results of which can be compared and used to predict the score on the actual test. In addition, they provide a chance to get used to the time constraints of the test. Being able to accurately predict performance and manage time on the SAT are the best ways of reducing the anxiety that comes with a test of this importance. The best way to reduce test anxiety is to bring to every test in high school the preparation, focus, and intensity which you would use on the real SAT.

Friday, December 16, 2011

I don’t go to college, I go to NYU!

Danielle is a blogger and instructor for Victory Step. Danielle's contact's information - daniellecocanougher@gmail.com


New York University has its own type of notoriety. Although the school is known for its academic achievements, the university is more often singled out for it’s unbeatable location, celebrity attendees and unusual day-to-day realities. All of these factors make being a student at NYU unlike almost every other college experience, but the university still always ranks as one of students’ top “dream” schools in the Princeton Review’s annual College Hopes and Worries Survey (this year it ranked number three).
So with that in mind, I wanted to break down what it’s really like attending one of the most popular and most interesting universities in the nation. Then you can decide for yourself if NYU is your type of dream.

1. The people are amazing, and it’s a double-edged sword.

In general, every student, professor and staff member at NYU has an incredible story to tell. The professors are almost always big names in the industry or field that they teach and their personal accomplishments are beyond impressive.
As for the average NYU student, he or she is the type of student who did well in high school and took the time to study for the SAT – the middle score for students ranges from low-600’s to mid-700’s in each section. But most of the students also have a tendency to be unreasonably successful and interesting for their age. For example, one student was born in India but grew up in Japan and speaks five languages. The next published her first novel at the age of 16 and is now working on a degree in Biochemical Engineering, while balancing two part-time internships. And no, I’m not exaggerating.
In fact, I always liked to joke that at NYU, no matter how cool you think you are, the person sitting next to you is probably cooler – especially since there’s a pretty good chance you’re sitting next to Dakota Fanning. But like I said above, it’s a double-edged sword. On the one hand, being constantly surrounded by a high-level of success and ambition can be intimidating and overwhelming. At the same time, it always drove me to work harder and improve my own credentials, which is something I know will serve me well in the professional world.

2. The city is your campus.

Technically, the main campus is located near Washington Square Park, where the largest cluster of NYU-owned buildings gives its students a relative degree of isolation. I say relative, because no matter how many purple flags you see flying over the buildings’ entrances, the truth is that Manhattan dominates. At other schools, students walk out of their classrooms and find more students, more classrooms. At NYU, as soon as you step outside the building you are not a student; you are a New Yorker.
And although there are certainly downsides to this sort of vulnerability – “I think that hobo just spit on me,” or “Mom, hold on I can’t hear you, there are five fire trucks driving by right now” – it does give you a special sort of spunk.

3. NYU is the school for students who wouldn’t quite fit in anywhere else.

NYU students are hard to categorize. They come from a variety of backgrounds and have a huge range of interests. Because of their many differences, it seems unlikely that the student body would ever willingly gel together to create the same sort of community one would see at a school like the University of Texas. This is partially due to a lack of huge, campus-wide events such as football games (NYU does not have a football team), and partially because the students are naturally independent.
But there are plenty of opportunities to get involved in the university on a smaller scale. NYU has a massive student body (over 19,000 students are currently enrolled in the undergraduate program alone), and it is made up of tons of tight-knit communities. Student life has a little something for everyone and 99% of the time there will be a club that fits you. If for some reason you can’t find a club celebrating your interests, NYU strongly encourages you to start one.
And no matter what, simply being a NYU student connects you to each and every one of your peers. There is a lot of common ground, from complaining about the subway traffic to bragging about which celebrity you saw on the way to class that day. At the very least, you can always chat about the crazy old man who directs student traffic and keeps everyone on schedule outside of Washington Square Park. Go visit the campus, and you’ll know exactly whom I’m talking about.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Should Students be Paid to Score Well on the SAT?

In 1996, a group called Advanced Placement Strategies had a radical idea: why not just pay students to do better on tests?

Thus the Advanced Placement Incentive Program (APIP) was born. APIP offers money to students and teachers for improving scores on AP tests. Under this program, students who score a 3 or above can receive between $100 and $500, and teachers can receive up to a $15,000 bonus if their students are successful.

Not surprisingly, some people are offended by the idea of paying students to get an education. In fact, when a Harvard economist named Roland Fryer tried to perform some of his own experiments, he received death threats. And even though more and more school districts are giving APIP, or something like it, a shot, many schools have rejected the idea outright.

It isn’t that this kind of solution isn’t effective; in fact, APIP seems to be very successful. It began in 10 schools in Dallas, and now exists in over 60 around the country. According to the APS website, school districts participating in this program have seen a 1089% increase in qualifying AP scores since the program began.
According to a research done at Cornell University, districts which have joined the APIP have seen improvements in other academic areas as well. Kirabo Jackson of Cornell writes that some of these schools have seen “a 30 percent increase in the number of students scoring above 1100 on the SAT or 24 on the ACT, and an 8 percent increase in the number of students who matriculate in college.”

Some people may object that they don’t want their tax money to contribute to this kind of thing, but most of the program’s funding doesn’t come from taxes: about 75% comes from private donors. Other people may argue that $500 is just too high a bonus for high school students, but the number is not entirely arbitrary. Part of its justification is that the money students receive helps to offset the cost of taking AP exams, which can run almost as high as $100 per test.
Some details of the APIP approach still need to be worked out. For instance, is it better to pay students for output (getting good grades), or for input (putting in the work to get good grades)? APIP uses the first approach, but Fryer’s research shows that the second approach may be better.

So let’s say it works: there are still questions to answer. Even if APIP improves test scores, is it a good idea? What about the lessons that it teaches students? Does paying students to learn keep them from appreciating the value of knowledge for its own sake? Does it make kids spoiled or shallow? Is Time magazine correct in calling it a “bribe?” These types of questions are difficult to answer.

One thing that I think everyone can agree on is that even though improving test scores is important, it can’t be schools’ only focus. Standardized test scores don’t necessarily say anything about how much a student has learned. Paying students to score well on AP tests can only address a very small part of a very big problem.


Advanced Placement Strategies < http://www.apstrategies.org/>

Fryer Jr., Roland G. “Financial Incentives and Student Achievement: Evidence from Randomized Trials.” Quarterly Journal of Economics. (May 2011). < http://www.edlabs.harvard.edu/pdf/studentincentives.pdf>

Jackson, C. Kirabo. “Cash for Test Scores: The Impact of the Texas Advanced Placement Incentive Program.” Education Next. Vol. 8, No. 4 (Fall 2008).
http://educationnext.org/cash-for-test-scores/

Jackson, C. Kirabo. “A Little Now for a Lot Later: A Look at a Texas Advanced Placement Incentive Program.” Working Papers. 2007.

Ripley, Amanda. “Should Kids Be Bribed To Do Well in School?” Time. (April 8, 2010). < http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1978758,00.html>

Friday, December 2, 2011

To Tutor or Not to Tutor, That is a Good Question!


Parents who want to help their students do well on their standardized exams face a tough decision when they seek help for their students. Should they seek the help of a private tutor, or would the student do better in a classroom setting? There is no hard and fast answer to this question. Each student is different, and their educational needs are different, not to mention troubles with scheduling classes around clubs and sports. However, for the parent who’s on the fence about the issue, here are some general guidelines to aid you in the decision.

Private tutoring might be the best option for highly motivated students who already have above average SAT or ACT scores and simply seek to improve them enough to be more competitive in admissions to certain universities. These students benefit from the flexibility of private tutoring, which allows them to work with their tutor at their own pace, breezing through material they already understand while slowing down for their weak points on the test. Further, students who fall into this category have already gained mastery of the basic concepts in each section and use their private tutoring sessions to focus on the advanced concepts. Private tutoring best suits these students by building upon the foundations already laid by their previous education and by tailoring lessons to what the individual student needs to learn specifically.

On the other end of the spectrum, motivated students who have done poorly in the past on standardized tests could benefit greatly from private tutoring. These students need the focused help and attention of a private tutor in order to uncover systemic errors in their critical thinking process. A private tutor can work through each problem with the student step-by-step in order to correct the logic the student uses in finding the answer. Private tutoring also allows for a slower pace in covering the material, so that all the student’s questions can be answered thoroughly, and information can be covered repeatedly as needed.

Finally, private tutoring is a good alternative for students whose busy schedules would prevent them from attending a regular class. After all, signing up for an SAT prep course does not automatically give a boost to your score. Therefore, if a student cannot commit to a regular weekly schedule of classes in addition to school, sports, clubs and the like, private tutoring can be a flexible option to work with the schedule the student already has.

All of this is not to say that other students cannot benefit from private tutoring. Any student can, so long as he or she has the motivation to focus during the time with his or her tutor. Conversely, this is also not to say that these types of students would not benefit from a classroom program. These sorts of programs allow students to learn from each other as well as the instructor by allowing them to see a number of approaches to a problem or different questions raised from different perspectives. It also helps students to focus in a way, as the attentiveness of one student often encourages it in others. Finally, it creates good-natured rivalries between classmates that encourages them to try to outdo the other, motivating them by using another’s success as the bar to surpass.

As an instructor, I find that students benefit most from a combination of both classroom instruction and private tutoring. It allows the students to learn the strategies in class and put them into practice on their practice exams while giving them time to cover problems they personally face in each of the sections.
Whether you decide on private tutoring, a class, or both, the important thing is to find help for your student in whatever way will best aid him or her in preparing for this exam.


Toni Whalen is an instructor with Victory Step.