Jan 17, 2020
Maybe your student has a long and documented history of their learning difference or maybe you’ve just recently learned it might be something you want to pursue. Either way, the accommodations process can be long, stressful, and confusing. So we’re here to help.
If you’re one of the countless Streamline parents who learned of their student’s potential learning differences through the MindPrint assessment, we encourage you to discuss these findings with the learning specialist at your school. MindPrint does not serve as a definitive diagnosis; rather, it acts as an impetus for getting the conversation and process going. Learning specialists can help you and your family make an informed decision on whether to pursue psych ed testing, which is generally needed for the accommodations process. For students with learning differences, receiving extra time, multi-day testing, or unlimited breaks can make all the difference. These accommodations go beyond just the SAT or ACT, though. Having a learning plan in place means that your student will get access to the same resources in college.
If your student has a long history of receiving accommodations or a learning plan in place at school, make sure you have that documentation on hand. You’ll need it when applying for accommodations. Most schools have a learning specialist on hand who can assist you while you apply for accommodations.
Please be aware that the CollegeBoard’s process for accommodations is completely different than the ACT’s process. Just because someone has been approved by the CollegeBoard does not mean they’ll be approved by the ACT. The ACT generally has stricter guidelines, including a longer history of documentation and a need for more recent psych ed test results. The other thing about ACT accommodations that confuses a lot of parents is that you have to actually register for an upcoming ACT in order to apply for accommodations. A lot of parents get nervous, thinking their student has to take the ACT way sooner than expected in order to get those accommodations. We always tell families to register for an upcoming ACT to get approved for accommodations, and once you’re approved, you can just push the test date back!
We know this can be a grueling and stressful process, so we encourage all parents to reach out to us to let us know how we can assist. We also encourage all parents to reach out to the learning specialist at their child’s school who can truly spearhead the process as well as recommend psychologists for psych ed testing.
Jan 15, 2020
Not so many years ago, the prominent narrative for college admissions was that well-rounded applicants fared the best. Many talented students took this to heart and joined every club, every honor society, and ran for every school or club election possible. Instead of cultivating one passion and pouring their energy into that, many talented students spread themselves too thin.
A shift in college admissions
In recent years, that narrative has shifted. Now, colleges are searching for the “angular student”— the student with an exceptional talent or passion, whose extracurricular choices supplement this “angle.”
Colleges care less about students “checking off boxes,” and care more about particular strengths or interests that make students truly unique. Every student who applies to selective colleges can join National Honors Society or Latin Club, but a student interested in studying chemistry who sought out a research opportunity in a lab? That’s extraordinary. It shows that the student is passionate, a go-getter, and already has some experience in their field of interest.
Take your passion further
Some students are so immersed in certain subjects that they find the curriculum in school to be surface-level. They want to dig deeper. They want to become an expert. We recommend subject tutoring for these students. An expert subject tutor, majoring in your field of interest, can take you down the rabbit hole and guide you through more advanced topics. They can pass on their knowledge and expertise about how they took their passion for the subject to the next level— whether that means taking classes at a local college or community college, seeking out research opportunities, or finding internships in the field.
If you have a student in Baltimore, consider enlisting the help of an expert tutor. At Streamline Tutors, we employ 20-30 part-time tutors from Johns Hopkins University every year. These students are at the top of their class and are studying anything from computer science to mechanical engineering to economics. Studying with an expert tutor will allow you to take your passion one step further, explore advanced topics not covered in school, and enhance your “angle” for college admissions.
Jan 14, 2020
If you’re a big fan of Streamline, then you may have heard about SmartyScholars, our non-profit fund dedicated to providing test prep services to talented, low-income students.
We got our official 501(c)3 status about a year ago, but had been offering one-off pro bono tutoring to talented students for about a year before that. You can check out the SmartyScholars website to see some of the success our SmartyScholars have had. Spoiler alert: this success includes full tuition at Johns Hopkins, Brown, and University of Maryland College Park.
So far, our biggest undertaking was running a summer program this past summer. We partnered with Baltimore City YouthWorks and the CollegeBound Foundation to provide a one-on-one test prep boot camp for 12 students. You may have read about the program in the Baltimore Sun or the Washington Post, or perhaps you saw the WJZ segment.
We are proud to announce the results of our first cohort: students, on average, improved 177.5 SAT points from their Junior Year PSAT scores. The median improvement was 175 points. The highest score improvement was 280 points; the lowest was 80 points. On average, students increased 20 percentile points. Additionally, the CollegeBoard publishes “College Readiness Benchmarks,” which intend to predict a student’s success in introductory level college courses. Prior to the program, 58% of students met the verbal benchmark and 17% of students met the math benchmark. After the program, 100% of students met the Verbal benchmark and 75% met the math benchmark.
Right now, we’re working to expand that pilot program to 60 students this coming summer. If you believe what we’re doing is important work, you can support us financially, here. If you know someone who would like to get involved— like a smart college student who will be home for the summer— please have them fill out this application to become an expert tutor.
Jan 13, 2020
When SAT and ACT season rolls around, many parents hesitate before signing their kids up for test prep. There is already so much going on — lacrosse practice, AP exams, rehearsals — and what does a test prep service really offer? Just a few tricks, a couple of patterns to memorize, all for some number on a piece of paper?
At Streamline, we do so much more. As educators, we view the test prep process as an opportunity for students to hone in on their strengths and weaknesses, sharpening the tools in their toolbox in preparation for life’s next big adventure. We’ve oriented our prep regime to address the building blocks of each discipline in a way that is meaningful within and beyond the context of the SAT. At the same time, Streamline emphasizes understanding where the student is coming from, and tailoring our instruction to the unique needs of the student.
This effort is especially apparent in our mathematics program. Streamline has a three-tiered pyramid approach to math problems on the SAT and ACT. The top tier is the most heavily concept driven: a quick solution involving a high-level awareness of the ideas at play. The second tier still involves a conceptual element, but the solving strategy is more straightforward. The third tier calls to stage our test-taking strategies that minimize the need for familiarity with the concept. The efficiency of each approach varies with the problem. Our tutors are trained to identify the needs of individual students and get them to the next level, no matter where they’re starting.
A successful mathematics education is like a well-constructed home. Some students come to us with a strong foundation, ready for a high-rise many stories tall. Others need brick and mortar reinforcements before they can begin even a simple flat. Some have begun to build on their foundation, only to discover it wasn’t as sturdy as they had thought. These students need help dismantling the weak structure before a bigger, better home can be built.
Streamline prepares students to walk with confidence — not just into the proctoring room, but back out into the broader world. When they meet their first college professors, we want the curtains open and the floors dusted, ready for the color and furnishings of higher education. No matter where they’re starting, we can help your child get there. To find out more, visit our website or give us call at 410-366-0479.
Dec 11, 2019
What’s a curve and how does the SAT “curve” work?
Your high school teachers may “curve” a test when the whole class does poorly. Maybe the highest grade was an 88%, so she adds 12% to every students grade so that way the highest grade is now 100% and everyone’s score is a bit higher. In college, some professors move away from this type of curve and utilize statistics in the way they curve their courses. Many college classes are graded on a curve, so that your grades are compared against the median grade, and perhaps the median grade is curved to a B or B+. The SAT is graded similarly to the way these college glasses are “curved.”
Despite the extensive quality-control testing the College Board performs, the “difficulty level” of each SAT varies. We’ve written on this before— some SAT/ACTS are, in fact, easier than others. In order to deal with this variation, the College Board tweaks the way it scores the test, using a different rubric and scaling each time. This process is called SAT score curving.
The Bell Curve
The SAT curve is meant to be a bell curve, or a perfect distribution. The College Board wants to ensure that most people score in the middle and very few people are score on the higher and lower ends. Ultimately, how the curve matches up to percentiles varies slightly from test to test. However, your scaled score (200-800 on each section) will correspond more or less with the same percentile, allowing for scores from different tests to be compared directly.
Because of the curve and varying difficulty of different SAT administrations, a certain number of correct answers isn’t going to correspond to a certain score. For this reason, scores can sometimes be difficult to predict. Some tests, deemed “easier” by the CollegeBoard will have very unforgiving curves— a few wrong questions might result in a much lower score than expected.
So why does this matter to me?
It matters because not all SATs are created equal. There is no way to predict if you’ll get a harder or easier test and there’s no way to predict exactly what your score will be based on the number of questions you get right or wrong. For this reason, you should always plan to take the test more than once. You should always approach every test knowing some might feel more challenging, and that’s okay. Not every test will allow you to reach your score potential, but taking the test multiple times will allow you to show your abilities on a variety of curves.
