Today we begin a new feature in Moving Minds, Ask Jason, where we answer student questions on education-related issues.

Dear Jason,

I just finished up seventh grade and I thought I did alright, but my school wants me to go to summer school to work on my math (it was my lowest grade, a C).  I told my mom I do not want to go, that summer school is just for dummies.  I am not a dummy.  What should I do?

Not Dumb

Well, Not Dumb, you certainly have touched on an issue that comes up every summer.  The truth is that summer school is not just, or even primarily, for kids who did poorly in school.  Some kids take a summer class to get ahead for the fall or free up an hour for another class they would rather take during the school year.  Some kids take a summer class just for fun (yes, for real!).  So you should not worry that when you show up for summer school that it will be like detention and everyone around you has been sent to the principal for being dumb.  You will see plenty of smart kids. 

Perhaps you feel a bit sensitive about summer school because you did not “get” math this year.  I understand.  If a teacher tells you to take a class over, even though you got a “C” and not an “F,” it makes you feel like you failed.  But think of it really as taking extra batting practice before the next big game or hitting more golf balls at the driving range before the next big tournament.  I bet that taking this course will help build your confidence as you see how much you do know from your math class, and it will also help you understand those topics that gave you real trouble.  The goal for you is to learn the concepts so you will not be slowed or confused next year in math.  So do not feel like you have been singled out or labeled dumb; quite the contrary, you will be the smart one who used the time in the summer wisely to get you really ready for the fall.

If you have a question for Jason you would like answered, just click here.

The beginning of the month of May brings sunshine, tulips, endless NBA playoff games and…yes…final exams.

Most students fail to adequately prepare for final exams and, as a result, most students see their final grade drop as a result of the final.  Why do we have final exams in the first place?  And why do students seem to struggle so much with these tests?

High school prepares students for college.  In college, most classes have one or two large tests, a midterm and a final, that count for a large percentage of the total class grade.  Unlike high school, most college classes give credit only for exams and papers, leaving daily homework to the individual student.  To help ease students into the higher stakes world of college life, high schools offer the final exam.  Beyond college preparation, final exams also serve as an assessment for the teacher and the student to see how much of the school year has been learned.  It offers an opportunity to synthesize the many units into a bigger picture, to see how the pieces fit, and to reflect on bigger themes in a course.

So, while the final exam may seem an onerous and evil plot to spoil a semester and start spring with a bad taste in one’s mouth, the final exam as a learning tool makes sense.  The key becomes preparation.

Many students receive a study guide for finals and ask the same question:  when did we cover this in class?  Yes, retaining information over the length of a semester or longer can be challenging if the material is not integrated or does not build one unit on top of the next.  In this situation, it is often too late to really study for finals in the sense that so much has been forgotten it needs to be relearned, and a few days before the final is not enough time for that level of work.

So we get to the big message of this post:  it is never too early to study for finals.  In fact, the best students start studying for finals at the beginng of the semester.

What?  That is right.  Let us take a sports analogy.  In order to make the playoffs in professional baseball, football or basketball, a team has to perform well in the regular season.  To perform well in the regular season, a team must be “ready on day one” of the season, which means a solid preseason really helps too.  Teams that start early in terms of conditioning and strategizing, spreading plays throughout the season, keeping players in shape and fresh and healthy, maximize their chance of success.  Conversely, teams that struggle early because of lack of conditioning or preparation start in a hole from which few teams recover in time to make the playoffs.  In school, students should structure their daily homework in a way that prepares for future chapter tests and ultimately a final exam.  The more work students do early and regularly in the semester, the more of the material students remember for testing.

If you find yourself struggling now for finals, engrain this image, this pain, in the front of your mind so that you remember it in the fall — and watch here for tips on how to study early and study smart!  In the meantime, as the semester nears a close…may the force be with you!

As we noted in an earlier post, Mackler students fared very well this spring in college admissions.  This accomplishment seems even more significant given the overall difficulty of students gaining admission to first choice schools.  As detailed in this Wall Street Journal article, admission to the nation’s top colleges has never been more competitive.  All elite schools saw major increases in the number of applications, causing admission rates to drop — to 7.1% at Harvard, 8.2% at Yale and 9.3% at Princeton, all records.  Public universities saw a similar trend, with North Carolina accepting only 32% and Texas only 44%.

Conventional wisdom focuses on the population boom that has led to larger pools each year seeking admission to college, combined with the ease of applying to 12 to 20 colleges using the Common Application.  Certanly too many students are applying to schools “just because,” thereby artificially enhancing the difficulty of getting accepted.  However, having examined the rejected applicant pool at these top colleges, I can tell you that students not getting accepted have better credentials in terms of grades and test scores than at any time in the last fifty years.  Quite simply, the market for admission to a top 50 college has become hyper-competitive because of increased demand, static supply, and a higher number and quality of top applicants.  As a result, schools once considered second-tier have record low acceptance rates.  While lower student populations forecast for the next few years could have some impact, most of these trends will not abate any time soon.

We discourage students from applying to schools simply because they can, because the school has a certain status and they want to be able to say, “I got into ________.”  It simply is not fair to other applicants to apply to a school for a spot you have no intention of filling.  Remember — this could come back to haunt you, as other students take up spots that could be yours at your first choice school!

Instead, we encourage students to spend more time focusing on researching schools and targeting only those that hold promise as a “good fit” based on specific criteria unique to the applicant.  Only seek admission to schools that are good fits and that you would attend if accepted.

But students continue to ask, “will I be able to get into my well-chosen first choice school?”  The top 50 schools will remain difficult because the admissions system drives students to apply to and attend these schools.  The top 50 have long reputations for excellence, which creates opportunities and connections other schools cannot provide.  At the same time, schools in the second-tier also provide wonderful educational experiences which only grow as more and more college-eligible students choose to attend college.  Because the top 50 have not decided to expand the size of their entering classes, and because students with great academic credentials will still attend college, we are seeing a dramatic change in the quality of applicants at schools in the second-tier.  Consequently, schools in the second-tier have become more selective, and will continue to do so.  Importantly, the difficulty is relative — while single digit acceptance will continue to rule at the very top, second tier colleges will still admit 55-70% of applicants.  The main difference in second-tier schools:  their student populations are becoming stronger overall, which only enhances the academic experience of all who attend.

Increased competition encourages all schools to raise their game.  Since the demand for such quality will not decrease any time soon, the heigtened competition is having the effect of increasing the level of selective and high quality schools across the country.  The key for students in this new environment is to find that good fit in a larger pooling of schools.

So…students need to up their credentials to remain competitive, and also increase the amount of research into schools prior to targeting schools for admission.  We can tell you from years of experience in the process that the key to success is early preparation, which requires focusing on credentials in freshman year (that is right…those grades count too!), test prep in the sophomore year and college research in the junior year (first semester rather than end of second semester).

Bottom line…do not get discouraged.  This challenge is not an immovable obstacle, but one that can be met with planning, perseverance and persistence!

A recent government report has shed some interesting light, and a fair amount of heat, on how best to implement and improve reading programs in our schools.  Perhaps the central finding of the study is that Reading First programs tend to develop elementary reading skills like word recognition and phonic association — a good and necessary component — but does little to increase overall comprehension. 

“There’s been a very strong focus on the decoding side of things, and not nearly enough focus on critical thinking and understanding,” said Alan E. Farstrup, the executive director of the International Reading Association, based in Newark, Del. “I hope this report stimulates people to pay attention to reading instruction much more comprehensively.”

As we approach the summer and the summer reading lists, these comments and the results of the study should encourage us to take a minute and think about how we teach reading to kids.  I know growing up that many libraries had competitions to see who could read the most books over the summer.  I see these same trends today.  We have an emphasis on quantity of reading, perhaps because we can readiily measure books read versus books comprehended.  Lots of reading in and of itself has a great benefit — it fosters familiarity with words, word patterns and word associations, which is the key to fluent and faster reading.  We encourage all of our students to free read every day, to read the newspaper or a favorite magazine, even a silly one, because it helps increase reading speed.

But we need to move beyond simply accumulating a list of books read.  Books are not meant to be tallied and discarded, but rather to be contemplated and re-read, to provoke further thinking and learning.  Another interesting finding in the federal study concerned the internet — that too much reading happened online rather than in print.  Many studies have documented how online reading can inhibit comprehension, but that does not mean we should discourage online reading (as if we could stop that trend!). 

So, what can we do this summer and onward to help our students not simply read, but comprehend?  We need to agree on what reading means.  Reading involves more than sight reading an article or book from beginning to end.  Reading involves more than retention of the facts within the article or book.  Reading also means — I would argue primarily means — wrestling with the text.  Why did the author bother writing this piece?  What did she argue?  What does it have to do with anything?  Is she right?  Why or why not?  How does this relate to me and my life?  These questions help pull the reader into the writing and to analyze the content, to think critically about the arguments and see beyond plot.  The foundation of writing and argument is critical thinking; if kids see reading (which is, after all, published writing) as just plot or regurgitation, how will they see their own writing?  As the same…and lacking argument.

So…parents, time to model.  Time to join your kids in summer reading.  Yes, you read right.  Pick two books to read with your child over the summer.  Make it your own personal book club.  Do not wait until the end of the book to start discussing it.  Sit down at dinner and talk about what you read.  Engage one another in the content, and get below the surface.  Ask each other questions.  Have an argument!  Or a civil debate.  But engage.  That is the lesson — see that reading means interacting with the text, making it come alive and become part of your world, your life.  If kids see parents taking reading seriously, they will respect it much more.  Trust me.

We use the summer as book club time and thoroughly enjoy it, amazed every year by the insightful comments of the students and delighted to see previously unengaged readers taking so fiercely to a book.

Reading is exercise for the brain.  We can keep it limber by reading a lot, but we have not made the muscle stronger.  When we think hard and critically and analyze, we strengthen the brain like a swollen bicep at the gym.  So…spend some time this summer not just on swimming or the great tan — show off that other part of your body, sitting atop your neck!

As many of our stressed-out students know, next week is AP Exam Week.  We thought we would take a minute and give you some suggestions for preparation.

Know What the Test Covers.  This may seem simplistic advice, but what you cover during the year, and more importantly, how you learn it, is not exactly how the AP will measure your knowledge of the subjects.  Some areas you learned likely will not be on the test; some, on the other hand, will show up a great deal.  For example, if you are taking the AB Calculus exam, some areas get lots of attention (integration and differentiation techniques, area and volume problems) and others get little (the gritty details of Riemann sums).  If you visit the official College Board page for your test subject, they provide excellent overview of the test content.

Know the Test Format.  This piece is critically important.  Every test has a unique design.  Some use multiple choice, some free response, some a mixture of both.  Check out the test question types and learn which questions tend to appear in what sections.  Also, pay attention to time limits (!) and how much each section is worth.  If essay questions fall on your test, check the AP scoring guidelines to see what you need to get the high score!  On the AP, having the right answer is not enough; you must “show your work” or “show your knowledge” to get full credit.

PRACTICE!!!  I am sure most of you have had conscientious teachers who have given you some review sessions and practice exams.  But trust us, those packets are not enough!  The AP is a college-level exam, and its length and level of difficulty are above probably any test you have taken in high school.  To finish the exam in time and show your stuff, you need to be moving at a good pace and filled with confidence not fear.  The best antidote to test anxiety is lots and lots of practice.  Working practice questions develops a solid familiarity with the question formats, helps you pinpoint areas for review, and develop confidence in your ability to handle the material.  Once you feel “ready,” simulate a test and time yourself in a quiet place under test conditions.

Sleep and Eat.  The brain does not do well on three plus hour exams if it has been sleep-deprived or starved for protein.  Eat a protein rich dinner, go to bed early and have a protein breakfast.  Carbs induce sleep!

We hope these tips help your final preparations.  If you have any questions, just send a comment!

Good luck!

After quite a bit of work, we are proud to announce our new site is LIVE! 

The goal of the site is to provide not just detailed information about our services, but to create a community forum on education-related issues in St. Louis.  We will be constantly updating the site with information parents, students and educators can use, from test dates and other practical information to challenging questions of the day and week to discussions of current developments and concerns in education.  Our Moving Minds blog will reflect a great deal of this content, and will update daily.  So please check it out and join in the discussion, and encourage others to join as well!  To receive updates about the site and us, please join our mailing list.

We would like to thank all the staff at The Net Impact for helping us launch this significant upgrade to our internet presence.  Great work!

April brings not only spring showers and the beginning of baseball season, it also ushers in the annual college acceptance letters. As all seniors begin to focus on which college to attend in the fall, we thought we would share with you some of the colleges for which Mackler students received acceptance letters (listed alphabetically): American University, Auburn University, Boston College, Boston University, Brandeis University, Case Western Reserve University, Denison University, Emory University, Fordham University, Georgetown University, Indiana University, Macalester College, Miami (Ohio) University, New York University, Northeastern University, Saint Louis University, Tufts University, University of Delaware, University of Illinois, University of Iowa, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, University of Missouri, University of Missouri-Kansas City (six year med program), University of Wisconsin, Vanderbilt University, Washington University.

While this list represents only some of the colleges our students will attend in the fall, it indicates the broad array of schools, the different levels of ambition and programs, found within our client base. What unifies all of these choices is fit — we take pride in helping match students with schools that meet their unique set of preferences and learning styles to maximize their chance of success at the college level.

Congratulations to all of our students! We are so proud of your accomplishments and hard work!