Dear Colleagues:

Since becoming president of the College Board this past October, I have had the opportunity to travel around the country, meeting with members and listening to their ideas on how we can improve our organization and enhance our ability to serve students. A recurring theme of these conversations has been the desire for the College Board to find ways to better connect K–12 and higher education institutions through a more innovative assessment that sharply focuses on a core set of knowledge and skills that are essential for readiness, access, and success.

In the months ahead, the College Board will begin an effort in collaboration with its membership to redesign the SAT® so that it better meets the needs of students, schools, and colleges at all levels. We will develop an assessment that mirrors the work that students will do in college so that they will practice the work they need to do to complete college. An improved SAT will strongly focus on the core knowledge and skills that evidence shows are most important to prepare students for the rigors of college and career. This is an ambitious endeavor, and one that will only succeed with the leadership of our Board of Trustees, the strong coordination of our councils and committees, and the full engagement of our membership.

First administered in 1926, the SAT was created to democratize access to higher education for all students. Today the SAT serves as both a measure of students’ college and career readiness and a predictor of college outcomes. In its current form, the SAT is aligned to the Common Core as well as or better than any assessment that has been developed for college admission and placement, and serves as a valuable tool for educators and policymakers. While the SAT is the best standardized measure of college and career readiness currently available, the College Board has a responsibility to the millions of students we serve each year to ensure that our programs are continuously evaluated and enhanced, and most importantly respond to the emerging needs of those we serve.

As we begin the redesign process, there are three broad objectives that will drive our work:
Increase the value of the SAT to students by focusing on a core set of knowledge and skills that are essential to college and career success; reinforcing the practice of enriching and valuable schoolwork; fostering greater opportunities for students to make successful transitions into postsecondary education; and ensuring equity and fairness.

Increase the value of the SAT to higher education professionals by ensuring that the SAT meets the evolving needs of admission officers, faculty, and other administrators, and that the SAT remains a valid and reliable predictor of college success.

Increase the value of the SAT to K–12 educators, administrators and counselors by strengthening the alignment of the SAT to college and career readiness; ensuring that the content reflects excellence in classroom instruction; and developing companion tools that allow educators to use SAT results to improve curriculum and instruction.
The College Board has begun to engage key stakeholders to solicit feedback. I have asked Vice President James Montoya and Executive Director Fabrizio D’Aloisio to head up outreach efforts to ensure that the voices of our members are heard throughout this process. Jim and Fabrizio will be holding meetings and discussions throughout the country to ensure that the redesign of the SAT reflects the input of College Board membership. We will also be working closely with our partners at ETS whose able assistance will be critical to our success.

This effort cannot succeed without your direct engagement, and I hope that you will work with us in the months ahead as we undertake this important initiative.

Sincerely,

David Coleman
President, The College Board

 

Whether you just want to register for the SAT, discover  SAT test dates and locations, find the best SAT prep books, hire an SAT tutor, find an SAT preparation course, find free  SAT preparation aids, or even watch some  SAT prep videos you have come to the right place. If you are an institution or small group we can also offer  you a custom designed  SAT preparation course.

Private Toronto SAT tutoring and Toronto ACT tutoring are also available.

Those applying to Ontario independent and private schools may be required to take the SSAT. Toronto SSAT tutoring is  available.

We are based in Toronto, Canada and have been in the business of preparing students for standardized tests since 1979.

We offer two course formats. The first is our week long “24 hour” SAT Preparation Course (offered in the summer). The second is our “One Weekend Intensive SAT Prep Course” (offered during the school year).

Our next  SAT Preparation Courses in Toronto are:

One Weekend Intensive SAT Preparation Course – $495 + HST (Includes all course materials)

S. 1 February 2013 – Target March 2013 SAT

Saturday February 23 and Sunday February 24 – 9:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. each day

S. 2 April  2013 – Target May 2013 SAT

Saturday April 27 and Sunday April 28 – 9:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. each day

S. 3 May  2013 – Target June 2013 SAT

Saturday May 25 and Sunday May 26 – 9:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. each day

Week Long – 24 Hour SAT Preparation Course – $900 + HST – Summer 2013

S. 1 Tuesday July 2 – Friday July 5 – 9:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. each day

S. 2 Tuesday August 27 – Friday September 30 – 9:30 a.m.- 3:30 p.m. each day

Location: University of Toronto Downtown Campus

Your Teacher – Wayne Barkel – Put 30 years of math teaching and test prep experience to work for you!

Course registration:  please complete and submit the following form. We will contact you within 24 hours to confirm your registration and confirm payment details. Questions: 416 410 7737 or satreasoningprep@gmail.com

Further opportunities:

Monthly  SAT Math Orientation sessions

U.S. College Personal Statement Seminar – Sunday September 23/12 (Free to all SAT students)

Queen’s Personal Statement of Experience Workshop – January 2013 – Date TBA

___________________________________

How To Register For The SAT Reasoning Test

An important reminder! Registration in our Toronto SAT Preparation Course does not register you for the SAT. Information and instructions for how to register for the SAT Reasoning Test are here.

__________________________________________

Further questions or concerns?

- satreasoningprep@gmail.com

- (416) 410 -7737

________________________________________

Okay, now for a bit of fun!

Check out the trailer to the movie “The Perfect Score“. It’s about a group of high school kids, looking to do anything (well almost) to get that perfect SAT test score.

Interest in U.S. colleges and universities is increasing. Applying to U.S. schools is a long process which is unfamiliar to most Canadians. Furthermore, U.S. schools will require either the SAT or  the ACT.

“People don’t plan to fail – they fail to plan!”

Join us for a seminar designed to teach you to plan to be accepted to U.S. colleges. Whether you are academically inclined and are targeting the Ivy League schools or whether you are an athlete hoping to combine your athletics with an education, this is the seminar that you:

“Can afford to take,  but can’t afford to miss!”

When: Saturday May 7, 2011 – 5:00 p.m.  – 7:00 p.m.

Where: University of Toronto  Downtown

Registration Fee: $10 payable either at the door or in advance

Registration – Required! Please email: satreasoningprep at gmail dot com or register through EventBrite. Make  sure that you include  your: name, address, telephone number and tell us where you would like to apply.

How To Get Into The Top Colleges

Bonus: Attendees will receive a free copy of Richard Montauk’s “How To Get Into The Top Colleges”

Join us on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/satreasoningprep

Join us for our Toronto SAT Preparation Course – May 15, 21, 22

Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 7, 2005; Page A01

Here is an article to help you decide wither to take take the TOEFL or IELTS.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/01/113_59983.html

A well-known instructor who teaches the U.S. standardized Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) was kidnapped and was forced to sign a renewal contract, amid the widening police investigation into the recent leakage of questions of the test, the Hankook Ilbo said Saturday.

The authorities said the owner of a private learning institute in Seoul specializing in preparing students for SAT, who was arrested Monday for leaking questions to Koreans in the United States, was also discovered to have kidnapped and then assaulted a colleague, forcing him to sign a renewal contract.

According to the police, the owner kidnapped the well-known SAT writing instructor, identified only as B, 38, took him to a resort villa on the outskirts of Seoul. He beat B several times, threatened with a knife and forced him to sign a renewal contract.

After gaining freedom, B reported the case to the police.

B taught the writing section of SAT and was known to be a sought-after figure among students. A fee to sit in on his course for a month as much as costs several million won, according to the report.

As SAT has gained popularity in Korea with the increasing number of Koreans students who choose to study in the United States, competition among private institutions in Seoul to recruit instructors with good reputation has become fierce, sometimes creating legal disputes when an instructor wants to transfer to another competitor institution.

“Students choose an institution based on a particular figure, who is known to teach well, creating a ferocious competition among private institutions to recruit them. These figures are often paid hundreds of millions of won annually,” said an identified person who knows the situation well, in the article.

The news comes at a time when Korean police are expanding their investigation of private academic institutes in Gangnam, southern Seoul.

An instructor identified by his surname, Jang, and three college students, who were temporarily hired by the instructor, are now being questioned for smuggling SAT exam sheets out from a test center in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province, where they took the test last Saturday.

Going to U.S. universities has become popular among those who are not satisfied with the level of education offered by Korean universities, as well as those who cannot get into the most competitive Korean universities.

In 2008, South Korean households spent 20.9 trillion won ($18 billion) on private education to supplement the perceived shortcomings of the public school system, and the number of private educational institutes has increased nearly 50-fold since 1970, according to the education ministry.

By JOHN HECHINGER

Check out the comments on this article.

High-school students’ performance last year on the SAT college-entrance exam fell slightly, and the score gap generally widened between lower-performing minority groups and white and Asian-American students, raising questions about the effectiveness of national education reform efforts.

Average scores for the class of 2009 in critical reading dropped to 501 from 502, in writing to 493 from 494 and held steady in math, at 515. The combined scores are the lowest this decade and reflect stalled performance over the past three years. The reading scores are the worst since 1994.

Many observers Tuesday viewed the flat results of recent years as discouraging in light of a more than 25-year effort to improve U.S. education. “This is a nearly unrelenting tale of woe and disappointment,” said Chester E. Finn Jr., president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank. “If there’s any good news here, I can’t find it.”

Mr. Finn, a former education official in the Reagan administration, said he expected the results of the SAT and ACT — another college entrance exam — to add fuel to a movement among the nation’s governors and school superintendents to come up with consistent national standards for high-school curricula.

The SAT scores — which range from 200 to 800 — are closely watched because the standardized test measures the achievement of America’s top high-school students. It is the most widely administered college-entrance exam.

The fresh data are sure to figure into the debate over President Barack Obama’s education agenda and potential changes to the federal No Child Left Behind law, which is up for renewal in Congress.

In the class of 2009, African-American students received an average critical reading score of 429, or 72 points below the general population. Math scores had a similar gap. Hispanic students’ scores also lagged but not by as much.

Asian-American students showed the most dramatic gains. In math they scored an average of 587 — 72 points better than the general population. Since 2008, their average math score has climbed six points.

The results come a week after the disclosure that only a quarter of 2009 high-school graduates who took the ACT, the other main college entrance exam, had the skills to succeed in college.

Gaston Caperton, president of the College Board, the New York-based nonprofit that oversees the SAT, stressed what he considered the good news in Tuesday’s data: the growing and diverse number of students taking the exam.

A record 1.53 million students took the exam in 2009. About 40% were minority students, up from 29% in 1999. Education analysts said scores would be expected to drop as more students take the test, so College Board officials interpreted the stability in scores as encouraging.

Noting the gap in achievement between lower-performing minority students and the general population, College Board officials said those who lagged tended to go to school in poorer districts with fewer resources. “As a country, we must do better providing students of every background access to the best education,” Mr. Caperton said.

College Board officials said that Asian-American students appeared to do better at all income levels. Officials said that was because they tend to take more Advanced Placement and other rigorous courses, and their families place a strong value on success in education.

Though no timetable has been set, Congress is expected to revisit President George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind law, which took effect in 2002 and mandates that all students be proficient on state tests in reading and math by 2014. It requires that all schools show steady progress toward meeting that goal or face sanctions. The law is aimed especially at boosting the achievement of minorities.

Mr. Obama has made college-readiness a major focus of his own education agenda, and the recent college-entrance results show the challenge of that task.

Critics of No Child Left Behind, including parents and teachers’ unions, have noted that much-touted gains on state tests often aren’t mirrored on national exams, such as the SAT. U.S. schoolchildren also lag top-performing Asian countries on an international assessment of math achievement.

“You can’t look at these results and say that NCLB has been an enormous success,” says Jack Jennings, president of the Center on Education Policy, a nonpartisan research organization in Washington. “The bottom line is the country is changing dramatically. Unless minority kids are educated better, we are going to be in trouble because pretty soon they are going to be the majority.”

Russ Whitehurst, a former top education official in Mr. Bush’s administration, noted that NCLB focuses more on early grades and wasn’t designed to have a huge impact on high school. The SAT scores echo other national tests that have found improvement in early grades that don’t translate into high school, he said.

Mr. Whitehurst, a senior fellow and director of the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank, says the U.S. has done “a decent job” educating the fast-growing population of Hispanic families. But he says the SAT results show a need to improve writing and reading instruction.

Write to John Hechinger at john.hechinger@wsj.com

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125121641858657345.html