Borland Educational News and Views

Saturday, December 01, 2007

Test Dates: 2008-2009

Having a clear test preparation plan is crucial in achieving success on major standardized tests like the SAT, SAT Subjects Tests, ACT, PSAT, SSAT, and HSPT.

Testing dates scheduled during the 2008-2009 school year have now been released for most of these tests. As soon as possible, select the test dates that work best from the list below, and arrange your plans accordingly.

For further information about a particular test, click the "more information" link provided at the end of the appropriate list of dates, below.

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ACT Dates: 2008-2009

9/13/08

10/25/08

12/13/08

2/7/09

4/4/09

6/13/09

See the ACT web site for registration details (plan to register at least one month in advance).

Click here for more information.

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HSPT Dates: 2008-2009

Test dates vary. The most common dates are in the fall and spring.

Contact high school admissions departments to confirm test and registration dates.

Click here for more information.

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PSAT Dates: 2008-2009

10/15/08 or 10/18/08

10/14/09 or 10/17/09

Contact the student's high school to confirm test and registration dates (plan to register at least one month in advance).

Click here for more information.

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SAT Dates: 2008-2009

10/4/08

11/1/08

12/6/08

1/24/09

3/14/09

5/2/09

6/6/09

See the College Board web site for registration details (plan to register at least one month in advance).

Click here for more information.

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SAT Subject Test Dates: 2008-2009

10/4/08

11/1/08

12/6/08

1/24/09

5/2/09

6/6/09

See the College Board web site for registration details (plan to register at least one month in advance).

Click here for more information.

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SSAT Dates: 2008-2009

10/11/08

11/8/08

12/13/08

1/10/09

2/7/09

3/7/09

4/18/09

6/13/09

See the SSAT web site for registration details (plan to register at least one month in advance).

Click here for more information.

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Contact Chris

borlandeducational.com

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Are Teaching And Learning Gender-Neutral?

However politically incorrect it may be to say so, it appears that research is confirming yet again the important, innate role played by gender in human socialization and development – this time in an educational context, specifically, in the effect gender has upon essential classroom learning dynamics.

An Associated Press story published on August 28, 2006 discussed the controversial findings of a recent study concerning the effect of gender on teaching and learning.

Here's the introduction:

“For all the differences between the sexes, here's one that might stir up debate in the teacher's lounge: Boys learn more from men and girls learn more from women.

That's the upshot of a study by Thomas Dee, an associate professor of economics at Swarthmore College and visiting scholar at Stanford University. His study was to appear today in Education Next, a quarterly journal published by the Hoover Institution.”

For the complete text of the article, click here.

My two cents:

There is, in fact, a clear advantage to same gender instruction. It's common sense that most teenagers will be less distracted in such an environment, and, without the pressure to impress the opposite sex, more comfortable and therefore more open and able to learn. In general, instructors also experience enhanced rapport and ease with students of the same gender. Males and females have significant, innate differences in the way they perceive and communicate; recently discovered gender-based adaptations in brain physiology underscore these important distinctions. To deny these critical differences is to ignore reality – and this is certainly no way to effectively refine either pedagogy or educational policy.

It's a terrible fact that, in America today, we are fast losing the educational race. It's time to take a very serious look at anything and everything that could have a marked impact on the quality, discipline, and productivity of our public schools, including single sex education, school uniforms, et al. The time has long since passed for us to choose, as individuals and as a nation, between the nonsense of political correctness and the imperative of bona fide excellence in education.

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Contact Chris

borlandeducational.com

Monday, October 01, 2007

Marin Magazine Interview

I was recently interviewed as one of three specialists for an article by writer Samantha Bronson titled: "Higher Education: Marin College Prep Experts Give Advice."

In her piece appearing in the August 2007 edition of Marin Magazine, Bronson addresses important questions that are perennially on the minds of parents of college-bound children.

Bronson writes:

Getting into college these days is tougher than ever. Because standards are higher and competition is fierce, a child’s preparation for the college admissions game must begin at an early age.

How do parents ensure their kids are making the most of their educational opportunities? How can students raise their chances of getting into the college they want ... ? Are good grades and test scores enough? What else matters?

For the feature, Bronson also interviewed Dave Denman of Denman Associates in Sausalito, California (415-332-1831). Dave is a long-time colleague of mine, and one of the top educational consultants in the nation.

To read the entire article, click here.

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Contact Chris

borlandeducational.com

Saturday, September 01, 2007

Great Teachers Left Behind

One would think a PhD in classics from Harvard, decades of teaching experience at the high school and college levels, and superior results in the classroom would qualify one to teach Latin in California high schools under guidelines imposed by "No Child Left Behind" legislation drafted and passed into law by the Bush administration.

But no.

Jefferds Huyck and other master teachers like him are not "highly qualified" according to education officials' interpretation of the NCLB law.

Apparently, "No Child Left Behind" really means that all teachers and students in our public schools will now have to sink to the same level of mediocrity.

What's wrong with this picture?

Everything.

If a man like Mr. Huyck isn't deemed highly qualified to teach in the public school system until and unless he spends $15,000 and two years in a teaching school with freshman undergrads learning how to craft their first lesson plans, it's rather the politicians and bureaucrats who've required his dismissal that are unqualified and ought to be swiftly replaced.

A recent article in the New York Times gives all the details.

Read all about it, right here.

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Contact Chris

borlandeducational.com

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

ACT To Take Over As Top Test?

Is the tide at long last turning in the test wars? Will the ACT or the SAT2's overtake the number one spot from the SAT? Will the SAT finally go bye-bye?

Good grief ... let's hope so.

The SAT, now 80 years old, has already outlived its usefulness, and its welcome, on many if not most college campuses today. During the past 30 years, the SAT has been picked to pieces over charges of gender and racial bias, shown to be a poor predictor of success in college (the SAT's "raison d’être") and exposed as a seriously flawed and very coachable test by companies like the Princeton Review and others. Despite three desperate attempts in the last two decades to "improve" the SAT, complaints from students and parents continue to increase, bad news and reviews from school administrators, university admissions departments, and others in the education community cascade daily onto newspaper pages across the country, and everywhere people are wondering why we're all still chasing this bus.

The SAT2 tests, formerly called the Achievement Tests, along with the ACT, are top contenders to move into the prime testing territory formerly monopolized by SAT. Each of these challengers has its strengths, but either is a much better assessment tool than the SAT and could easily step into the vacuum formed by its impending extinction.

In Newsweek's August 21, 2006 issue, the magazine took a look at the ACT and it's threat to push the SAT clear out of the nest of college entrance tests. It's an excellent article, very informative, entirely interesting reading, and highly recommended for further information on this subject.

Read the full article here:

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Contact Chris

borlandeducational.com