Read, Write, Achieve!

Students around the world, especially during the summer, often wonder, “What am I going to do with all this free time?” Of course summer is meant for fun things such as playing games, watching movies, and hanging out with friends, but we also need to think of productive things to do during the summer as well.

We’ve compiled this list of seven productive things you can do during summer vacation:

1. Reflect on the semester

   • It doesn’t have to be done formally on paper (feel free to draw or map out your brain).
   • Answer these three questions:
     1. What did I do well during this semester?
     2. What did I not do so well in the past semester?
     3. What will I do differently in the coming semester?

2. Watch educational YouTube videos

   • We know you have your favorite YouTubers out there, but you should also try to watch educational videos as well (e.g., TED talks, BrainPop, National Geographic)!

3. Learn a new language

   • With the plethora of social media and websites out there, you can try to pick up a new language over the summer!

4. Volunteer

   • Giving back and working to improve your community can be very meaningful. Volunteer to help out at a nursing home or an animal shelter!

5. Achieve an athletic goal

   • Try doing five pull-ups in the morning and night.
   • Try doing 20 push-ups a day.
   • Try to run a mile in under 10 minutes.
   • Try to hold a plank for a minute.

6. Enjoy the great outdoors

   • Go for a hike, have a picnic, or go out to a lake! Have fun being active.

7. Improve your reading and writing skills

   • Summer is a great time to expand your vocabulary and practice writing.
   • Come up with a list of 5 to 10 books you want to read over the summer and keep a reading journal.

We want to thank all of you for making the end of the year celebration possible! So many of our SpiderSmart friends and families were able to join us on June 11 for our celebration at Tysons Center.The Fun Fest featured fun games, arts and crafts, info sessions on our wonderful programs, and so much food!

Here are some pictures of our first successful end of the year celebration:

Also, congratulations to our two raffle winners: Alan Wang, iPad, and Vishnu Chilukuri, TI-84 graphing calculator.

SpiderSmart is proud to have spent the beginning of summer vacation with everyone who came out to the event. We will continue to host events like this in the future so STAY TUNED!

Children become lifelong readers for various reasons. There may have been a book that truly captured one’s imagination, there may have been a book that ignited a fire for fine-tuning one’s writing style, or simply put, there may have been a book that they read for pleasure.

Here are some tips for raising a lifelong reader:

• Read to both little and big kids: Whether it’s bedtime story time or family read-aloud time, children can benefit from hearing the rhythm of the language, learning how to pronounce words correctly, and relaxing and letting the story seep in their brains.
• Read old favorites: Classics are there for a reason. Try introducing books you loved as a kid: Harry Potter Series, Charlotte’s Web, Chronicles of Narnia.
• Pick books about topics children love: Dinosaurs, fire trucks, cars.. . . you name it! Kids will always love reading about the things they are interested in.
• Use humor to your advantage: Some books that are out there, such as Diary of a Wimpy Kid or Captain Underpants, may be books parents do not want their children to read in fear that children will imitate these book characters. As long as you talk about the content with them, let them enjoy the story itself!
• Make reading a family value: Don't just preach to kids about reading. Be the example!

Grades and tests are important. However, it is even more important to instill a love for learning in children. Research indicates 4 out of 10 U.S. high school students have little to no interest in school. As students get older, some become less interested about learning and more about achievement. As a result, students may start to think learning is not fun.

Start early, inspire often. Young children almost always find just about everything fascinating. Take advantage of this voracious appetite!

Model learning. Don’t just talk through the learning process with children. Show them!

It’s not always about the “right” answers. Too often, learning is about getting the “right” answer. Instead of always trying to be the expert, have your kids explore and let them teach you along the way.

Go beyond subjects and help them master skills. Math, reading, social studies, and science are important subjects for your students to master, but keep in mind that there are other skills for students to learn such as perseverance, empathy, and kindness.

One thing the current media crisis has highlighted is how unbelievably social kids are and how much they want to be. More and more children are watching Netflix and playing video games. They’re also video chatting more and pursuing their interests online. Although nothing can replace in-person interaction for children, using tech to strengthen relationships is more important than ever.

According to Common Sense Media, media researchers have been advocating for a shift from evaluating quantity of screen time to quality of content. This type of research is critical, especially during the pandemic era. Here are some recommendations when it comes to using technology.

Good content is key. Choose age-appropriate, high-quality media and tech for your kids.

Get creative. Let kids use your phone to shoot pictures and videos and edit them using tools. Give them a challenging prompt to take pictures of something round and then write a story connecting each thing.

Balance still matters. Screentime is important for each child, but also make sure they are spending enough time outside being active.

As the school year approaches its end, students are getting ready to study for their SAT. Summer’s the perfect time for high schoolers to get ahead for college! SpiderSmart Tyson’s Summer SAT Test Prep Program starts June 13! Click here to learn more.

Here are the anticipated SAT dates for the 2022-2023 school year:

• August 27, 2022
• October 1, 2022
• November 5, 2022
• December 3, 2022
• March 11, 2023
• May 6, 2023
• June 3, 2023

A trusted name in Northern Virginia for 30+ years, SpiderSmart Tysons now offers 2-week-long SAT test prep programs:

• SAT Deep Dive (9AM—12:30PM)
  We take your high schooler beyond the basics and reveal the secrets in how the College Board frames SAT questions. Your student will learn to identify patterns and respond with the right answers, quickly and confidently, helping them achieve their best scores.
• Critical Reading Mastery (1—3PM)
  For many, the Reading section is the trickiest section of the SAT. We train your high schooler how to deconstruct reading passages, make sound inferences, and ace the Reading portion of the SAT.

여름방학은 학생들이 대학 진학 준비를 할수있는 완벽한 시간입니다!

30년 동안 북부 버지니아에서 신뢰받는 SpiderSmart Tysons Corner에서 SAT Test Prep 강의를 6/13부터 시작합니다.

• SAT Deep Dive (9AM-12:30PM)
  College Board에서 SAT문제를 어떻게 구성하는지 궁굼하신가요? 이 프로그램을 통해서 학생들은 문제별 패턴을 식별하고 올바른 답변을 자신 있게 고를수 있게 될것이고 따라서 최고의 점수를 달성 할수있는 방법을 배울것입니다.
• Critical Reading Mastery (1-3PM)
  많은 학생들이 SAT에서 가장 까다롭게 생각하는 섹션은 Reading입니다. 이 프로그램을 통해서 학생들은 Reading Passage들을 정확하게 분해하고 또 정확하게 추론을 해서 SAT Reading섹션을 에이스 하는 방법을 배울것입니다.

In late March, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced that for fall 2023 admissions it will reinstate its requirement that all applicants submit scores from an SAT or ACT exam, a reverse in policy that will likely ripple out to other colleges and universities.

The onset of Covid in 2020 saw a marked rise in criticism of standardized tests, with many openly opposing SAT/ACT score requirements for college admissions. More than three-quarters of colleges are no longer requiring the SAT or the ACT for admissions.

MIT’s announcement, however, is a significant departure from recent trends. MIT’s rationale on why it decided to revert to requiring test scores is because going “test-optional” tends to raise rather than lower socioeconomic barriers. It turns out that dropping test score requirements actually hurts low-income students, rather than assisting them. According to The Atlantic, getting rid of testing does not get rid of the inequitable policies that systemically deprive some children and adolescents of clean water, nutritious food, green space, safe neighborhoods, new classrooms, stimulating teachers, and enriching cultural experiences. Dropping admissions testing requirements means other factors–such as essays, recommendations, and coursework–must be weighted more heavily. Because these factors are more strongly correlated with family income than test scores, dropping test scores actually tilts the playing field even more in favor of well-off students.

Click to Read The New York Times article

Participating in higher education has now become an absolute need in American society. Standardized testing will not solve the unequal societal issues we see today, but it can certainly become a means to make the pathway to higher education fairer.

In response to what we view as a reversal in the importance of standardized tests, particularly the SAT and ACT, SpiderSmart is investing in broadening and deepening its test prep program and is piloting this program during the summer of 2022.

SpiderSmart at Tysons Center is offering two SAT/ACT prep programs for students in 9th to 12th grade:

SAT Deep Dive (9am to 12:30pm): Ideal for students taking the SAT test in August or early fall. Breaks down the SAT in terms of its format, concepts tested, and winning strategies, so students are better prepared to reach their potential.

Critical Reading (1pm to 3pm): Focused on reading short articles and book excerpts. Helps students deepen their vocabulary, learn how to make accurate inferences, and master reading comprehension skills.

Each class is offered during the following four sessions (two weeks per session):

• Session 1: June 13 - June 24
• Session 2: June 27 - July 8
• Session 3: July 11 - July 22
• Session 4: July 25 - August 5

To register: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdb9jiLe5YqwzSUi_2QBQZZ5CkbHsrG0z67CCQq4GilPB91jQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

Summer is right around the corner. Have you started planning for summer break 2022? Good news! Registration for SpiderSmart Summer Camps has begun! We offer early bird discounts so don’t miss out and plan ahead!

SpiderSmart at Tysons Center (Virginia) is offering a wide range of programs for pre-K to 8th grade students. Camp hours are from 9am to 12pm and from 12:30 to 2pm, Monday through Friday, during the following four sessions (two weeks per session):

• Session 1: June 13 - June 24
• Session 2: June 27 - July 8
• Session 3: July 11 - July 22
• Session 4: July 25 - August 5

SpiderSmart at Tysons Center is also offering two SAT/ACT prep programs for students in 9th to 12th grade: SAT Deep Dive, from 9am to 12:30pm, and Critical Reading Mastery, from 1pm to 3pm, Monday through Friday, during the following four sessions (two weeks per session):

• Session 1: June 13 - June 24
• Session 2: June 27 - July 8
• Session 3: July 11 - July 22
• Session 4: July 25 - August 5

To register: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdb9jiLe5YqwzSUi_2QBQZZ5CkbHsrG0z67CCQq4GilPB91jQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

SpiderSmart in Suwanee (Georgia) is offering Summer Camp programs from June 6 to July 21 (no classes will be held July 4 to 7).

• Rising 2nd and 3rd graders: 1pm to 4pm on Mondays and Wednesdays (Reading & Writing, Math)
• Rising 4th and 5th graders: 1pm to 4pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays (Reading & Writing, Math)
• Rising 6th graders: 1pm to 4pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays (Reading & Writing, Math), 2:30pm to 4pm on Wednesdays (Math only)

For more information and to register, please call at 770-827-0012.

On average, kids spend 900 to 1,000 hours per year in school. Parents and guardians always need to make sure their kids are getting the best education possible during those hours. Here’s a list of things to help make sure that happens.

1. Participate! Get involved. Get to know your teachers and other parents and try to attend school events! Seeing you actively involved can boost students’ confidence levels.
2. Make sure homework gets done. Checking to see what your students’ assignments are complete is crucial. If your students are struggling through their homework because they aren’t understanding the materials, call for help!
3. Are your kids ready to learn when they’re at school? Make sure your students get good nutrition and go to sleep at a consistent bedtime. Helping students settled on an established routine will help.
4. Organization, organization, organization! One of the most valuable skills students will learn in school is organization. Teach your students to put things away when they’re done with them and organize things like clothes and books.
5. Foster strong study skills! Help your students establish study habits. Some study skills include: having a study plan, exhibiting a positive attitude, and being open to learning.
6. Be punctual. Unless there is a special occasion or they are sick, make sure your students are always at school on time.
7. Let them experience failure on their own. Parents always want to do things for their kids. Sometimes, though, kids need to fail, and doing something less than perfectly shows them they may have to try harder next time. Simply guide them to the right direction.
8. Instill discipline, respect for others, and self-esteem. Parents should handle most of the disciplinary actions that affect their students.
9. Be knowledgeable about what your child is studying. To connect with your students more, you need to know what your student is studying.
10. Give praise and encouragement! Positive reinforcement of the things students do right builds their confidence, helps them succeed, and allows them to navigate schools and society with the knowledge that they can do better.

Covid-19 has drastically affected education the past two years. Many students were forced to transition to online schooling for extended periods, causing some to fall behind. In addition, the financial costs and uncertainty from the pandemic, along with the continuous practice of social distancing, damaged every student’s ability to focus and learn in a school setting.

Even prior to the pandemic, the United States as a whole struggled with a stratified, unequal education system in which millions of students were behind grade level. Coupled with today’s rapid shift toward internet-based learning the country faces further educational inequalities.

When it comes to considering possible interventions designed to help students get back on track, or even get ahead, tutoring–defined as one-on-one or small-group instructional programs–is remarkably effective at helping students learn. However, there are currently millions of tutoring services out there, and parents may find it difficult to find the “right” tutoring service.

When looking for a tutoring service, it is essential to consider the following:

• Who does the tutoring matters a great deal.
• The effects of tutoring programs tend to be strongest among students in earlier grades.
• Tutoring generally exerts strong positive learning effects across a wide range of programming.

Because SpiderSmart prioritizes every student as an individual, we highly emphasize using a holistic approach when teaching our students. Our Human Resource (HR) team continuously works to hire the best teachers and ensures every student is matched with the right teacher.

Here’s how SpiderSmart chooses the right teachers:

1. We run an extensive background check on all of our applicants. We recognize the importance of providing a safe, fun, and interactive learning environment for all of our students. We want every student to feel comfortable with their teacher, and to do that, we run a very strict background check on each applicant.
2. Our HR team conducts a multi-step interview to ensure the quality of the tutor applicant. We conduct multiple interview sessions, including mock teaching sessions, with the applicant to ensure the quality of each teacher.

At the end of the day, SpiderSmart always puts our kids first. It’s in our DNA. We will never stop working diligently to provide the best quality services with the best quality teachers.

Click here to read more about about tutoring from the Brookings Institute

For most students, an hour or two of studying everyday is usually enough to make it through high school with good grades. But as students get older, there is often not enough time in the day to get all studying done if they don’t know how to study smarter, not harder.

• Don’t cram all your studying into one session. Successful students will always space their work out over shorter periods of time and rarely try to cram all of their studying into just one or two sessions.
• Plan when you’re going to study. Plan, plan, plan! Keeping up with a manageable study routine is crucial to becoming a successful student.
• Study at the same time. When you study at the same time each day, your studying will become a regular part of your daily routine.
• When you study, do so with a specific goal. Don’t mindlessly study everything at once. Have a clear goal in place.
• Never procrastinate in your planned study session. Procrastination leads to rushing, and rushing is the number ONE cause of errors.
• Start with the most difficult subject first. Once you have completed the most difficult work, it will be much easier to complete the rest of your work.
• Always review your notes before starting an assignment. Take good notes in class! This will save lots and lots of time for you at home.
• Make sure you’re not distracted while you’re studying. It’s more effective when you don’t multitask when you’re studying. Focus on one thing at a time!
• Use study groups effectively. Get help from others! Make sure your study groups are structured.
• Review your notes, schoolwork, and other class materials over the weekend. Make sure you’re continuing to review notes during the weekend. Doing so will always keep your memory fresh!

Everyone loves getting praise. Kids especially want to receive praise from their parents and teachers. There is no such thing as a “good” or “bad” student; students simply want to receive praise from adults, whether it’s from parents or teachers. Although it may seem like praise only benefits students, adults can also benefit from praise by strategically incorporating the act of praising throughout their daily routines.

Intermittent reinforcement is a term that means “rewarding behavior on some but not all occasions.” This term focuses on the concept of uncertainty and how it can be motivating. If parents and teachers praise students strategically and periodically for completing their work, getting good grades, or showing positive behavior, students will be incentivized to continue the good behavior in hopes of receiving praise the next time.

“칭찬은 고래도 춤추게 한다”라는 말을 한번쯤은 들어본적이 있을것입니다. 모든 사람들은 칭찬받는 것을 굉장히 좋아합니다. 이 세상에는 “좋은,” “나쁜” 학생이라는 것은 결코 없습니다; 학생들은 그저 부모님 혹은 선생님들에게서부터 항상 칭찬을 받고 싶어하는것 뿐이죠.

칭찬의 중요성에 대해서는 잘 알고 있지만, 학생들에게 언제 어떻게 칭찬해야 하는지 모르는 부모나 선생님들은 많습니다. 칭찬은 간헐적으로, 그리고 구체적으로 해줄수록 더욱더 효과적 입니다. 칭찬은 뭐든지 많이 해주면 좋은게 아닙니다. 자신감이 없는 아이가 과한 칭찬을 받을 경우 다음번에도 똑같이 잘해야 한다는 부담감을 느낄 수 있기 때문입니다. 칭찬은 피그말리온 효과를 일으킵니다. 피그말리온 효과는 한 개인의 기대가 현실로 들어나 다른 사람의 행동에 긍정적인 영향을 주는 것을 일컫는 말입니다. 만약에 한 학생이 선생님으로부터 학습능력의 관한 칭찬을 받게 되면 그 학생은 다음에도 그런 칭찬을 받기 위해 많은 노력을 할 것이고, 그 노력을 통해서 실제로 학습능력은 더욱더 발전할 것 입니다.

Click here to read to see what Edweek says about praising as a way to motivate students.

The College Board recently announced that the SAT will soon be taken exclusively on a computer, ending an era in which high schoolers have had to make sure their No. 2 pencils were sharpened and their answer bubbles were completely filled in.

Students will have to complete the test on laptops or tablets at designated testing centers, and the SAT will also be shortened from three hours to two. The changes will be implemented in 2024 in the United States.

Click here to read the New York Times article on specific changes to SAT

Although a growing number of colleges have eliminated the requirement that applicants submit scores from the SAT or the competing ACT, you can stand out in front of the crowd by working toward a solid score on the SAT or the ACT and submitting the scores with your application.

Want to get a head start on preparing for the SAT or ACT? Contact us today!

Students today are using the immense power of digital media to explore, connect, create, and learn in ways never before imagined. With this power, young people have extraordinary opportunities. They also face potential pitfalls. Schools across the United States are dealing with issues like digital cheating, cyberbullying, and safety and security concerns.

Below, we focus on four XXXXs and suggest some videos to watch and games to play with your children so he or she uses digital media the right way.

• Digital Identity. Students cultivate and manage their digital identity and reputation and are aware of the permanence of their actions in the digital world.
  • Watch “Media Balance Is Important”
  • Interactive Family Activity for Digital Identity
  • Watch “Digital Identity vs. Digital Self”
• Positive Behavior. Students engage in positive, safe, legal, and ethical behavior when using technology, including social interactions online or when using networked devices.
  • Watch “Power of Words”
  • Play “E-volve”
• Intellectual Property. Students demonstrate an understanding of and respect for the rights and obligations of using and sharing intellectual property by appropriately using, citing, and sharing according to copyright and fair use doctrines.
  • Play “Mix-n-Mash”
  • Watch “Understanding Intellectual Property”
• Personal Data. Students manage their personal data to maintain digital privacy and security and are aware of data collection technology used to track their activity online.
  • Play “Share Jumper”
  • Watch “Online Privacy for Kids”
  • Watch “Safety in My Online Neighborhood”

If some colleges are relying less and less on test scores, students’ grades become an even bigger factor in admissions decisions. No matter what other reforms occur in schools, grading remains one of the cornerstones of practice. However, according to Dr. Paul Dressell of Michigan State University, a grade is an inadequate report of an imprecise judgment of a biased and variable judge of the extent to which a student has attained an undefined level of mastery of an unknown proportion of an indefinite amount of materials. (How’s that for a mouthful?)

Here are a few more considerations about the accuracy of grades (Hechingerreport.org):

• Only one-third of high school graduates are prepared for college.
• At least 25% of freshman have to take remedial coursework.
• Only 1 in 4 students needing remedial coursework ever graduates from college.
• The majority (80%) of students enrolled in remedial courses had a 3.00 or above GPA in high school, and both they and their teachers thought they were prepared for college.

What affects grades?

Grades are always affected by some degree of error (E):

Observed Score (X) = True Score (T) + Error (E).

In reality, the grades students receive (X) are always going to be impacted by error (E). This is because the true score (T) (i.e., what students understand, know, and can do) is always impacted by some extraneous factors.

Therefore, teachers and graders should always try to minimize error (E) so that (X) is as close to (T) as possible.

What Grades SHOULD Be:

• Grades should be a representation of students’ mastery of the learning targets for a unit or for the year. Grades should indicate the degree to which students have met the required UKDs (Understand, Know, and Do) that were the basis of the curriculum, instruction, and assessment cycle in a classroom.

What Grades SHOULD NOT Be:

• Grades should not be a representation of things that cannot be measured or that do not reflect students’ mastery of course content. Teachers should not attempt to grade: students’ behaviors, students’ attitudes, students’ work ethics, or students’ efforts.
  
  For example, many teachers want to grade effort. However, what if you have one student who, with minimal effort, can master the UKDs, but another student who tries really hard, but does not reach mastery? Should the latter student score higher than the first? If teachers pass a student just for trying, what happens when that student encounters new, more challenging material? Are teachers setting that student up for failure?

Sources of Error in Grades

Educators and academic agree that the following are often sources of error in the grading process:

• Grading for behavioral issues
• Incorporating teacher expectations into grades
• Using zeros as punishment
• Using a points systems and means
• Grading homework and other formative assessments
• Grading on a curve
• Allowing extra credit or bonus points
• Grading for completion

Thus, in order to make sure grades are as close to accurate as possible, it is extremely important for teachers to make sure grades are consistent, fair to each student and other students, and accurate reflections of true achievement.

For students, grades must: keep the success-to-effort ratio in balance, seem equitable and fair, and reinforce a growth mindset.

For parents, grades must: communicate clearly about student learning and support the parent in supporting learning.

The years 2020 and 2021 were filled with disruption, particularly in the academic space. With schools moving to online learning environments in 2020 and most of 2021 and colleges temporarily dropping standardized testing requirements, what should students focus on in 2022?

What does “test-optional” mean?

Many rejoiced at the news that schools were going test-optional in response to the pandemic – which is one fewer thing to worry about in the extremely overwhelming application process. Unfortunately, however, test-optional does not mean that colleges will dismiss standardized test scores. In fact, it means that should you decide to apply without submitting any scores, you will most likely be evaluated on a more holistic basis. In other words, if you apply test-optional, your college candidacy will be measured by GPA, transcript rigor, essays, and extracurricular involvement.

This is important because many students may think this is a good thing. For those who struggle with standardized tests but have a strong GPA, test-optional will be a good opportunity for you to showcase your strengths while avoiding the scary standardized test scores. However, everyone else may also be applying test-optional.

Ever since schools dropped testing requirements, some schools are reporting up to a 40% increase in the number of applicants for Fall 2020. Prior to COVID-19, GPA was a reliable predictor of success in college. A student with a high GPA over the course of his/her academic career demonstrated aptitude, rigor, and discipline. The COVID-19 era drastically shifted this view: with many schools going virtual and the academic year significantly disrupted, GPA as a reporting metric became less reliable. Many schools across the United States adopted a pass/fail grading system, and reports of grade inflation dramatically increased as well. Thus, with GPA becoming a less reliable metric for academic success, standardized test scores are and will be more important when applying to college.

Now that COVID-19 has drastically affected your college candidacy, there are a number of things you can do to stay competitive:

1. Always turn assignments on time.
2. Take AP courses throughout high school in subjects that interest you and in which you can do well.
3. Prepare for and excel in the SAT or ACT.
4. Get involved in your community.
5. Participate in extracurricular activities.

It will be crucial for you to do everything and anything you can to become the ideal candidate for college. Especially with the shift to test-optional, the current paradigm seems to emphasize the importance of test scores.

Students are taking more standardized tests than ever before. What this means is that parents are seeing more and more test results, and oftentimes, parents may not know what these test scores even mean!

What are standardized tests?

Standardized tests:

• Have uniform procedures for administration and scoring.
• Allow comparison of student scores by age, grade level, local norms, and national norms.
• Attempt to include material common across most classrooms.
• Can be used as formative assessments (a common benchmark used across a grade level at your child’s school) or summative assessments (the Virginia SOLs).

Why take standardized tests?

Standardized tests are used to:

• Diagnose students’ strengths and weaknesses.
• Provide information about students’ progress to parents.
• Inform a student’s program placement or access to extra services (ESL, Reading Intervention, Special Education)

Currently, there are two main types of standardized tests: criterion-referenced and norm-referenced.

Criterion-referenced scores are generated based on whether or not students met a predetermined criterion. The performance of other examinees is irrelevant.

Norm-referenced test scores, on the other hand, are generated based on where a student performed relative to the peer or norming group. The purpose of norm-referenced test scores is to distinguish between high and low achievers.

Now that we covered the two main types of standardized tests, it is important to learn about the four commonly-reported scores: raw scores, percentile ranks, stanines, and grade equivalencies.

A raw score is the number of points earned from correct answers on a properly scored test (e.g., 50/50, 50/100). Raw scores should not be used directly in interpretation. Rather, it should be converted into something more comparable/meaningful.

Percentile rank scores rank individuals within a group. Percentiles are defined on a scale of 1 to 99 with 50 being average (mean). Percentile rank scores show the percentage of scores in the testing group that are at or below a specific student’s raw score. For example, when a student receives a percentile rank of 20, this means that he/she scored the same as or higher than 20% of test takers.

Stanines divide the normal curve into nine “regions,” and they compare students’ scores from a low of 1 to a high of 9. Scores of 1-3 are considered below average, 4-6 are considered average, and 7-9 are considered above average.

Lastly, grade equivalency scores are composed of two numbers:

1. The first digit represents the year of the grade level.
2. The second digit (after the decimal point) represents the month of that grade level. It’s critical to note that grade equivalencies is not an estimate of the grade in which a student should be placed.

How is this important to you as a parent? Oftentimes, especially as you walk into your child’s parent-teacher conferences, you will find that teachers will simply throw test results at you expecting you to understand! Use this guide to your advantage so that you will not get lost during the conference; with this background knowledge in the back of your mind, you can ask critical questions to your child’s teachers such as, how can I help my child refine his strengths and weaknesses? What are you, as my child’s teacher, going to do to make sure my child meets/exceeds the national standards?, so that you and the teacher can set clear goals for your child for the upcoming school year.

Thousands of highly qualified teachers across the United States work with students all over the world through online platforms. Because of the time difference, many teachers rise early to begin teaching for the day, often waking up between 4 and 5 AM.

In September, China banned private tutors from providing online tutoring, ramping up its effort to stamp out all for-profit tutoring. Authorities in China banned for-profit tutoring in subjects on the school curriculum in an effort to ease pressure on children and parents. A competitive higher education system has made tutoring services popular with parents. In China, wealthy and middle-class parents see private English tutoring--especially led by native English speakers--as a way to get ahead, a canny edge on other students against whom their own children would some day have to compete. The official reason for the crackdown is that the financial pressure on Chinese families and academic pressure on Chinese children have become untenable. The high-stakes culture around education in China has become so fraught that many parents say that they cannot justify having another child, despite the Chinese government’s encouraging them to do so. Because the government recognized this issue, it decided to act.

This government crackdown will dramatically change not only the fate not only of online tutoring companies but also of these highly qualified teachers. Some may decide to go “underground,” while others may try to find alternative ways to work elsewhere.

As a result of China’s ban on online tutoring, SpiderSmart has been receiving a heavy influx of tutor applicants. We’ve found that the quality of these tutors is highly variable. While some are quite skilled, others have been teaching kids using detailed scripts.

Because SpiderSmart prioritizes every student as an individual, we highly emphasize using a holistic approach when teaching our students. Our Human Resource (HR) team continuously works to hire the best teachers and ensure every student is matched with the right teacher.

Here’s how SpiderSmart chooses the right teachers:

1. We run an extensive background check on all of our applicants. We recognize the importance of providing a safe, fun, and interactive learning environment for all of our students. We want every student to feel comfortable with their teacher, and to do that, we run a very strict background check on each applicant.
2. Our HR team conducts a multi-step interview to ensure the quality of the tutor applicant. We conduct multiple interview sessions, including mock teaching sessions, with the applicant to ensure the quality of each teacher.

At the end of the day, SpiderSmart always puts our kids first. We will continue to work endlessly to provide the best quality services with the best quality teachers.

Click here to read a Bloomberg article on China’s ban

Vocabulary building is key to SpiderSmart’s approach to reading and writing. Children need to learn 3,000 to 4,000 words each year so that by 12th grade, they have a reading vocabulary of at least 50,000 words. To learn vocab words efficiently, students need explicit vocab instruction and independent strategies with repeated, authentic practice.

Particularly for kids learning English as a second language, there are four comprehensive approaches to learning and mastering vocabulary:

1. Providing rich and varied language experiences
2. Teaching individual words
3. Teaching word learning strategies
4. Fostering word consciousness

The 3 Tier System is the most commonly used word selection system in schools. The most effective vocabulary instruction is contextualized and relevant, and the 3 Tier System does exactly that!

How does the 3 Tier System work? Let's look at an example excerpted from The House on Mango Street:

• There was a family. All were little. Their arms were little, and their hands were little, and their height was not tall, and their feet were very small.
• The grandpa slept on the living room couch and snored through his teeth. His feet were fat and doughy like thick tamales, and these he powdered and stuffed into white socks and brown leather shoes.
• The grandma’s feet were lovely as pink pearls and dressed in velvety high heels that made her walk with a wobble, but she wore them anyway because they were pretty.

Words that are italicized are tier 1 words, words that are underlined are tier 2 words, and words that are in bold are tier 3 words. According to research across the world, it is especially critical for students to learn tier 2 words: not only are these words used quite a bit, but they also often have multiple and different shades of meaning.

In the dawn of a new school year, many students are determined to read more. It’s no secret that reading is good for you.

Here are 10 reasons why you should read more books this year:

1. Reading is good for your brain.

   • “Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body” (Joseph Addison).
   • Today, scientific studies show that reading does make you smarter. Reading a novel, for example, increases the blood flow and improves connectivity in the brain.

2. Reading introduces you to new ideas and challenges you to solve problems.

   • Reading helps you detect patterns, solve problems, and assimilate new information as if you were living in the characters’ shoes.

3. Reading makes you become a better writer.

   • Whenever you read something, your brain automatically absorbs good writing techniques as well as vocabulary. Thus, when you write something, you will unconsciously copy the writing styles of books that grabbed your attention.
   • Reading also enhances your vocabulary and spelling.

4. Reading improves your conversational skills.

   • Reading increases your vocabulary and your knowledge of how to correctly use certain words in various contexts. Thus, reading helps you clearly articulate what you want to say.

5. Reading improves your self-discipline and consistency.

   • Reading a book forces you to focus. To get the most out of a book or story, you must fixate on the plot and complete the book. In doing this, your brain forms deep connections and practices concentration.

6. Reading increases your knowledge of history.

   • Reading can teach you various types of historical background information. Oftentimes, these facts are set in the context of a story, and it makes history easy to remember.

7. Reading increases cultural knowledge.

   • Especially during the pandemic, it is very difficult to travel around the world. Reading books set in cultures that are different from our own provides knowledge of those cultures and the emotional and spiritual lives of the people who live there.

8. Reading challenges you to imagine.

   • As you read a book, you find yourself in the characters’ shoes. Your brain often goes beyond the words on the page, and you imagine other details such as appearances and emotions.

9. Reading inspires you.

   • Reading a good book is like being around an inspiring person.

10. Reading reduces stress.

    • Reading is an excellent way to relax. It can ease tension in your muscles and heart while allowing your brain to experience new ideas and different emotions.

The following 3 P’s will allow you to engage with your reading, learn actively, and study more efficiently:

• Determine the purpose of the assignment:
• What is the “big picture” of the reading and how does it fit into the context of the course?
• Will a paper about this topic be assigned? If so, how does the assignment require you to use the reading?
• Preview the assignment with your purpose in mind before you actually read it:
• Read the chapter titles and headings. Do not just skim over them.
• Make a plan for how you will use the information from this reading--what will you need?
  • Use chapter headings to:
    • Set up an outline
    • Test yourself later, especially if you are studying for an exam
  • Selectively highlight or underline passages that you feel are important and relevant.

Click here to read more about learning strategies provided by Cornell University.

“I quote others only to express myself better.”
—Michel de Montaigne

Writing is a thinking process. For students in elementary and high school, it’s an wonderful opportunity to strengthen their thinking ability and to extend their minds, to gain a wider view of a subject, to find personal engagement with the world of ideas, even to make the unknown interesting. By writing down their ideas, students clarify them to themselves. But often their ideas are informed by the ideas of others. And if they don’t acknowledge this debt, they run the risk—often unwittingly—of plagiarizing.

By definition, to plagiarize means:

• To steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own
• To use (another’s production) without crediting the source
• To commit literary theft
• To present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source

Why use sources in essays?

Understanding the purpose of using sources in essays should result in better essays. Students who believe that sources serve no purpose other than to decorate or lengthen a paper are more likely to insert long quotations without taking much care to build them into the overall presentation. The result of such a practice is, at best, padding and, at worst, a disjointed collage.

Why cite sources?

You must cite the source of each idea or item of information you use, whether you quote, paraphrase, summarize, or merely refer to it. There are several reasons for this.

1. Cite to help your reader: The primary reason for citing each use of an external source or idea is to provide a path for your reader to follow in the event he or she is interested in further reading.
2. Cite to show respect for fellow knowledge workers: We live in an information age when processing information and creating knowledge out of it are major tasks of most educated workers. Just as you would not want others to take and use your ideas or writing without crediting you, you should not take the ideas or writing of others without crediting them. It is a matter of respect.
3. Cite to avoid plagiarism: A fundamental requirement of academic work is that you clearly distinguish your words and ideas from those of the sources you use. Citation provides the basic mechanism of distinction. A substantial amount of plagiarism is committed unintentionally, simply because the writer did not know the rules or forms of citation. Yet, the penalty for such behavior is often severe because plagiarism is considered one of the most serious forms of academic dishonesty. Therefore, out of self-interest and self-protection, you want to be sure to cite your sources.

Also known as “school refusal” or “school phobia,” school avoidance is not uncommon and occurs in as many as 5 percent of children. These children either refuse to go to school entirely or come up with reasons as to why they will not go to school. These reasons may include complaining of being sick with something, headaches, hyperventilation, and dizziness.

School refusal symptoms occur most often on school days. When these children are examined by a doctor, no true illnesses are detected or diagnosed. Most often, school-avoiding children do not know precisely why they feel sick, and they may have difficulty communicating what is causing their discomfort.

When school-related anxiety is causing school avoidance, the symptoms may be ways to communicate emotional struggle with issues like the following:

• Fear of failure
• Problems with other children
• Teasing or bullying
• Perceived “meanness” of the teacher
• Threats of physical harm

Tips for Parents

As students are going back to in-person instruction in the middle of the pandemic, it is crucial for parents to help children overcome this problem. Some guidelines include:

• Talk with your child about the reasons why he or she does not want to go to school.
• Acknowledge that you understand your child’s concerns, but insist on his or her immediate return to school.
• Discuss your child’s school avoidance with the school staff.
• Make a commitment to be extra firm on school mornings when children complain most about their symptoms.
• Ask your pediatrician if he or she can help ease your child’s transition back to school.
• Request help from the school staff for assistance with your child while he or she is at school.
• If a problem like a school bully or an unreasonable teacher is the cause of your child’s anxiety, become an advocate for your child and discuss these problems with the school staff.
• Help your child develop independence by encouraging activities with other children outside the home.

When Should You Seek Help?

While you might try to manage school refusal on your own, if your child’s school avoidance lasts more than a week, you and your child may need professional assistance to deal with it.

First, your child should be examined by your pediatrician. If his or her school refusal persists, or if he or she has chronic or intermittent signs of separation difficulties when going to school--in combination with physical symptoms that are interfering with his or her functioning--your doctor may recommend a consultation with a child psychiatrist or psychologist.

Many U.S. schools will be open with some form of in-person learning. Few schools are truly back to the normal environment we have been missing since early 2020. More than half of all adults in the United States have received at least partial vaccinations for COVID-19. Pressure is mounting on all sides for schools to open their doors to students.

Here are five things you can expect as we return to traditional, in-person instruction.

1. There won’t be the same rapport right away. Everyone will be looking forward to all of their favorite things about school, but schools won’t be able to fit all those wonderful things into the first minute. Patience in both children and adults will be tried.
2. There will be behavior and classroom-management issues. Students will be very excited about seeing each other again. It will be extremely difficult making students stay 3 feet, 5 feet, or 6 feet apart from each other when their hearts are aching for a hug. Human beings learn best from well-modeled behaviors, especially when the person modeling those behaviors expresses genuine caring and warmth that we can feel. All the behavioral patterns and routines must be remodeled, retaught, or relearned.
3. There will be learning loss. Do not judge students too harshly. They will have forgotten some of what they knew, just like they do after a long summer vacation. This is a time to be patient, to collectively take a breath and focus on the hard climb back.
4. There will be tension with relationships. It will take time to “fall in love” with those around us again after the first rush of reunion. Be gentle and kind to each other.
5. It will get better. Things may never be exactly the same. It has been 100 years since the last great pandemic in North America. Give it time.

To tackle the pandemic together, school systems all across the United States will work hard to keep schools a safe place. To maintain the safety of students as well as staff members, it will be crucial to do the following:

• All students, employees, and visitors must wear a mask. At this time, masks are not required to be worn outside. It is recommended that students bring multiple clean masks to school each day.
• It is recommended to maintain at least 3 feet between students; 6 feet between students who are exercising, singing, or playing a musical instrument; and 6 feet between adults and students. While outdoors, distance should be increased as much as activity and space allow.
• Students will be required to wash or sanitize their hands frequently during the day. Minimally, this includes each time they board a bus, enter a room, and go outside for recess, and before they eat. All building entry points, classrooms, cafeterias, and buses have hand sanitizer dispensers to promote and support this requirement.
• Throughout the day, custodial staff will disinfect high-touch surfaces. At night, custodial staff will clean and disinfect classrooms and other spaces that were in use during the day.
• Any student or employee who develops COVID-19-like symptoms at school or work will be excluded from school or work and referred to a healthcare provider to see if COVID-19 testing is warranted.

Click here to read about Fairfax County’s (Virginia) COVID-19 Prevention and Mitigation for Long-Term Care Facilities.

“Make sure you practice social distancing, always wash your hands, always have hand sanitizer with you, and always wear masks.”

Parents spent the past year and a half making sure they did all they could to protect their children from the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, they face another challenge as schools and after-school programs plan to reopen in the upcoming school year.

According to the CDC, more than 158.2 million Americans--47.7% of the population--have been fully vaccinated. Having said that, things are starting to slowly go back to “normal.” However, the world seems to split among those who cannot wait to get back to “normal” and those who remain anxious and worried about returning to life as we knew it. Parents continue to hear mixed messages from public health officials. Emily Oster, a professor of economics at Brown, explains, “I think parents are excited about some return to normalcy but also finding everything very confusing. The messaging around kids is really split between ‘they are low risk’ and ‘they’re unvaccinated so you still can’t do anything.’” She also states that COVID-19 risks for children are small, and the risk will fall further as vaccination rates rise.

Everyone lived on extra-heightened alert for over a year, and most parents will likely stay on guard until their children are vaccinated. As vaccines become readily available for younger children, parents are optimistic.

The challenge parents face, however, has been further complicated by the spread of the Delta Variant, which health experts are taking very seriously.

According to Yale Medicine,

1. Delta is more contagious than other virus strains.
   1. The World Health Organization (WHO) has called this version of the virus “the fastest and fittest.”
   2. The first Delta case was identified in December 2020, and the strain spread rapidly, soon becoming the dominant strain of the virus in both India and then Great Britain. Toward the end of June, Delta had already made up more than 20% of cases in the U.S., according to CDC.
2. Unvaccinated people are at risk.
   1. People who have not been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 are most at risk.
   2. In the U.S., there is a disproportionate number of unvaccinated people in Southern and Appalachian states including Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, and West Virginia, where vaccination rates are low.
3. Delta could lead to “hyperlocal outbreaks.”
   1. In some cases, a low-vaccination town that is surrounded by high vaccination areas could end up with the virus contained within its borders, and the result could be “hyperlocal outbreaks.”
   2. Some experts say the U.S. is in a good position because of its relatively high vaccination rates--or that conquering Delta will take a race between vaccination rates and the variant.
4. There is still more to learn about Delta.
   1. It’s unclear whether Delta could cause more breakthrough infections in people who have been vaccinated or have natural immunity from a prior COVID-19 infection.
5. Vaccination is the best protection against Delta.
   1. The most important thing you can do to protect yourself from Delta is to get fully vaccinated, doctors say.

Most people think of literacy simply as the ability to read and write.

However, literacy skills are so much more than simple reading and writing or having a big vocabulary. Literacy skills are used every single day. From understanding a joke to writing a book, literacy skills make our lives rich and meaningful.

Did you know that literacy skills are developed at an early age? Research shows that children who are introduced to reading at a young age demonstrate better learning skills and are more prepared to learn when they begin their formal education.

Instilling a love for reading at an early age is one of the best investments for school success. Learning to read opens the mind of a young child to an incredible world of knowledge and imagination, and it helps them develop creativity and critical thinking skills. As a parent, if you want students to start enjoying learning, it’s crucial to get your student reading from an early age even if it is not the easiest thing to do.

You can help develop literacy skills together with your child! Make fun activities with reading. Try not to watch so much television, but instead, have a “reading night.” You can read a book as a family. It’s quite simple. All you need is the following: a sofa, some lights, a set of ears, eyes, and most importantly, a good book.

Make sure to be interactive! You can take turns reading a page, a paragraph, or maybe even the whole chapter. At the end of each chapter, make sure to ask questions and summarize the chapter. It’s important to make sure your child retains the information he or she just read.

Read more in this New York Times article about asking yourself which books you truly love

It’s been over a year since schools across the United States closed their doors due to the pandemic.

However, as Covid-19 vaccines have become readily available for citizens throughout the United States, some schools have decided to welcome students back for in-person instruction. How does this affect your child and your family’s chance of getting Covid-19? According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, when schools have in-person instruction, families with school-age children have a higher risk of contracting the coronavirus—and the burden of that risk falls heaviest on the lowest-income communities.

Read more about the National Bureau of Economic Research study
Read the CDC’s recommendations for going back to school