As you can see, 2017 was a year of student perseverance and pushing boundaries. 25,315 students from over 100 different countries answered over three million practice questions. Impressively, they spent 118,029 hours taking practice tests, studying vocabulary, watching instructional videos, and working through question banks. To prepare for the written component of the test, students crafted personal essays, with most commonly used words including “people”, “learn”, “world” and “help”.
For the first time, Test Innovators started to measure grit and provide students with a grit score. This metric indicates student tenacity in goal pursuit, an attribute that schools are increasingly looking for in their admissions evaluations.
Most importantly, the effort expended by students throughout their practice resulted in measurably improved SSAT and ISEE scores.
Students receive a scaled score, percentile, and stanine score for each section of the ISEE. The most commonly referenced score is the stanine score. Learn how stanine scores are calculated.
The SSAT Reading section consists of several short passages that you will read and answer questions about. These passages are both fiction and nonfiction, and you will encounter stories, poems, short stories, and persuasive pieces. You will be asked to identify main ideas and supporting details, use context clues to...
One of the most common mistakes that students make on the SSAT and ISEE is not reading the directions and questions carefully. While the sentence instructions may seem self-explanatory, they actually provide important information about how to approach the questions in that section. At the beginning of every section of...
Neal Kamsler has worked in New York City independent schools for 35 years, including 21 years as Head of Upper School at Allen-Stevenson School. He also serves as Senior Director of Placement at Oliver Scholars, an educational access organization based in Manhattan. Test Innovators' CEO, Edan Shahar, sits down with...
Across our platform, students exhibit statistically significant increases in test percentile after every practice test. We see that our students don’t just improve by using our platform, but they improve consistently over time, further reinforcing that practice makes perfect. Students who use the Test Innovators platform see a 20% increase...
Did you know there are over 300 boarding schools in the US? In fact, over 25 are scattered throughout California alone. Today’s boarding schools exude a college campus atmosphere that welcomes students from all over the world to study and learn in a supportive environment.
While every student is different, the number one cause of test anxiety is not knowing what to expect. High-stakes exams like the ISEE, SSAT, SAT, and ACT are significantly different than in-school assessment tests that students regularly take, so the strategies for taking these tests are different too. This might...
Here are a few foolproof methods to help alleviate stress during the test prep process. Reduce anxiety and tackle this challenge head-on. You got this!
In our School of the Week series, we’ll be profiling some of the schools that use the ISEE as part of their admissions package. We hope to demonstrate the enormous diversity of competitive schools in the US, Canada, and abroad.
