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Parents across the country worry about summer learning loss around this time of year. This describes the phenomenon whereby students lose, on average, 3 months of progress they made during the school year. The losses are worse for math than they are for reading. This is bad enough on its face, but think about what […]

Parents across Virginia are familiar with the Virginia SOL test. This state standards test is given to kids in third through eighth grade and covers math, science, English, and social studies. Virginia has decided not to join any of the consortia associated with the Common Core State Standards, instead choosing to stick with the Virginia […]

Around this time every year, parents begin worrying about the dreaded “summer slide.” This term defines the phenomenon whereby kids lose ground over the summer due to the fact that they aren’t going to school every day and bringing work home with them. Many parents scoff at the notion that the summer slide is something […]

Lots of ink has been spilled talking about the PARCC vs. SBAC test, but one question we keep hearing from parents is: Which one is harder? That’s not as straightforward of a question as it sounds. The PARCC and SBAC, or Smarter Balanced, are two consortia that are both aligned with the Common Core State […]

Many parents wonder about Common Core vs. traditional state tests. After all, until just a few years ago each state had its own exam that it administered, and if you moved from state to state you could expect your child to take a completely new test once settled in your new home. These days, with […]

Parents preparing their kids for the FxAT ™ test, or the Fairfax Abilities Test™, are often unsure of where to turn. The test is highly competitive, and parents across Northern Virginia begin preparing their little ones weeks or even months before the big day. Fairfax County is home to some of the nation’s best schools, […]

Many parents contact us looking for GATE test practice questions. These parents are often unsure of what’s on the test given the amount of content they find when they search for the GATE test. The first important thing to remember is that “GATE Test” is typically a generic description for a Gifted and Talented entry […]

Parents looking for ELA practice questions are often frustrated with what they find. ELA, of course, stands for English Language Arts and is part of the Common Core State Standards that rolled out across the nation this year. As with many other things related to the Common Core, the phrase “ELA” can seem foreign to […]

Lots of parents in Canada are taken by surprise when they learn that their little one will be taking the CTBS ™ Test, also known as the Canadian Test of Basic Skills.™ This test, which is administered to kids between kindergarten and 12th grade, is used to qualify students for gifted and other advanced programs. […]

The CogAT ® Test Form 7, or Cognitive Abilities Test ® Form 7, is the most up-to-date version of the Cognitive Abilities Test, having replaced the Form 6 a few years ago. Now that the Form 7 test has been around for several years, fewer and fewer schools are using the Form 6 and the […]