In a highly competitive college admissions environment, every advantage counts – and that can include a higher standardized test score. Knowing clearly which exam could give you an edge is a key first step in the test prep process.

Of course, to be advantageous a diagnostic test must be accurate! In this regard there is no substitute for learning analytics combined with expertise and experience with the tests themselves.

Test expertise supports construction of the most authentic and accurate sample tests. Learning analytics give “insights beyond scores” so you get the most for your time and money. Some of the data you should expect from a top diagnostic test like The SAT/ACT Diagnostic include: your raw score, scaled scores, percentile ranks, score summaries by section, a response summary, and your performance by question type and question difficulty.

The best diagnostic tests can tell you accurately which test you’re stronger on, or if it’s too close to call. The test should also provide guidance on identifying specific problem types where you have weaknesses. Thirdly, a test should give you a top-level breakdown of your scaled scores by test section, with the statistics weighted for question difficulty – again, pointing the way towards where you need improvement. A graphical representation of this data is particularly useful.

What does all that data get you? Here are three advantages that taking a SAT/ACT diagnostic test can confer in the college admissions scramble:

Advantage #1 – You save time and money.

It’s a lot easier and cheaper to prep for one exam than two – especially when you know exactly where you need to focus your energy to improve, and where you’re already well prepared. If you know the topics and core concepts where you’re weak, tutoring and other forms of test prep can be much more effective. For example, standardized SAT prep programs allocate predetermined amounts of time to Algebra I and Critical Reading. If you know for sure you’re comparatively much stronger in algebra, you can put more energy into improving your reading skills.

Advantage #2 – It can improve your chances of admission to your top-choice school.

Based on anecdotal evidence, it’s not uncommon for a student to score 20 percentile points higher on either the SAT or ACT. That could be significant! The higher your standardized test score, the better for your college applications.  Many schools report that they’re decreasing their emphasis on standardized test scores. But when admissions officers at top colleges are making choices about who to accept and who to wait list or reject, any potential advantage could make the difference. One thing is for sure: knowing which test your likely to score higher on can’t hurt.

Advantage #3 – It could increase your chances of receiving “meritorious” scholarship money.

One way that the highest possible standardized test score can benefit you is the opportunity to be awarded “meritorious money” – the money that schools offer students whose stellar SAT or ACT scores will serve to increase the school’s average test score – and hence it’s national ranking. With education loan debt so much in the news lately, and student loans outstanding approaching $1 trillion, many students want to go to schools where their tuition costs will be lower.

Featured image courtesy of Chloe’s World

But while it’s generally recognized that neither test is “easier” or “harder” than the other overall, their formats are different – so one might be better suited to a particular student than the other. But which?

The goal of the ACT is to evaluate overall educational development. The SAT, however, is geared toward evaluate general thinking and problem-solving skills. In short: the SAT emphasizes reasoning more than content, while the ACT emphasizes content over reasoning. Another key difference is that the ACT requires you to complete more work in a shorter amount of time.

The college prep company College Planning Partnerships does a great job explaining in clear, understandable terms all the most important ways in which the two tests differ – and what kind of learner these differences favor. Better yet, College Planning Partnerships has developed an affordable and comprehensive SAT/ACT Diagnostic test, which includes a 9-page, learning analytics driven comparison report that details why a student will likely do better on one test versus the other. (The Socrato learning analytics engine is used to process the report.)

The diagnostic test was developed through experience gained over tens of thousands of hours tutoring and testing students. It consists of seven sections (ACT English, SAT Critical Reading, ACT Mathematics, SAT Writing, ACT Reading, SAT Mathematics, and ACT Science), each of which is designed to mirror the corresponding section of the actual SAT or ACT exam. Time allotted for each section also mirrors the actual tests.

The balance of questions and concepts presented in The SAT/ACT Diagnostic likewise reflect the actual tests, having been developed by analyzing the occurrence of each topic over 50 actual exams. The diagnostic is further refined through ongoing calibration, analysis and updates against the actual exams, to ensure accurate results and incorporate new concepts and questions.

Taking The SAT/ACT Diagnostic is easy, and results are available immediately. Taking the test requires about three hours, and is best done under conditions similar to how the SAT or ACT is administered (e.g., in a quiet, low-distraction space; using a timer on each section; etc.). It’s important not to exceed the allotted time for completing each section, as this could reduce the accuracy of the result.

Students can take the diagnostic and receive the report for just $50. An optional 1-hour online consultation about your report with a tutor or consultant “versed in both the SAT and ACT” costs an additional $100. This later option helps learners identify clearly where they need to focus their energy to improve their SAT or ACT score the most, and includes valuable strategies and a customized study plan to guide test prep.

A program — included materials with your own brand or logo on them — is also available for tutors and other educators, designed to help students identify strengths and weaknesses, determine which test is right for them, and get the highest possible score on the test of their choice.

The SAT/ACT Diagnostic and learning analytics report identifies whether a student is likely to score stronger on the SAT or the ACT, and provides first-hand, realistic experience with taking both exams. For many students, this offering will be a highly valuable, cost-effective and time-efficient “first step to successful prep” for a standardized college admissions test.

But what has not been a credible part of the standardized testing debate in the US is the idea of making such a test a high-stakes, make-or-break determinant of students’ professional aptitude, college admissions, etc. Indeed, even the relevance of standardized college admission tests like the SAT and ACT can be seen as slowly on the wane these days, as more and more top schools evolve test-optional policies.

In stark contrast is the situation in China, where a national, government-administered, two-day exam called the gaokao pretty much entirely determines each student’s academic and professional future. For example:

• Admission to colleges in China is based solely on the results of this brutal test
• Wealthy, highly motivated students spend hours each day – for up to four years – prepping for the test.
• Poor kids, knowing they can’t compete, simply go through school feeling hopeless, leading to depression, cheating and probably suicide.
• High school curricula in China are focused entirely on supporting kids to do well on the gaokao, to the exclusion of virtually all other learning objectives.
• The testing process is strongly biased towards students whose families can afford to pay for private test prep.
• The wealthiest Chinese prefer to rescue their children from the gaokao entirely, by sending them abroad to college if at all possible.

Blogger Michael Levy, who has first-hand experience teaching in China, points out that even the gaokao’s strongest defenders acknowledge that the test – and the educational system that has evolved to support it – “robs Chinese students of their curiosity, creativity and childhood.” It has been argued that this kind of high-stakes testing damages kids, making it harder for them to thrive in an innovative economy.

Like many people, Levy is skeptical of the value of the Obama administration’s “Race to the Top” competitive grants, arguing that this system distorts the curricula of underfunded schools by using standardized test results to determine how money is allocated. The danger of this approach is that America could end up with one all-powerful, high-stakes test like the gaokao.

I was interested to learn that China has a very long history of applying standardized examination systems, such as its imperial examination system. No doubt there are many reasons why these systems have worked in China. For example, today’s gaokao system is arguably the most efficient method possible for allocating China’s scare resources for higher education.

The US is facing an educational crisis that has at its heart scarce financial resources. Can high-stakes “bubble testing” really help improve educational standards and results in this country?

Please comment and let us know what you think.

Featured image courtesy of albertogp123.

Colleges have always weighted grades, curriculum and other factors more highly than standardized test scores for these and other reasons. SAT and ACT scores remain important – but how much so? And what’s up with the trend of more schools becoming “test optional”? Are SAT and ACT scores really becoming less relevant as college admissions becomes more and more competitive? These are questions that learners might well ask their tutors or teachers.

According to FairTest, “the national center for fair and open testing,” which monitors this issue closely, as of the 2011 application season a total of 843 accredited, bachelor-degree granting schools – nearly 40% — no longer require the SAT or ACT. These include some of the top liberal arts schools in the nation, including Bowdoin, Smith, Dickinson and Holy Cross.

Some other top-tier universities, such as Providence College, Wake Forest and Worcester Polytech, are “test flexible” – they’ll accept some type of test scores, such as advanced placement tests or SAT subject tests, in lieu of the SAT or ACT.

But is this “holistic” approach to admissions really about students? Or is it about the competitive marketing to college-bound students among the schools themselves? Studies show that test optional policies tend to increase both the number and diversity of applicants. Admissions officers can thus choose from applicants that appeal to them for a wider range of reasons (athletics, ethnicity) who wouldn’t make the cut otherwise.

And are test scores really optional at top-tier institutions just because the school’s policy says so? Or does not submitting test scores hurt your chances of admission? For students whose profiles are respectable but not amazing, a test score (or lack thereof) might remain a differentiating factor to help them stand out in highly competitive situations.

The bottom line, says insightful Ask the Dean, is that while failing to submit an ACT or SAT score might not penalize a student, it’s hard to believe that standardized test scores wouldn’t be used as “tie-breakers” at top institutions. According to subject expert Lynn O’Shaughnessy at The College Solution, at some schools up to 50% of applicants may not reveal their scores.

There are also reports that some schools that are “test optional” continue to use standardized test scores to apportion merit scholarships. For this reason it might be a good idea for students to inquire about specific policies at their top schools if this is a factor for them.

What are your thoughts on the benefits and drawbacks of “test optional” policies for admissions? Please comment and let us know.

Featured image courtesy of stevendepolo.

The first part of the “when” question is: in what year of high school should the test be taken? Since the reason most students take these tests is to fulfill an entrance requirement for college, it is generally advisable to take it during the junior year. That way you know your results in plenty of time for the college application process. (Middle school students seeking admission to summer academic programs may need to be tested before their junior year.)

So then the question becomes: at what point in the junior year is it best to take the SAT or ACT? Here the answer can be different for every student. According to DiplomaGuide.com, testing in March (or May) is a good default option because it gives you time to both complete any necessary school work and also to prep for the test with no end-of-term exam pressure. It is not recommended to take either test before March of the junior year, because they cover the full spectrum of high school curriculum.

Beyond that, a student’s individual schedule of midterm or final exams, sports seasons, school plays and other extracurricular activities may be a deciding factor. The CATES Blog suggests that many students do well taking the SAT or ACT in the fall (October or November) because these dates fall before the college application process really intensifies.

The CATES Blog also offers some very specific advice regarding SAT subject tests:

June represents an optimal SAT Subject Test date, especially for tests in Science and History. You will already be filled to the brim with facts and concepts in these topics as you prepare for finals, so why not kill two birds with one stone and knock off an SAT Subject Test or two. That said, if you are a junior preparing to take the AP tests in early May, you may consider taking the SAT Subject Test in the same subject as your AP test during the May SAT Test date. Doing so allows you to integrate and concentrate your time and focus on two tests at once in the same week.

What about retesting? Students planning to retake either test are often advised to do so in October or November of the senior year. This offers momentum to head straight towards college application deadlines for admission the following fall. “Also, many students who found themselves struggling the SAT in the spring, come into the fall of their senior year really switched on,” says the CATES Blog.

Upcoming SAT and SAT Subject Tests dates are:

October 1, 2011: SAT test and SAT Subject Tests
November 5, 2011: SAT test and SAT Subject Tests
December 3, 2011: SAT test and SAT Subject Tests
January 28, 2012: SAT test and SAT Subject Tests
March 10, 2012: SAT test only
May 5, 2012: SAT test and SAT Subject Tests
June 2, 2012: SAT test and SAT Subject Tests

Upcoming ACT test dates are:

October 22, 2011
December 10, 2011
February 11, 2012
April 14, 2012
June 9, 2012

Please comment if you have guidance to share on this important topic.

Featured image courtesy of the mad LOLscientist.

SAT vs ACT: Choosing the Right Test [NEW EBOOK]

Apps are available for many of the most widely taken standardized tests, including the SAT, ACT, GRE, GMAT, MCAT, LSAT and more. There are even apps for the CPA exam and to help you get your pilot’s license! I’ll focus here on just a few of the many that are available for the SAT.

Right now there seem to be three basic types of iPad SAT prep apps available:

• “Free” apps that essentially serve as content delivery portals for making in-app purchases to get the material you want.

• “Inclusive” apps that provide a wide range of useful practice content plus value-add features for a moderate price.

• “Focused” apps that provide generalized help on one key segment of a test, such as SAT vocabulary.

The most popular of the “free” type apps are from BenchPrep. They have versions for the GRE, GMAT, MCAT, LSAT, SAT, ACT, PCAT, CFA, Nursing, Pharmacy and more. The seller (formerly Watermelon Express) claims that “more than 150,000 users have used our test prep apps across iPhone, iPad and Android.” The Bench Prep apps let you take practice questions and tests, flip through flashcards and make notes. Scoring analysis features let you track your progress and pinpoint weak areas using graphs and other forms of reporting.

The idea behind the “content delivery” model is that learners can use the app to buy educational and test prep content from a variety of publishers from one central hub. While touted as affordable, many of the in-app purchases cost $100 or more.

Another free app that is also “focused,” Ace the SAT, is not a content portal but instead includes a wide range of SAT-like math questions for practice. New questions are added with every update, many with detailed explanations of how to arrive at the correct answer. A screen capture feature enables you to save tricky questions to your photos album for easy sharing with friends and tutors. You even get some scoring analytics like an expected approximate SAT score.

The “inclusive” style of app is exemplified by SAT Score Quest by the Princeton Review. For $9.99, this app lets you take a 45-question SAT assessment test to pinpoint your strengths and weaknesses (score report included). You also get 45 additional questions, which include “interactive problem solutions” – top Princeton Review tutors giving step-by-step solutions to the SAT problems. Also included are fifteen “SAT Core Concept” lessons that teach you The Princeton Review’s top SAT strategies.

Easel, the makers of SAT Score Quest, also offer SAT Prep Pro, which they compare to “a tutor on demand!” This highly rated app offers over 200 practice questions in nine sections. Questions are accompanied by instant “show me” lessons. If you get stuck on a problem, just tap “ShowMe” to see a step-by-step animation of the solution.

Another popular test prep app in the “focused” family is SAT Vocabulary Practice for Dummies by Gwhiz. Priced at $3.99, this app focuses exclusively on “the vocabulary you need to know to get a good verbal score on the SAT exam.” The app features flash cards, practice tests, word lookup, and fun games that help you incorporate new vocabulary words into real-life situations.

Have you tried any of the SAT prep apps for iPad or other mobile devices? What are your impressions?

Summer academic camps give students a chance to work on academic challenges they don’t have time for during the school year, with its classes and extracurricular activities. Preparation for the SAT and ACT tests are popular on tutoring camp agendas, for example. Younger students might focus on building reading, writing or grammar skills.

“Tech camps” and computer seem to be especially popular. For example, iD Tech Camps, billed as “The World’s #1 Tech Camp!”, are available at over sixty of the world’s most prestigious universities (like Stanford and Harvard) and teach kids to create video games, smartphone apps, robots, movies, websites and other fun stuff

The range of tutoring options in “summer camp” formats is huge. Some programs offer remedial support, while others are geared for helping high achievers meet their lofty goals, such as admission to a top-tier university. Some camps are offered in just one location, while others are franchise-like models that can be hosted by schools and other organizations.

One of many one-of-a-kind tutoring camps out there is Integrated Education Services: “SAT preparation at its best!” The program starts with a diagnostic test to help learners choose the right program for them. The camp/classes offer specialized SAT prep time with hands-on support from experienced test prep tutors. The goal of the program is to prepare kids for the SAT performance early in their Junior year, when they’re not tied up with school work. This enables participants to take the test as early as October, after which they are free to prepare for SAT subject tests and focus on their grades.

Ivy Bound Test Prep offers their program at many locations across the US. In addition to inviting students to check out their program, Ivy Bound “… has the capacity to travel to your school, and to teach SAT and ACT classes using your facilities.” The test prep provider can also tailor programs to fit the time, cost and educational needs of schools. Schools hosting an Ivy Bound class will also receive a $500 to $1000 donation to their Student Fund or similar organization.

Many tutoring camps are affiliated with colleges and universities. For example, the University of Virginia offers 4 Star Academic Enrichment Camps at its Charlottesville, VA campus. Camps include SAT Prep, Junior and Senior High academic camps, and an American Studies program for international students. After tutoring time in the morning, learners can experience their choice of more traditional summer camp activities in the afternoon, including tennis, golf, soccer and fine arts. (Though it’s not emphasized on 4 Star’s website, their SAT prep course is offered by Princeton Review.)

Some of the big test prep companies also offer summer programs. For instance, Kaplan invites kids to “prep for the SA over the summer” at one of several locations. Their College Admission Prep Camp Intensive is a 20-day, in-residence program offering SAT prep, college guidance counseling and personal statement writing.

Among the most intensive of the test prep summer camps I came across was sponsored by Elite Educational Institute. It isn’t even technically a summer camp because it runs for fifteen weeks, right through til just before the October SAT administration period. “For the highly motivated few who want to attain truly impressive SAT scores…”, enrollment criteria include a score of 600 or higher on the critical reading section of a diagnostic SAT, a score of 650 or higher on the math section of a diagnostic SAT, and a GPA of 3.5 or higher.

Tutors participating in summer test prep camps can further support their students by leveraging learning analytics to guide practice and assessment, analyze strengths and weaknesses and track learning progress toward specific goals.

Featured image courtesy of misspudding.

SAT vs ACT: Choosing the Right Test [NEW EBOOK]

Download this free 20-Page Ebook for Tutors Now!

Our free 20-page ebook is a step-by-step guide on how to select the right test for your student. Learn everything you need to know about using the PLAN and PSAT to improve student scores, how to leverage learning analytics to select one test over the other, and other tips on how to take the guesswork out of selecting the ACT vs the SAT.

From simple practice testing to multi-week “college admission prep” programs at major universities, the range of test prep options out there is incredibly diverse. Debate remains about whether test prep in general is “worth it.” But many educators – as well as students themselves – feel that some degree of preparation is important, if only to build familiarity with the standardized test format, which is very different from the testing kids encounter elsewhere, and presents different challenges.

Financial realities and time constraints limit the level of test prep many students can engage in. A popular “do-it-yourself prep course” that many students and parents recommend is to combine practice testing with tutoring. For example, Xiggi’s SAT prep advice advocates this kind of low-cost, straightforward approach.

The idea behind these common-sense techniques is that the more one practices, the more one improves. Xiggi refers to the SAT as “an animal” that test-takers should approach with respect, having learned as much as possible about its behavior and idiosyncrasies.

A minority of students might only need to review a past test or two to get a feel for the way different types of questions are presented and worded. But most students are likely to benefit from significant practice. Building confidence, time management skills, and familiarity with question types are key steps in this “animal taming” process. The overall goal is to gain knowledge of the SAT test itself. Students who can quickly assess questions and recognize familiar patterns can solve problems faster and with greater confidence.

The role of a tutor in this context is to help keep students motivated and engaged to support effective, focused study. (It’s often a challenge for parents to fill this role.) A tutor can also help strengthen subject knowledge or test-taking skills in weak areas – provided he or she knows what those weak areas are.

Diagnostic assessment reports and learning analytics, such as those offered by Socrato, enable tutors to leverage practice testing to precisely analyze a learner’s strengths and weaknesses, score tests by subject area, skills tested, question format and/or difficulty level, generate rich performance histories for motivational purposes, and much more.

With these learning analytics capabilities, tutors can support a single student or a group of students to create individualized test prep and skills assessment programs hone strengths and address weaknesses quickly and effectively.

On top of that, tutoring can offer so much more than just test preparation or even subject knowledge. For example, time with a tutor can help kids develop independent, self-motivated, confident learning styles that will enrich not just their college careers but their entire life path.

What’s the most cost- and time-effective way to boost knowledge, skills, confidence and SAT/ACT scores? Many tutors and other educators, as well as parents and students, may have differing perspectives. Combining proven, affordable practice test-taking with learning analytics to guide targeted skill-building is likely to be effective for many students.

Featured image courtesy of BCPrince.

Now it’s up to them. With “the big test” just days away there’s not much more you can do to improve their performance.

Or is there?

Performing well on the day of the test can be almost as important as preparing well in advance for helping students achieve their maximum score. Many students perform significantly better on practice tests than in actual testing situations.

Recently the Learning Analytics blog featured 5 Clever SAT Preparation Videos. Echoing this theme, here are five common-sense tips you can give your students to help them maximize their standardized test scores and perform as well on test day as they have in practice.

Tip #1: Compete against yourself – not against the world

These first three tips come from YouTube videos featuring ePrep’s Karl Schellscheidt. The video “Living up to Your Potential” seems especially relevant for those about to take a college prep test. The key message here is simply that students will perform better (and be happier in their lives overall) if they avoid comparing themselves with others, and instead compete only with themselves.

If we compare ourselves to others we inevitably lose. There’s always somebody smarter, faster or cooler out there. By focusing on what’s right for us and what we’re capable of doing, we can avoid undermining ourselves and maximize our potential on standardized tests.

Tip #2: Don’t go on “autopilot” during the test

There’s more good eve-of-the-exam advice from ePrep in the video Autopilot – Don’t Set a Course for a Lower SAT Score. The “autopilot” problem is most likely to plague well-prepared, confident students. Because they’re cruising through the exam, they may not be alert for subtly tricky questions. It’s important to pay close attention when reading each question, even when you think you know the answer.

Remind your students to stay off autopilot. Encourage them to remain alert and read and answer each question carefully before proceeding to the next one.

Tip #3: Avoid making mistakes when filling out the answer key

The ePrep video “Bubbling: Avoid Mistakes in Your Answer Key” alerts test-takers to the trap of working out the correct answer to a test question – and then inexplicably filling in the wrong “bubble” on the answer key.

This kind of careless error is among the most frustrating ways to lose points on an important test. If you’ve been doing practice tests with your students, you probably know which kids are prone to making this kind of mistake.

To help test-takers avoid mis-recording their answers, ePrep’s Karl Schellscheidt suggests beginning the test by working through a page of questions in the test booklet, and then moving to the answer key and “bubbling in” those answers. Then move to the next page in the test booklet, answer all the questions on that page, then bubble in those answers, and so on.

To avoid running out of time before you’ve recorded your answers, it’s best to use this approach only to get a rhythm going at the start of the test or the start of a test section.

Tip #4: Eat for success

Taking a grueling SAT, ACT, PSAT, SSAT or other standardized test is like running a mental marathon. Eating right on test day is important because the human brain needs a steady supply of energy to function at its best.

Encourage test-takers to eat a decent breakfast on test day even if they’re not very hungry due to anxiety. Choosing appropriate snacks to eat during breaks is also important. Hunger is distracting, as well as a sign that the brain is running on empty and mental stamina is low.

Everyone’s body is different so one food does not fit all. It’s helpful if students can experiment before and during practice tests and at other times to identify what kinds of food help them stay alert. Here are some basic suggestions:

• Most people function best mentally when they eat a mix of complex carbohydrates and protein. Too much fat can cause drowsiness because it takes more physical energy to digest.
• Likewise, too much sugar or sugary snacks often cause a “sugar spike” – you feel ungrounded and spacey followed by a crash and low alertness.
• Healthy snacks like trail mix or fruits with a low glycemic index are a good general recommendation.
• Remind kids not to drink too much caffeine – especially if they’re not used to it. Likewise, energy drinks tend to hype you up and can reduce concentration and increase fidgeting.

Tip #5: Make practice tests feel like the real thing

Golf coaches are known to advise their performance-oriented clients to “play every shot like it’s the most important shot of your life” – even in practice sessions. In this way you can get used to the pressure, and your performance on the course will be as good as your performance in practice.

This strategy is applicable to standardized testing also. While it’s certainly appropriate to encourage students to relax during testing, it can also be beneficial to simulate the anticipation and excitement of actual test environments during practice.

Suggesting that students visualize the exam environment, as well as simulating exam pressure by timing tasks, are some ways to do this. Likewise, you can simulate unexpected exam distractions like the sound of typing and writing or sounds of traffic.

Featured photo by sevensidedcube.net.

Fortunately you don’t need to learn how to do Facebook right all alone. There are many businesses who have paved the way before you to creating engaging and creative Facebook business pages, should you take some time to look for them. Using these pages it’s easy to glean some proactive moves you can make to help build a Facebook business page that attracts your prospects, engages them and keeps them interested in the months to come.

To help teach you these tips, I point you to a few successful Facebook pages which articulate the value of getting creative and colorful on your Facebook page. Enjoy!

Merriam-Webster Dictionary Online

We’ve already talked about some of the fantastic video content that Merriam-Webster has been putting together, but how they’re using it on Facebook is even better. They’re actually embedding the videos straight into Facebook for their fans to enjoy without leaving the Facebook platform!

If you’ve yet to create a piece of video content and share it on your Facebook wall with your followers you’re missing out on a fantastic opportunity to stimulate their minds and foster some engagement. Don’t worry if people don’t react right away to your change of place, keep the video content interesting and post it during times when your prospects might be at leisure to watch a piece of video content.

Tutor.com Online Tutoring for Military Families

If you’re only posting text updates to try to engage your tutoring prospects on Facebook, try to stimulate them with photos instead as Tutor.com Online Tutoring for Military Families has done. Photos are a great way to break up the monotony of your Facebook page and draw attention to your brand in the prospect’s feed. In the past year, Facebook has put even more emphasis on highlighting photos on Facebook, so if you haven’t experimented with creating visual content, now is a great time to start. If you’d like a comment about the photos to appear, I recommend adding a brief summary of the photos in your photo album (this will appear in the feed). If you upload a single photo at a time, then be sure to make create a description of that photo as well so the context of your photo appears in the feed, too.

Vocab Videos

One way to create content for your Facebook page and involve your fans is to feature a contest or showcase of talent from your fans. One educational business on Facebook that does this well is Vocab Videos, a SAT prep service that creates humorous vocabulary videos to help students learn difficult SAT words easily. They often feature student created contests on their various social accounts which lead to a lot of repeat engagement from Facebook fans while getting word out about the contest through showcasing each individual submission.

featured photo by Capture Queen

SAT vs ACT: Choosing the Right Test [NEW EBOOK]

Download this free 20-Page Ebook for Tutors Now!

Our free 20-page ebook is a step-by-step guide on how to select the right test for your student. Learn everything you need to know about using the PLAN and PSAT to improve student scores, how to leverage learning analytics to select one test over the other, and other tips on how to take the guesswork out of selecting the ACT vs the SAT.