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Articles & News
- A Strong Academic Foundation Is Built Early
- 3 Key Habits Of Students Who Prepare For Success
- Leveraging The Summer Productively For Learning
- When Is The Right Time To Start Test Preparation?
- The Value Of Practice Tests In Student Learning
- The Future of the ACT Essay
- MAP Testing, Learning Loss, And Supporting Our Middle School Students
- With Subject Tests Out, How Will AP Scores Factor In College Admissions?
- Making The Best Of MAP Testing & Scores
- College Board Eliminates SAT Subject Tests & SAT Essay
- ACT & SAT Test Dates And Q&A Services
- Lessons on Learning from 2020
- Key Learning Insights For Winter Break
- Announcing Academic Tutoring Packages
- How Is Academic Math Measuring Up?
- PSATs, Score Release, and Next Steps
- Final 2020 ACT And SAT Dates & Score Growth Trends
- Distance Learning Has Parents Feeling Distanced
- Close Tracking: Identifying Early Warning Signs Of Learning Loss
- Applying To College During COVID
- First-Quarter Results Demonstrate Impact of Learning Loss
- Seeking Special Accommodations On Standardized Tests
- Highlight, Don’t Hide, Your Learning Difference
- Teaching Beyond The Test: The Importance Of Ninth Grade
- Applying To High School In Chicago Public Schools
- During Remote Learning, Parents Want Consistency of Instruction & Assessment
- ACT & SAT Scores Declining: What’s Next
- Supporting Success On NWEA-MAP: Online Testing
- Chicago High School Admissions: Important Updates
- ACT Test Cancellations & Re-Registration Strategies
- What Strategies Work For High-Impact Academic Intervention
- Test-Prepping – Supplemental Education – And Now Learning Pods (During the Time of COVID)
- The Academic Impact Of One-On-One And Small-Group Tutoring
- Remote Learning & the Future of Test Administrations
- Avoiding a “Data” Vacation
- Academic Approach Named Better Magazine’s Best Tutoring Company in Chicagoland
- Remote Learning & The Importance Of Student Engagement
- Learning Loss & Economic Implications
- Learning Loss & The Importance Of Assessments
- COVID-Slide & ACT/SAT Progress
- Understanding The Impact Of Covid Learning Loss
- ACT, SAT, & College Admissions
- ACT Testing Updates
- Middle School: Why Success In Middle School Matters
- Middle School: Rigorous Design, Long-Term Success
- Middle School: Academically Enriching Curriculum
- SAT – A Note Of Appreciation & PSAT Update
- Will ACT Plan To Provide At-Home, Online Testing?
- Announcement Regarding Fall Registration Dates & Refunds
- Two Academic Support Models Beneficial To Students
- Student Engagement And Social Learning
- Personalized Feedback That Promotes Learning
- An Introduction To Small Group Instruction
- Standardized Test Administrations & The Operational Burden On Schools
- Standardized Tests Can Promote Rigor
- ACT Apology And Pop-Up Test Sites
- Effective Instruction to Prevent Learning Loss
- Guest Letter: Study Teams
- Rigor This Fall
- Quick SAT & ACT Updates
- The day after MyACT launches
- Launched: ACT Registration Site
- Further Updates from ACT
- Two Updates from ACT
- ACT Registration Next Steps
- ACT Registration Open and Academic Warm-ups
- Re-Opening Plans: Key Questions & Your Needs
- Re-opening Plans: Half-day, Half-year
- Re-opening Plans: In-person Lower Grades; Remote Upper Grades
- ACT Test Cancellations & Re-Opening Plans: The 2-2-1 Hybrid
- New Temperature Checks For A New School Year
- Instructional Strategies for Reciprocal Relationships
- Reciprocal Relationships & Empathy
- The Importance Of Teacher-Student Relationships
- ACT Announcement & Science as Reading
- The Need For Creative & Flexible Math Instruction
- Supporting Claims With Evidence
- College Readiness Skills: English
- Preparing to be ready
- Closed Test Centers – July ACT
- The Needs of Rising Freshmen
- Considerations for College Reopenings
- Answering Your Questions: Fall ACT Dates
- New ACT Dates Announced & Illinois Reopening Requirements
- K12 School Reopenings: Considerations for Fall
- Academic Approach on How to Keep Students Prepared for the Fall
- ACT: Single Subject Testing Postponed & Fall Testing Updates
- Writing Strategies for Summer
- Reading Essentials for Summer
- Summer Reading 101: The Essential Guide
- Summer Learning in Math
- The Academic Approach to Test Optional
- Test Optional: The Impact on Students
- Test Optional: Impact on Admissions
- Test Optional: Understanding & Navigating
- Understanding & Navigating Test-Optional Policies
- Resources as you Navigate Current Challenges
- Navigating Test Cancellations
- Where We Stand & What We’re Doing
- ACT Cancellations & Next Steps
- AP Updates: Makeups, Results, and Continued Controversy
- Brief Updates from ACT and the College Board: June, July, and After
- Colleges this Fall: Open, Remote, Hybrid, or Uncertain
- Legal Upshot of AP At-Home Testing
- COVID Slide Research from ACT
- AP Testing: Take 2
- Student Voices on Adapting to a New Routine
- The AP Online Experience: Troubles and Troubleshooting
- AP rollout–and lessons learned
- AP Exams Begin with Controversy
- A Few Updates on the ACT and AP Exams
- Further Opportunities to Prevent the COVID Slide in Math
- Preventing the COVID Slide in Math Skills
- Math & the COVID Slide
- Maintaining Math Progress during School Closures
- Video Interview: Peter Rastrelli
- Special Considerations with Executive Functions
- Specific Tools to Support Executive Functions
- Executive Functions for Students
- What will the online testing experience be for students?
- The Question of At-Home Testing
- ACT Testing & Timeline Updates
- SAT Testing & Timeline Updates
- Some Important FAQs on Testing & Planning
- Important SAT Updates from the College Board
- Math in Mind
- Growth Mindset, Covid Mindset
- Key Learnings from School Leaders
- Academic Mindsets
- AP Exam Updates & Academic Preparation
- What Does Attendance Mean?
- We Heard You: Our E-Learning Resources
- A Proactive Approach to E-Learning
- Continuity in Education
- Making the Best of a Disrupted School Year
- Changes in High School Rites of Passage
- 7 Ways for Students to Learn from Home
- School Districts Shift to Remote Learning
- Gratitude and Resilience
- 15+ Tips That Will Change The Way You Approach E-Learning
- The Importance of Social-Emotional Learning
- Positive, Personalized Mentoring — at a Distance
- State Testing Waivers & Helping Students Prepare
- The Move to Online Testing
- The Question of Online Testing and E-Learning
- Modified AP Exams and Extended School Closures
- Rigor & Relevance: Critical Reading during COVID-19
- Preparing for AP Exams
- Our Approach to E-Learning: New Delivery, Same High Quality
- Planning for ACT & SAT Test Date Changes
- An Offer for our Academic Approach Families
- Maintaining Academic Progress During School Closures
- The Role of Social-Emotional Learning in Academic Success
- ACT Superscoring Means Major Shift in Student Test-taking
- Updates Announced for the ACT
- ACT or SAT: Which Test Is Right for You?
- Academic Approach: Beginnings
- Better Magazine’s 2019 Faces of Chicago
- The PSAT/NMSQT: Its Purpose & Benefits
- Communicating with Students About the PSAT/NMSQT
- The History of Academic Approach
- The SAT & ACT Essays: Sometimes a Requirement, Always an Opportunity
- College Readiness Summer Seminar
- Should I Retake the SAT or ACT?
- Summer Learning and Tutoring
- Incorporating and Adapting to Inquiry-Based Instruction
- SAT Scores: What Teachers Can Do After Test Day
- Spring is for SAT Subject Tests
- How to Prepare for the SAT: An Academic Approach
- College-Level Rigor in the High School Classroom: SAT Curriculum, Common Core and College Readiness
- To SAT or ACT? That is the Question.
- Professional Development for Teachers and ACT/SAT Testing
- Getting the Most Out of Your Score: Learning From the PSAT
- Making the Mean Less Mean: Strategic Reading in an SAT or ACT Math Prep Course
- A Matter of Time Part II: The Critics and Advocates of SAT and ACT Accommodations
- A Matter of Time: Extended-time ACT and SAT Accommodations
- Test Prep Strategies for Dyslexic Students – Dyslexia.com
- Creative Ways to Keep Kids Engaged with Math During the Summer – Homeschoolbase.com
- How to Help Your Child Prepare for the SAT – Modern Homeschool Family
- What parents can do to help teens prepare for the SAT & ACT – ChicagoNow’s Between Us Parents Blog
- SAT test takes over for ACT starting now – Inside Publications
- Always A Lesson: Matthew Pietrafetta, Founder of Academic Approach, joins host Gretchen Schultek to discuss the benefits of aligning high-impact test preparation with curriculum and instruction.
- SAT vs. ACT: Standardized Test Expert Weighs In – Patch.com (Winnetka)
- In Times of Change, Here’s How Education Entrepreneurs Can Build Organizations That Last – Triple Pundit
- Increase Your Reading Endurance (SAT Series Week 2)
- The Principal Center Radio: Matthew Pietrafetta, Founder of Academic Approach, joins host Justin Baeder to discuss college entrance exam prep for underserved communities.
- Grit in the Classroom – EdNews Daily
- On the Front Line of Teaching ‘Grit:’ The Battle to Stop Students from Quitting – Education World
- My Journey to Impact Entrepreneurship – The Huffington Post “Pioneers for Change” Blog
- Standardized Test Taking Strategies (NBC 5 Chicago)
- Simple ways to ace the ACT (WGN Chicago)
- Beyond Academic Skills: Soft Skills, Grit, and Building a Growth Mindset
- Getting the Most out of ACT and SAT Test Prep
- Learning About The Data-Driven Instructional Cycle
- Common Myths of Standardized Test Preparation (NBC 5 Chicago)
- The Big Payoff: Listen to Matthew Pietrafetta, Founder of Academic Approach, discuss student growth and development, standardized testing and academic skills assessment, the importance of soft skills and non-cognitive factors, as well as students with special learning needs.
- Timeline for College Testing – Make It Better
- The Education of Matthew Pietrafetta – Chicago Tribune