College News - SAT Prep and Distance Learning

Colton Wright - International Coordinator - Higher Ground Learning

​Earlier this year, some AISL students signed up for a three-week, intensive on-campus SAT Preparation course. SAT scores, and results from other college-readiness assessments, are an important factor in many college admissions and scholarship decisions. Fortunately for these students, the course provider has been able to adapt to our unusual circumstances. This is what the International Coordinator, Colton Wright, has said about addressing these student's needs.

"Think of 'education', and the first thing that comes to mind is probably a building, complete with classrooms, walkways, and lockers. Even looking back to one-room schoolhouses, the word 'school' means a place. So what happens when all that changes? This spring has been a time of shaken assumptions: social distancing, wearing face masks, and the school campus standing vacant. Yet despite all this, education perseveres.
 
In a world of change and chaos, there are also stories of adaptation and achievement.
 
One such story revolves around students getting ready for a big step: university admissions. For the last few years, AISL has worked with a US-based tutoring company to offer its students a leg up on their applications - specifically, their SAT test scores. Higher Ground Learning had been offering an annual, after-school SAT prep program, helping students to produce their strongest score on a difficult standardized test. This spring, the program was once again scheduled - but then COVID-19 struck. Students weren't at school, instructors weren't traveling, and the course seemed all but doomed. 
 
Yet the story doesn't end there. With an existing background in online tutoring, Higher Ground was prepared to adapt. After weeks of collaboration, a new format emerged, specifically tailored to the particular needs of quarantined students. It featured small groups, flexible hours, and a schedule that dovetailed neatly with AISL's distance learning infrastructure. The course even leveraged the online format in order to expand the course for an extra 2 weeks, giving students a longer timeline for improvement. The campus may have closed, but the SAT Prep school was back in session; the course kicked off with a virtual diagnostic exam just last Saturday. And though the course will be focused on the SAT, the students just might walk away with an even greater lesson: in tumultuous times, those who adapt are those who thrive."
 
Colton Wright
International Coordinator
Higher Ground Learning

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Rachel Silva - AISL students' SAT Preparation Course Teacher