What SAT tutoring have you found most helpful?

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I taught high school math at a Catholic school for one year in the late '90s, have done some tutoring, and am starting an SAT tutoring business.

I am not looking for clients. I am looking for ways to do it right. (And yes, although I do want to make some money, just not here and now.)

There are examples of services and experiences that are iffy. For example, the major firms like Kaplan or Princeton push diagnostic testing and also push packages of lessons costing several hundred dollars. Maybe in some cases these are worthwhile; maybe in other cases, not so much.

Now, that said, I am primarily looking for positive examples of tutoring services that have been clearly worthwhile, whether with the major firms, or with independents, or on your own.

So, what SAT tutoring have you found most helpful?

The only "tutoring" necessary on those is to go through the practice exam that comes with the registration packet. That shows the format of the test, and gives enough questions that a reasonably clever student should be able to "game" the test, especially in the writing section where they only really have 3 or 4 different questions, and the answer is the same each time.

Standardized test prep tutoring is one of the biggest scams in education today, right behind the standardized tests themselves which do not provide any sort of meaningful measurement of a student's capabilities.

I took the test this Fall. Yes, as a guy in my forties, I did. And for the time pressure parts, esp. the math and writing (grammar) sections, I found that my self-study helped a lot.

Also, while many "depth students" (as I call them) the students who learn in depth and enthusiastic about getting to the bottom of the matter, do poorly on standardized tests, there are also superb test-takers who would learn to cough up correct answers without understanding the answers themselves.

Who would you rather have as a customer for a SAT tutoring business, a "depth student" or a superb test-taker?

First things first, teaching a kid good strategy testing is helpful. Remove their fear of guessing when they can eliminate answers, teach them to attack tougher questions last, etc, all help.

Then of course, observe their challenges. Many of these kids have taken these math courses already. You're not teaching them how to re-invent the wheel, you're refining math they already should know.

And of course, practice practice practice w/ SAT like problems. I used to teach my students that it was as much a reading exam as anything.

Yes, I like that part.

I will graciously accept both kinds of students. I will try and take my students as they are. I'm sure I'll make all kinds of mistakes, but with real conversation and dialogue which ping-pongs back and forth, I will be open to graciously recovering from said mistakes. And how's that for a fine Zen snippet!

Depth students will be better in the long run, long after the SAT has been passed.