Tutor Preps Moorestown Students Amid Standardized Test Backlog

MOORESTOWN, NJ — Brian Richards is a former teacher who now prepares students to take standardized tests, and he’s never been busier than he is right now as education feels the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Richards, the founder of Mindset Learning and Test Prep in Moorestown, is still working with students who were supposed to take the SAT and ACT in the spring. At the same time, he’s working with students who are preparing to take the test as they normally would have.

“The peak time for them to take the test is the spring of their junior year,” Richards said. “I start with them a year ahead of time, so I have kids that I’ve been working with for over a year that I’m still carrying into the fall.”

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When schools shut down in March to help slow the spread of the coronavirus, SAT/ACT testing was canceled at the same time.

Testing was rescheduled, and there are seven ACT testing dates in September and October alone.
There’s usually just one test a month in September, October and December. An SAT testing date is scheduled for September, which never happens.

But there's an abundance of students who have been studying for the tests for more than a year and expected to take the test in the spring who are still waiting.

“That’s hard for kids,” Richards said. “People don’t want to study for standardized tests to begin with, and now they’re studying for over a year.”

That’s in addition to the students who would normally be taking the test at this time.

Richards is currently tutoring 30 students, far more than the typical number of students he works with at once. Half of his students have also decided that they will stay home for the school year, and parents are looking for tutors them that go beyond standardized testing preparation.

“There’s going to be a lot of work for tutors,” Richards said.

And then there’s the possibility many don’t want to mention, but everyone is preparing for: a second outbreak and a second shutdown, which would delay testing yet again.

The importance placed on standardized testing has declined in recent years, and colleges across the country have adopted a test optional policy amid the pandemic.

Richards points out that test scores make it easier for colleges to make their decisions, though. Without them, they have to dig deeper into grade point averages and other figures that are more objective depending on school districts and class schedules.

That situation is muddied by the ways different districts are handling their reopening plans. Some are offering 100 percent in-person learning, while just about all of them are offering a mix of in-person and remote learning. The hybrids vary, as Moorestown’s plan calls for students to attend class on Mondays and Wednesdays or Tuesdays and Thursdays, with Friday as a remote day for everyone.

In nearby Haddonfield, which is often ranked among the top districts in the state along with Moorestown, the plan calls for students to attend school on Monday and Tuesday or Thursday and Friday, with the all-remote day on Wednesday.

Differences in schedule can impact the way students learn. Every district is required to offer a 100 percent remote option, but differences in the way schools do it can also impact a student’s learning.

On a positive note, school districts have said they are improving their remote learning plans for the upcoming school year. The Moorestown Public School District said during the Board of Education meeting this week that students will get more live instruction time with their teachers than they did in the spring, when schools suddenly closed and districts were thrust into an unfamiliar position.

The district also said it will improve communication with parents, particularly when it comes to assessments. It also asks parents to let them know how they can improve communication via email. The board will vote on policies related to the plan on Aug. 18.

For more on Mindset Learning and Test Prep’s tutoring programs, visit mindsetprep.com. Lists of tutors in Moorestown can be found here and here.

To register for an upcoming SAT test date, click here. To register for an upcoming ACT test date, click here.

See more stories about New Jersey's coronavirus recovery.