Award-Winning ACT Aspire Tutors

If your student could benefit from working with professional ACT Aspire tutors, Varsity Tutors can connect you with a certified instructor who meets all of your scheduling and academic needs. The ACT Aspire is an annual series of standardized tests designed to track a student's academic progress from third grade through early high school (grades 9-10). It allows educators to easily discover where students are improving, which areas could use more work, and how their academic instruction translates into the college and career skills students will need later in life. Unlike many standardized tests, the ACT Aspire is available in both computer and pencil and paper versions, though the computer version is more popular.

Perhaps you're familiar with the ACT, one of the most-trusted college entrance examinations taken by high school juniors and seniors each year. The ACT Aspire is related, and scores are tied to the college admissions test to produce results you can trust. Continue reading to learn more about how private ACT Aspire tutoring sessions can help your student reach for their academic potential.

How can ACT Aspire tutors help the student in my life improve their knowledge of academic subjects?

Working with an ACT Aspire tutor means studying in a private learning environment designed around a student's specific needs. While traditional classroom settings are tied to a set curriculum that they must stick to regardless of an individual student's needs, a private instructor is free to concentrate on your student's unique areas of opportunity. If your third-grader excels in reading for their age, their instructor can quickly move onto another topic to keep study sessions engaging. If they have a harder time with their multiplication tables, their instructor can slow things down and provide additional examples and explanations until your students feels ready to move on. An ideal pace is one where students feel engaged by the speed at which new concepts are introduced but not overwhelmed, and a private instructor can put in the time to discover what that means for your student.

Similarly, ACT Aspire tutoring sessions can be designed with your student's learning style in mind. If the student in your life is a kinesthetic learner, they might play games during their study sessions to add an interactive element to the proceedings. If they are more of a visual learner, visual aids such as counting cubes, anatomical models, graphics, and illustrations can be incorporated into study sessions to make it easier for them to picture key concepts. If your student is an auditory learner, oral repetitions and recordings that may be listened to over and over again may be the best way for them to approach test prep.

Studying in a one-on-one learning environment can also prove advantageous. Private study time gives your student an opportunity to establish a personal rapport with their instructor, potentially making them feel more comfortable asking for help as needed. Questions asked can also be addressed promptly, allowing your student to receive answers before a simple misunderstanding has the opportunity to spiral out of control. Similarly, all of your student's assignments can be reviewed quickly, ensuring that your student can act on any feedback they receive while the material remains fresh in their mind.

Many students also work on their broader study skills during their private tutoring sessions. For example, perhaps your student could more effectively express themselves with the written word. If your student isn't already in the habit of outlining their essay assignments, their instructor can show them how to do so. Not only does working from an outline make it easier for a student to remember all of their supporting details, but it also serves as a road map to follow if they forget what they wanted to say next. When you're composing a timed essay (either on the ACT Aspire or elsewhere), nothing feels worse than hearing the clock tick down without any new words appearing on the screen.

Likewise, many students could retain more of the information they read. If that describes your student, their instructor might show them active reading techniques such as note-taking to promote a closer reading of the text. If you're thinking about taking notes as you go, it's virtually impossible to think about anything besides the material you're working with. Your student can also make a note of anything that doesn't make sense to them so that they remember to ask about it later.

If your student tenses up around numbers, their ACT Aspire tutor can provide practice problems to help them feel more comfortable with grade-appropriate quantitative concepts. Sometimes, all it takes to develop a more comprehensive understanding of a given topic is a little bit of practice.

What can ACT Aspire tutors do to help my student prepare for exam day?

The ACT Aspire is offered to students in a wide age range, and it would be silly to give a student in third grade the same test as one in high school. As such, there is a grade-specific ACT Aspire test for grades 3-8 and Early High School to give students of all ages an appropriate level of academic challenge. The exact formatting can vary by test, but every ACT Aspire consists of the following five sections: Math, English, Reading, Writing, and Science. Every section is also timed, meaning time management is an important skill for test-takers of all ages.

Many students take practice exams under realistic conditions during their ACT Aspire tutoring sessions to better understand what the time available to them feels like. If your student is struggling to finish their exam on time, their instructor may show them time management strategies that they can use on the exam and beyond. For example, students can guess on multiple-choice items. While it's obviously better to know the answer, taking a stab something and moving on to the next item is often preferable to puzzling over a single question for an extended period of time. After all, the next one might be easier.

Unfortunately, not every question on the ACT Aspire is multiple-choice. Short-answer questions require students to explain their reasoning on a given item using no more than x number of words. For example, a student might be asked to explain why a pair of inequalities do not share a solution set or to interpret a reading passage. Long-answer items require students to write a narrative or essay based on the prompt provided. Whenever writing is involved, your student's instructor can encourage them to save enough time at the end to review their work and correct any silly mistakes before they are graded.

The ACT Aspire also uses "technologically-enhanced items," or questions that incorporate technology into the testing process in some way. For example, your student might be asked to rearrange items in a list to make it more logical or sort through data to more effectively interpret it. Practicing with the interface for these items can help mitigate any test anxiety your student may be experiencing. An ACT Aspire tutor can also show your student meditation techniques that they can use if they start to feel overwhelmed on test day.

One of the biggest benefits of practice exams is identifying areas of academic strength as well as any areas that could use further refinement. If your student consistently scores better on the Science section than the Reading one, they now know that future study sessions should concentrate on reading. They may also have more self-confidence on the Science section because they know that they did well with it.

What makes Varsity Tutors such a fantastic resource?

If you had to find your student an ACT Aspire instructor on your own, you would need to somehow verify that each candidate had a strong knowledge base about the test. You would also need to ascertain whether they had the communication skills to act as an effective teacher. Finally, you would need to make sure that their schedule was compatible with your own. Who has time for all of that?

Instead, let Varsity Tutors search their extensive base of independent tutors to find you somebody who meets all of your needs in as little as 24 hours. The instructor we refer to you will be a great communicator who knows everything there is to know about the test, so you don't need to worry.

Better yet, our exclusive Live Learning Platform facilitates digital study sessions so that you don't need to worry about driving your student anywhere. Video chat functionality and a virtual whiteboard make online studying just as effective as meeting up in person, giving you the best of all worlds. You also choose when each session takes place so that you don't need to plan your life around your student's study schedule.

If you're ready to get started or have any questions regarding the services we provide, please reach out to an educational consultant today for more information. Varsity Tutors has helped countless students find ACT Aspire tutors in the past, and we look forward to helping you and your student as well!