Session 1 — 5/5 — Intake / Diagnostic
xxxxxxxxxxModule 1: 23/27 (-4)Module 2: n/aScaled score: n/a
xxxxxxxxxxModule 1: 24/27 (+1)Module 2: n/aScaled score: n/a
Vocabulary: 5/7 Grammar: 4/7 Reading comprehension: 6/7 Rhetorical analysis: 5/7 Logical reasoning: 5/7 Test-taking mechanics: 4/5 Total: 29/40
Self-efficacy: 5/5 Metacognition: 5/5 Digital fluency: 5/5
Today, Liam showed up on time and focused. Because it was difficult establishing contact before class, we adapted the diagnostic session to be homework-free, limited to one SAT RW module only. The First Take asks students to complete a practice test within the time limit as in the real test, whereas the Confidence Retake asks them to review the test with as much time as needed to mark their final answers. Today’s limited diagnostic test was somewhat easier than Module 1 of the 2026 March SAT. Liam’s performance was strong but slanted, with 1 error in Reading and 3 errors in Writing. Overall, Liam is justifiably self-assured in his reading comprehension abilities. Given sufficient time, he’ll slowly process the passage and arrive at the correct idea about what each sentence is saying. His vocabulary and logical reasoning abilities form a stable base for his test-taking as well. Moreover, his test-taking mechanics are “clean,” in that he hasn’t developed habits overly optimized for low-hanging fruit. He reads the passage. He checks what the question’s asking for. He tries to hold a plausible correct answer in his mind. Then he tries to find a match.
This alone makes him stand out. Somewhat surprisingly, given what we discussed in the initial consultation, Liam’s performance on the grammar was shaky. It’s not that he just got those 3 questions wrong, but that even on the questions he got right, his actions were less purposeful and directed. (I watched and saw.) The good news is that grammar concepts are relatively easy to master. What’s hard is changing habits, but he already has a lot of good habits. By the June SAT, if he builds the new habit of “defending all parts,” while earning some extra time on the grammar questions (by increasing his concept fluency), he can look forward to stronger performance.
He should allocate 1.5–2 hours for my homework. Erica Meltzer is a solid start. He'd told me he improved a lot on the grammar (Standard English Conventions). But he's still having to process theory into action. Also, that book's target audience includes 500-650 SAT RW scorers, which shows in the confident, simplified way it presents the grammar concepts. He may be looking for shortcuts that don't exist on the harder sentences, which slows him down. Khan Academy is more neutral. I recommended to Liam directly to get through the Grammar Unit This shouldn't be too challenging for him, but it'll give us a shared language for our next class.
xxxxxxxxxxModule 1: 25/27 (-2)Module 2: 19/27 (-8)Scaled score: 700
xxxxxxxxxxModule 1: 25/27 (+1, -1)Module 2: 21/27 (+2)Scaled score: 720
Words added: 5
Today, Liam showed up on time, focused, and fully prepared, completing the First Take, the Confidence Retake, and the vocabulary word highlights before class. Today’s practice test was slightly easier than the 2026 March SAT. Liam’s performance showed some early promise, with 10 errors on the First Take (5 in Reading and 5 in Writing) and 3 recoveries on the Confidence Retake (1 in Reading and 2 in Writing). There was also 1 fumble on a Writing question. He applied the technique of “defending all parts” for a modest improvement on the Retake, but it seems there are other things blocking his mind from performing at its best during the test. Last week, I wasn’t able to get a full read on his logical reasoning, vocabulary, and grammar levels. Today, I saw that he excels on logical reasoning challenges, capable of computing multiple steps in his head. However, his vocabulary is a bit shakier than expected, and his grammar remains the most obvious weakness. Today, he was able to get a big picture overview of my strategy, a repeatable approach for every question that can adapt to the question’s difficulty level. Next class, I look forward to seeing how he incorporates the predict and match steps.
xxxxxxxxxxModule 1: 25/27 (-2)Module 2: 19/27 (-8)Scaled score: 700
xxxxxxxxxxModule 1: 27/27 (+2)Module 2: 22/27 (+4, -1)Scaled score: 750
Words added: 2 Definitions: A Connections: A Usage: B
Today, Liam showed up on time, focused, and fully prepared, completing the First Take, Confidence Retake, and Vocab List before class. Today’s practice test was similar in difficulty to the 2026 March SAT. Liam’s performance showed improvement, with 10 errors on the First Take (5 in Reading, 5 in Writing), and an encouraging 6 recoveries on the Confidence Retake (4 in Reading and 2 in Writing). There was also 1 fumble. Liam has been more intentional in reading the passage, letting himself slow down to understand it, and it’s been paying off. The problem now is how to minimize time spent on Process of Elimination. Today, Liam learned the main strategy he can use to recoup the time spent on slowly reading: Predict and Match. It’s notable that Liam isn’t recovering as many grammar errors on his own. Next week, I’ll allocate more time to grammar concepts. Next class, I look forward to seeing how Liam’s experience with predicting and matching goes.
xxxxxxxxxxModule 1: 26/27 (-1)Module 2: 1/3 (-2)Scaled score: n/a
xxxxxxxxxxModule 1: 26/27 (+0)Module 2: 1/3 (+0)Scaled score: n/a
Words added: 4 Definitions: B Connections: C Usage: SKIP
Today, Liam showed up on time and focused, but not fully prepared, completing the First Take, Confidence Retake, and Vocab List for Module 1 but not for Module 2. Today’s practice test was similar in difficulty to the 2026 March SAT. Liam’s performance on Module 1 was strong, with 1 Reading error. The good news is his only mistake was on a hard Reading question. That is, he made no mistakes in grammar. However, Module 2 is where the real test is. Last week, Liam learned to predict and match the answer. Today, he saw some fruit using this strategy, saying that today’s Module 1 felt easier than previous ones, though it actually wasn’t. In class, he also learned how his grammar parsing can directly aid with reading comprehension. Next class is our final before the June SAT. As with last week, I look forward to seeing how his grammar performance shapes up, especially on Module 2.
xxxxxxxxxxModule 1: 24/27 (-3)Module 2: 19/27 (-8)Scaled score: 690
xxxxxxxxxxModule 1: 25/27 (+1)Module 2: 20/27 (+1)Scaled score: 710
Words added: 11 Definitions: A Connections: D Usage: B
Today, Liam showed up on time, focused, and fully prepared, completing the First Take, Confidence Retake, and Vocab List before class. Today’s practice test was similar in difficulty to the 2026 March SAT. Liam’s performance was mixed, with 11 errors on the First Take (5 in Reading and 6 in Writing) and 2 recoveries on the Confidence Retake. His score came out similar to his recent tests, but unlike previous tests, as many as 3 of his errors were on relatively easy questions. He showed some improvements on some of harder questions but this is hidden by the score, which punishes errors on easier questions. Today, we went into detail on time management, to avoid panicking and spiraling on hard questions and to stay focused on his target range. Saturday, I look forward to hearing how Liam uses the two-pass approach to maximize his confidence.