What to ask a test-prep tutor: Friske Test Prep

Three questions worth asking any tutor: who's actually teaching, how often, and how big the groups are. A review of tutoring experiments by Andre Nickow, Philip Oreopoulos and Vincent Quan found gains were biggest with trained tutors and more sessions a week, and small groups did nearly as well as one-on-one.

Here's how Friske Test Prep in Southlake answers them.

Who's teaching? Tyler Friske teaches every test-prep session himself. He's a Carroll grad (Class of 2011, third of 582), a National Merit finalist with a perfect 36 on the ACT, and now an MD.

How often? In blocks of hours: 40 for the SAT/PSAT or ACT programs, and a 26-hour Fundamentals course for 9th and 10th graders that tests both exams to pick which one to target.

How big are the groups? Capped at five, and every program starts with a diagnostic and a written learning plan.

It's a family of three businesses in one suite, two blocks west of Town Square: Kathy Friske tutors grades 2 to 12, Tyler runs the test prep, and Zachary Friske's Cambridge Letters handles admissions and AP, with a free 20-minute consultation. Sessions run Sunday to Thursday.

What's your student preparing for this year?

Tap @frisketestprep to ask when the next program starts.
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