685. SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT: STUDYSPACES
Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast
Release Date: 11/14/2025
698. WHAT DOES PUBLIC EDUCATION OWE TO ADVANCED STUDENTS?
Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast
Public schools are mandated to provide educational opportunities to all students and generally work very hard to support learners with profound deficits or differences. But what about learners who require enrichment rather than accommodations? Amy and Mike invited Kenneth Shores to examine the question of what public education owes to advanced students. What are five things you will learn in this episode? In theory, what is the purpose of public education? Why has public education struggled to support advanced students? Does harm occur when enrichment is withheld from thriving students? ...
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697. EXTEMP WITH AMY & MIKE: December 2025
Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast
EXTEMP WITH AMY & MIKE: December 2025 The Tests and the Rest podcast has always been relentlessly focused on exploring important topics in testing, admissions, education, and learning with amazing expert guests. Sometimes, though, we enjoy an unstructured opportunity to discuss our own takes on major issues, upcoming events, and our endeavors at the intersection of business and education. Catch up with us in the latest episode of EXTEMP with Amy & Mike. What are five things you will learn in this episode? How was the NTPA Winter Workshop? What are Amy and Mike’s plans for...
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696. NEW WAYS TO USE YOUR 529 PLAN
Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast
Every dollar saved for college is a dollar you won’t have to borrow. But even if you can save, what’s the best way to put money aside for higher education? Amy and Mike invited financial expert Joanne Dashiell to explore new ways to use your 529 plan. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What exactly is a 529 plan, and how does it work? Can you talk about the two different types of 529 plans, savings and prepaid? What are some of the tax advantages associated with using a 529 plan? How have 2025 policy changes expanded 529 plan flexibility? What is the one message...
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695. TEST PREP PROFILE: Dani Fleischer & Kevin McCormick
Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast
Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced professional in the test prep industry? MEET OUR GUESTS Kevin S. McCormick is a certified New Jersey English teacher who has taught middle and high school in Elizabeth, NJ since 2013. Before joining Teach for America, he worked in Institutional Equity Sales at Salomon Smith Barney, the NYSE, and the American Stock Exchange. He holds an MBA in Finance and International Business and a BA in English from NYU. Dani Fleischer is a writer and educator whose work has appeared in The Huffington Post and The Washington Post. Like...
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694. TEST PREP PROFILE: Lucy Zhang
Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast
Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced professional in the test prep industry? MEET OUR GUEST Lucy Zhang is the owner of A+ Test Prep and Tutoring, a 30+ year–old company helping students boost SAT/ACT scores and academic performance. She also co-founded SetSail, an online tutoring company connecting U.S. tutors with students abroad, and now runs both organizations. Lucy is focused on growing her impact by bringing additional tutoring teams into the fold, so more students can access high-quality, one-on-one support. Find Lucy on . ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and...
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693. TEST PREP PROFILE: Roman Marchenko
Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast
Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced professional in the test prep industry? MEET OUR GUEST Meet Roman Marchenko. After 15 years of teaching high school social studies in public and private settings, Roman transitioned to full-time test preparation. He’s always been a big fan of standardized tests, and a large part of his practice is getting students to evolve their mindset about the ACT and SAT. So many view these tests as a necessary evil, at best, but that serves as an obstacle to performance! Roman’s favorite part of the job is getting to glimpse...
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692. TEST PREP PROFILE: Angie Kelley
Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast
Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced professional in the test prep industry? MEET OUR GUEST Meet Angie Kelley. Angie is the founder of , a test prep and tutoring company dedicated to helping high-performing students train smart, test strong, and claim their futures. A licensed Oklahoma educator and graduate of Oklahoma Christian University with a B.S.E. in Mathematics, Angie draws on twenty years of classroom experience and a passion for strategic learning to help students reach their potential on high-stakes exams. Her work bridges the gap between academic...
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691. TEST PREP PROFILE: Jonah Fishel
Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast
Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced professional in the test prep industry? MEET OUR GUEST Meet Jonah Fishel. Jonah has spent nearly a decade helping students and families unlock confidence and mastery in learning. His journey began in an unexpected place: volunteering as a mentor inside a juvenile detention center in central Virginia. There, he worked with young people facing immense challenges, including behavioral issues, learning differences, and years of disrupted schooling. What he discovered was that the real work wasn’t just teaching math or...
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690. SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT: MentoMind
Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast
Expanding your tutoring business with MentoMind with educators Amit Jain and Chris McKenna What are five things you will learn in this episode? How are tutors using MentoMind? How is MentoMind helping tutors attract more students? How is MentoMind evolving from an SAT/ACT platform to an all-learning course platform? What kind of courses are tutors creating on MentoMind? What is the new and upcoming AI-powered toolkit "TutorHub" all about? ABOUT MENTOMIND is a revolutionary SAT/ACT prep platform designed to support students and help tutoring and test prep businesses thrive....
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689. LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGES 101
Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast
Liberal arts colleges represent what may be the most misunderstood class of higher ed institutions. What are the hallmarks of these schools, and what kinds of students should seek them out? Amy and Mike invited educational consultant Matt Arant to provide instruction in Liberal Arts Colleges 101. What are five things you will learn in this episode? How are liberal arts colleges defined in comparison to other types of schools? Is the application process different for liberal arts college applicants compared to those applying to research universities? Can you study STEM subjects at liberal...
info_outlineWhat if your PDFs could grade and track themselves? with educator Jam Mirzakhalov
What are five things you will learn in this episode?
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What is the story behind StudySpaces?
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How does StudySpaces work?
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Who currently uses StudySpaces?
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What kinds of outcomes do users experience?
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What should someone curious about StudySpaces know about it?
ABOUT STUDYSPACES
StudySpaces helps tutors create, assign, and track student work in one place. It connects directly with your existing curriculum, automatically pulling in your PDFs and materials so you never have to start from scratch.
Supporting SAT, ACT, ISEE, SHSAT, and more, it’s built for any tutoring format, including one-on-one, group, and on-demand, all fully branded to your business.
Companies like Pass Program, Smarty PANCE, and Kate Fisher Tutoring are using StudySpaces to personalize learning at scale and track every student’s progress in real time.
To learn more, please contact Jam on LinkedIn or at www.studyspaces.com.
ABOUT THIS PODCAST
Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page.
ABOUT YOUR HOSTS
Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright, Roots2Words, and College Eagle. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros and LEAP. If you’re interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, get in touch through our contact page.