by Erica L. Meltzer | Sep 18, 2026 | Blog
Updates for both The Complete Guide to ACT English and The Complete Guide to ACT Reading are currently in the works and are projected to be complete by mid-October.
The Official ACT Guide, 2026-27, has added several graph-based questions to the Reading Test (Test 1 only), necessitating a new chapter devoted to that question type as well as changes to the practice tests. To avoid confusion, this updated version will likely be released as a new edition (4th).
In addition, the question index in The Complete Guide to ACT English will be updated to reflect the 2026-27 Official Guide. As the only change involves Test 1, a PDF of the question index for that exam will be made available on the website within the next few weeks. The edition number of this book will remain the same (5th).
by Erica L. Meltzer | Jun 14, 2026 | Blog
Recently, in the course of my reading, I came across a cross a quote warning that because educators spend so much time around young people, it is all too easy for them to unconsciously absorb the language of the schoolyard. This immediately got me thinking about some of the most popular education slogans denigrating explicit instruction and practice, and more specifically, about their rhetorical features.
To take what are probably the most famous examples:
- Not a sage on the stage, but a guide on the side
- Chalk n’ talk
- Drill n’ kill
- Plug n’ chug
In the past, the very superficiality of these catchphrases had prevented me from even bothering to consider their linguistic properties. But once I started looking at them from that angle, I was finally able to name what had so long troubled me about them, as well as to understand how they derive their very insidiousness.
So, as can easily be observed, these slogans have two primary features:
- They consist entirely of one-syllable words
- They rhyme
These qualities are, of course, what makes them so easy to remember, repeat, and ultimately internalize; they’re basically marketing jingles, the way they’re designed to stick in the mind. (more…)
by Erica L. Meltzer | Jun 14, 2026 | Blog, Issues in Education
After I wrote my previous piece analyzing the Harvard faculty’s choice to impose a cap on A grades for undergraduates, I started thinking more broadly about the effects of grade inflation, some obvious and some less so. The more I thought about it, the more I realized the extent to which thousands of overly generous marking decisions, made individually, not only affect students, but also extend outward to parents, institutions, and ultimately society as a whole.
Yes, in the short term, students may get their perfect report cards, teachers and administrators may avoid parental ire, and colleges may keep enrollment figures up and tuition dollars rolling in, but at what cost?
So here goes my list of the all parties to whom grade inflation ultimately does a disservice.
(more…)
by Erica L. Meltzer | Apr 26, 2026 | ACT English/SAT Writing, Blog, Grammar (SAT & ACT)
One of the most important principles of effective teaching is to keep students focused on whatever it is you want them to learn. When you see that statement written out so directly, it seems so intuitive and obvious that it hardly bears consideration; however, it can be surprisingly challenging to put into practice, particularly when it comes to standardized tests, whose passages and questions contain both relevant and irrelevant information—and sometimes a good deal more of the latter than the former. As a test-prep tutor, you are responsible for helping students learn to identify what is relevant information and, just as importantly, ignore what it is not.
Both SAT and ACT questions may appear to be testing one thing when in fact they are testing something else; alternatively, they may appear to test multiple concepts when in fact they are really focused on only one. Students are, of course, routinely coached on how to spot “distractor” answers, but from a teaching perspective, it is just as crucial not to bog students down with explanations and concepts that are only tangential to what’s being tested. (more…)
by Erica L. Meltzer | Mar 21, 2026 | Blog
Accepted for immigration by both the Canadian and Australian governments, the CELPIP (Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program) focuses on practical language used in everyday situations and offers an alternative to the more academically oriented IELTS. The forthcoming guide covers key grammar and vocabulary concepts in the context of specific IELTS Writing and Speaking tasks, with an emphasis on moving beyond “textbook” English to a more natural and idiomatic communication style.
Includes sections on:
- Formal vs. informal language
- Transitional words and phrases
- Commonly misused and confused words
- Key letter (email)-writing vocabulary
Throughout the book, dozens of exercises provide extensive opportunity to practice applying skills.
This book is intended for CELPIP candidates who already possess a high-intermediate to advanced level of English (B2 or higher) and who are aiming for scores of Band 9 and above.
The book (print version only) is projected to be available on Amazon and The Critical Reader website during the first week of April.
by Erica L. Meltzer | May 16, 2025 | Blog, CELPIP, ESL, IELTS
Of all the many tenses in English, the future is perhaps the most poorly taught (although the present perfect is a strong contender for that non-honor as well). In fact, the way it is generally presented is not just overly confusing but also has very little relationship to how people actually speak. I’ve been looking around the web, and I really haven’t found a single solid explanation. So if you’ve been experiencing some confusion about how native English speakers refer to future events in everyday, informal speech, this guide is for you.
To be clear, I do not cover every possible usage here; rather, the goal is for you to understand the most common, real-life uses of these constructions, as opposed to what the average textbook says. (more…)
