ISEE Preparation for English Learners:Vocabulary, Reading, Math

Students this page is for

This page is for two groups of students. The first group is students whose home language is Chinese and who already attend school in the United States, but whose academic English is clearly weaker than that of their peers. These students communicate fluently in daily life but have clear difficulty reading textbooks and answering reading questions. The second group is newly arrived immigrant students and international students who have been in the United States for a short time and need to adjust to both school coursework and the entrance exam within a short period.

The ISEE (Independent School Entrance Exam) is administered by ERB (Educational Records Bureau), and all questions are in English. For these two groups of students, the reasoning and math abilities the test measures are usually not the weakness; the weakness lies in understanding the questions in English and finishing within the time allowed.

English demands of the ISEE

This section explains how much each of the four scored sections depends on English, so that parents can allocate preparation time. The Lower, Middle and Upper Levels each have four scored sections, three of which relate directly to reading in English.

Section	Lower Level (applying to grades 5–6)	Middle / Upper Level (applying to grades 7–12)	Dependence on English
Verbal Reasoning	34 questions · 20 minutes	40 questions · 20 minutes	Highest: synonyms and sentence completion test word meanings directly
Reading Comprehension	25 questions · 25 minutes	36 questions · 35 minutes	High: heavy reading load, testing main idea, tone and inference
Mathematics Achievement	30 questions · 30 minutes	47 questions · 40 minutes	Moderate: points are lost when the student can calculate but has not understood the question
Quantitative Reasoning	38 questions · 35 minutes	37 questions · 35 minutes	Moderate: mainly logic, with little calculation

Source: official ERB ISEE materials.

Based on the official number of questions and time allowed, Verbal Reasoning allows about half a minute per question on average. A native speaker reacts as soon as the word is seen; an English learner who must first translate the word into Chinese mentally will run short of time. The goal of vocabulary training is therefore not only to know word meanings but to understand them instantly.

Whether official language accommodations are available

This section answers the question parents raise most often: whether an English learner can request extra time or other accommodations. The result of checking the official information is: no.

Item	Official position
Eligibility for accommodations	Students with disabilities who have written documentation may apply; English learner status is not a qualifying condition
Accommodations listed officially	Extended time, read-aloud, large-print test booklets, use of a computer for the essay and others; no bilingual dictionary, translation or extended time specifically for English learners
Question design	ERB states that questions do not depend on knowledge of American culture and that math questions use concise, clear wording
Test language	The official pages list no version other than English

Source: official ERB ISEE materials.

This means that English learners and native speakers answer the same test under the same time limits. The official consideration of language is reflected in question design, not in testing conditions. If the student also has a diagnosed learning disability, the family should apply separately through the process on the accommodations page and prepare the required documentation in advance.

Effects and strategies by section

This section first summarizes in a table how English proficiency affects the four scored sections, and then describes practice methods and materials for each section.

Section	Common problems for English learners	Strategy
Verbal Reasoning	Limited vocabulary; memorizing only Chinese definitions without being able to use words in English contexts	Study new words at a fixed time every day; record the English definition, an example sentence, synonyms and antonyms, and the root; review words grouped by root
Reading Comprehension	Understanding every word but missing the main idea of a paragraph; slow reading that leaves too little time for the final passages; frequent errors on inference questions	Read one short passage every day and write down the key point of each paragraph; schedule timed reading every week; find evidence in the passage for every inference answer
Mathematics Achievement	Able to calculate but not understanding the English wording of the question	Build a math English vocabulary notebook; write the question as an equation before calculating; label the cause of each error
Quantitative Reasoning	Mainly logical reasoning, but the question stem still has to be read accurately	Plug in the answer choices; substitute specific numbers for abstract problems

Verbal Reasoning: academic vocabulary

Verbal Reasoning has only two question types: synonyms and sentence completion. Both require knowledge of word meanings, and sentence completion also requires understanding the logic of the sentence. English learners usually have two problems: a limited vocabulary, and memorizing only Chinese definitions without being able to use the words in English contexts.

Daily practice

• Study new words at a fixed time. ERB’s official preparation advice is to study for 10 to 15 minutes every day; steady practice is more effective than cramming.
• Record four items for each new word: the English definition, an original example sentence, synonyms and antonyms, and the root or affix. A student who records only the Chinese translation is easily misled by similar choices on synonym questions.
• Review words grouped by root once a week. For example, bene- (good) links benefit, benevolent and beneficial, and a student who meets an unfamiliar word can use the root to infer its approximate meaning.
• On sentence completion questions, first circle the signal words in the sentence (because, although, however, and), decide whether the blank calls for a positive or negative word and whether it continues or reverses the direction of the sentence, and only then look at the choices.

Practice materials

• A list of roots and affixes: for grouping words and inferring unfamiliar ones.
• An English learner’s dictionary, which defines words in English written for learners: to gradually replace the English-Chinese dictionary.
• The science and social studies textbooks the student uses at school: their academic vocabulary overlaps heavily with the test.
• Homemade flashcards or a vocabulary notebook: reviewed on a rolling basis in three groups, “not yet learned”, “partly learned” and “learned”.

Example 1 (Verbal Reasoning · Sentence Completion)

Because the mountain trail was so ______, the hikers had to stop and rest every few minutes. (A) level (B) strenuous (C) scenic (D) crowded

Explanation

The correct answer is B. Strenuous means “requiring great effort; demanding.” The clue in the sentence is the cause-and-effect relationship introduced by because: the hikers had to stop and rest frequently, which shows that the trail was physically very demanding.

• (A) level means “flat.” A flat trail would not cause frequent rests, which contradicts the cause-and-effect relationship.
• (C) scenic means “having beautiful views.” Scenery might make people stop to look, but the sentence describes rest, not looking.
• (D) crowded means “full of people.” Crowding would slow progress, but it does not explain why rest is needed.

Skill tested: using a signal word such as because to determine the logical relationship between the blank and the second half of the sentence. Even an English learner who does not know strenuous can reach the answer by elimination.

Reading Comprehension: reading speed and inference

Reading Comprehension tests the student’s ability to take in information, analyze content and draw conclusions, with questions on main idea, tone, intended audience and the meaning of words in context. A common situation for English learners is that they know every word but cannot identify the author’s view after reading a paragraph, or they read too slowly and run short of time on the final passages. Inference questions are the most difficult, because the answer does not appear directly in the passage.

Daily practice

• Read one short passage every day, alternating between nonfiction (popular science, history, biography) and narrative texts.
• After each paragraph, write down its key point in one sentence, in English or in Chinese. After some time, the student will grasp paragraph main ideas automatically when reading longer texts.
• Schedule two to three timed reading sessions each week, reading passages and answering questions at the pace of the test and recording the time spent.
• On inference questions, require the student to find and underline the sentence in the passage that supports the answer. ERB’s advice is to rely on evidence stated clearly in the passage and to avoid choices with absolute wording unless the passage fully supports them.
• Choose one passage each week to read aloud. Reading aloud reveals sentence structures the student cannot read smoothly; even parents with limited English can hear which sentences cause difficulty.

Practice materials

• Leveled English books and short articles from newspapers and magazines: slightly above the student’s current level.
• Reading assignments and textbook chapters from school.
• Reading sample questions from the official preparation guide: for learning the question types; daily practice should rely mainly on original or school materials, with the official sample questions kept for practice tests.

ERB states that ISEE questions do not depend on familiarity with regional or national American culture. Even so, EDUBUS recommends reading widely in science and history, because richer background knowledge leads to faster reading.

Mathematics Achievement and Quantitative Reasoning: math English

This difficulty is the one parents most often overlook. Many students built a solid math foundation in China and are not weak at calculation, yet they still lose points on Mathematics Achievement because they do not understand the English wording of the questions. ERB notes in its fairness statement that ISEE math questions use concise, clear wording to reduce language barriers; however, a student who has never studied math terms such as quotient, consecutive integers and at most in English can still make errors easily.

Daily practice

• Build a math English vocabulary notebook organized by topic: operations (sum, difference, product, quotient), properties of numbers (factor, multiple, prime, integer), comparison and range (at least, at most, no more than, fewer than), and geometry (perimeter, area, diagonal, parallel).
• Complete a few English word problems every day. Before solving, write the question as an equation in Chinese or in symbols, and then calculate. This step separates “did not understand the question” from “calculation error.”
• When correcting errors, label the cause of each one: did not understand the question, understood it but used the wrong method, or made a calculation mistake. After several weeks of consistent tallying, the parent can identify the student’s main problem.
• Quantitative Reasoning relies mainly on logical reasoning, with little calculation. ERB recommends methods such as plugging in the answer choices and substituting specific numbers for abstract problems, and these methods work equally well for students with weaker language foundations.

Example 2 (Mathematics Achievement · Math English)

Maya has 3 more than twice as many stickers as Leo. If Leo has 8 stickers, how many stickers does Maya have? (A) 11 (B) 19 (C) 22 (D) 24

Explanation

The correct answer is B. Twice as many stickers as Leo means two times Leo’s number, that is, 8 × 2 = 16; 3 more than means adding 3 to that result, which gives 19.

• (A) 11 is 8 + 3; it ignores twice and reflects only half of the question.
• (C) 22 is (8 + 3) × 2; it reverses the order of “multiply first, then add.”
• (D) 24 is 8 × 3; it mistakes 3 for the multiplier.

Skill tested: converting English structures such as more than and twice as many as accurately into an equation. Each of the three wrong choices corresponds to a common misreading of the question, and the calculation itself is not difficult.

Order of preparation

This section gives the recommended order of preparation for English learners. The first two steps are diagnostic, and the remaining four are ordered from the longest building period to the shortest.

1. Complete one full practice test. Time it at official timing and record the performance in each of the four scored sections.
2. Separate language problems from reasoning and math problems. Redo the math questions untimed, with dictionary lookup allowed; if accuracy rises clearly after looking up words, the math errors come mainly from language.
3. Establish daily vocabulary practice. Vocabulary takes the longest to build, so it should start first and continue with the methods described above.
4. Add a short daily reading passage. Begin by writing paragraph key points consistently, and then gradually add weekly timed reading and inference question practice.
5. Train math English based on math errors. Focus on errors of the “did not understand the question” type, and practice writing the equation before calculating.
6. Move to a week-by-week final preparation plan. After the foundation period for vocabulary and reading, use the 12-week study plan in this library to schedule the final preparation.

Division of roles when parents have limited English

Limited English does not prevent parents from helping a student prepare. The key is a clear division of roles: teachers handle content explanation, and parents handle pacing, records and review.

Parent’s task	How to do it
Arranging time	Set a fixed daily study period and rotate vocabulary, reading and math English, avoiding cramming close to the test
Checking records	Confirm that the vocabulary notebook is updated daily and that errors are labeled with causes; parents do not need to judge right or wrong, only to confirm that the records are being kept consistently
Review in Chinese	Ask the student to explain in Chinese the English passage just read, or why an answer was wrong; if the student can explain it clearly in Chinese, the understanding is sound, and whatever the student cannot explain clearly needs to go to a teacher
Listening to the student read aloud	Even without understanding the content, parents can hear where the student pauses, misreads or slows down noticeably
Communicating with the school	If the student takes an English Language Development (ELD) course at school, parents can ask the teacher to describe the student’s current reading level and weak areas as a reference for the starting point of preparation

Planning the timeline

No single preparation period suits every student. EDUBUS recommends that parents decide based on the diagnostic results and the target testing season, rather than copying other families’ experience.

Judging the length of preparation from the diagnostic results

• If math and Quantitative Reasoning are normal while Verbal Reasoning and Reading Comprehension lag clearly behind, the problem is mainly language, and the preparation period needs to be substantially longer, because vocabulary cannot be built up within a few weeks.
• If accuracy on math questions rises clearly when dictionary lookup is allowed, the math errors come mainly from language, and math English training usually shows results fairly quickly.

Planning backward from the testing seasons

The official calendar has three testing seasons per school year, and a student may test at most once per season.

Testing season	Months
Fall	August to November
Winter	December to March
Spring/summer	April to July

Source: official ERB ISEE materials.

• EDUBUS recommends that English learners reserve at least one extra testing season as a buffer and adjust later plans based on the results of the first test.
• The preparation period overlaps with the private school application timeline. Winter tests often fall close to application deadlines, so the final test needs to leave time for score release and score sending.

EDUBUS private tutoring for English learners

EDUBUS assessment: ISEE preparation for English learners must first separate language problems from reasoning and math problems; otherwise, too much time is easily spent on content the student has already mastered.

EDUBUS recommends that these students rely mainly on private tutoring, because each student’s language starting point differs greatly, and the uniform pace of a group class may not suit them. Private tutoring is arranged as follows:

1. A placement assessment first confirms the student’s starting point in each of the four scored sections.
2. Lesson hours are allocated based on the assessment results, and vocabulary and reading usually receive a larger share than for native speakers.
3. Teachers explain the meaning of questions and the solution approach bilingually in Chinese and English, but require the student to answer and retell in English.
4. A separate math English vocabulary list is built for the math sections.

The ISEE online learning system developed by EDUBUS provides vocabulary check-ins, practice by module and error analysis. It helps make daily vocabulary and reading practice after class a fixed routine, and it lets parents see how much the student completes each day.

For families also applying to private schools, ISEE preparation and private school applications at EDUBUS are scheduled by the same team, with test dates and school deadlines planned together. Details and pricing for private tutoring packages and the online system are available on the ISEE courses and assessment page.