About Shelby Joe

Shelby Joe 周 is the Founder of Piqosity. He has more than 20 years of experience in education as an entrepreneur, professor, and tutor. Shelby earned his BA in Political Science from Rice University. Born and raised in Mississippi, he now resides in Houston but has also lived in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hamburg.

Author McSwazey’s “Legacy Unbroken” and “Law of Averages” Adapted for ACT and SAT Prep

Our ACT and SAT practice tests contain adaptations from contemporary literature. Two of these adaptations are from a young, Houston-based author who goes by the pen name McSwazey. For SAT Reading Test practice, we adapted a passage from his second and newest story Legacy Unbroken. This riveting science fiction story chronicles a son's quest [...]

By |2021-10-26T05:41:49-05:00August 19th, 2020|Piqosity News, Teachers & Tutors|

Free Retired ISEE Test Practice Questions

Linked below are the 2018/2019 versions of ERB's official "What to Expect on the ISEE" PDF guides for the ISEE Upper, Middle, and Lower Level independent school entrance exams. These documents contain a near full-length ISEE practice test plus approximately 30 sample questions from a "retired ISEE test." These now retired official guides from ERB [...]

By |2021-09-28T13:51:38-05:00August 14th, 2020|ISEE Test Prep|

Pursuing a Dream – Why I Founded Piqosity

A native Mississippian and 3rd generation Chinese-American, Shelby Joe explains his motivation for founding Piqosity. Shelby Joe (4th from left) with his Rice University students at the Great Wall of China. I started Piqosity, because I’m passionate about learning and about helping students and their educators achieve their aspirations. Shelby's Grandmother [...]

By |2020-09-16T17:44:55-05:00August 11th, 2020|Piqosity News|

Piqosity Asks ERB to Properly Disclose Payments from Test Innovators

On June 25, 2020, ERB announced an exclusionary marketing agreement with for-profit, Seattle-based, tutoring company Test Innovators. Piqosity was appalled by this unprecedented arrangement between a non-profit education consortium and a for-profit test-prep company and sent an open-letter to ERB’s President, Dr. Thomas Rochon.  Dr. Rochon responded on June 29, 2020. However, he fails [...]

By |2021-09-28T12:51:38-05:00July 20th, 2020|Piqosity News|

ERB Responds to Piqosity on Exclusionary Arrangement with Test Innovators

On June 25, 2020, ERB announced an exclusionary marketing agreement with for-profit, Seattle-based, tutoring company Test Innovators. Piqosity was appalled by this unprecedented arrangement between a non-profit education consortium and a for-profit test-prep company and sent an open-letter to ERB's President, Dr. Thomas Rochon.  Dr. Rochon responded on June 29, 2020. The full text of [...]

By |2021-09-28T13:46:14-05:00June 30th, 2020|Piqosity News|

ERB ISEE Arrangement with Test Innovators, An Open Letter

On June 25, 2020, the Educational Records Bureau (ERB) announced an exclusionary marketing arrangement with the private, for-profit test prep company Test Innovators. Test Innovators charges $389 for access to a single, retired test from ERB. We disagree with this opaque relationship that is bound to adversely affect so many educators and their students. [...]

By |2021-09-28T13:46:22-05:00June 25th, 2020|Piqosity News|

Free ACT and SAT Practice Tests

After more than a year in development, Piqosity.com (pique+curiosity) is excited to announce the launch of its practice tests for the ACT* and SAT* college admissions exams. Available immediately for free, each course features 7 full-length practice tests, which can be worked online straight through or broken up and personalized according to the student's [...]

By |2021-09-28T13:14:35-05:00June 22nd, 2020|Piqosity News|

Remote Tutoring Apps and Tips

Remote tutoring with video chat software like Zoom, Skype, and Google Meet is a natural fit for Piqosity's adaptive practice platform for ISEE Upper Level, ISEE Lower Level, ACT, and SAT. With no bulky books and scattered papers to worry about, Piqosity and video chat software enable tutors to efficiently work with students without geographic restrictions. The [...]

By |2021-09-28T13:15:10-05:00March 23rd, 2020|Teachers & Tutors|

Spring 2020 Major Update Release Notes

The "ISEE 2019-2020 season" is now mostly over, which can mean only one thing for Piqosity -- it's safe to start tinkering with the software again! We're excited to announce our first major release of 2020, which brings a host of performance improvements and new features. New Features More Student Stats Tutor-Led Practice Student [...]

By |2021-09-28T13:15:25-05:00February 26th, 2020|Piqosity News|

Scoring the Upper Level ISEE

Students taking the ISEE Upper Level will receive a "stanine score" that ranges from 0 to 9, with 9 being best. They will receive an overall stanine in addition to stanine scores for each sub-test (Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, Reading Comprehension, Mathematics Achievement.) The stanine scores are what schools ostensibly care about most and [...]

By |2019-08-27T16:26:44-05:00August 27th, 2019|ISEE: Upper Level|
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