4 August 2025
By Kari Dequine Harden
Contributing Writer
When she was in high school, New Orleans native Angelica Harris was a straight-A student and varsity athlete. She participated in numerous extracurricular activities, including leadership development.
“My test scores were the only thing stopping me from getting into an Ivy League school,” Harris, now 28, reflected. “I didn’t understand how I could have a 4.0 GPA and such a low test score.”
ANGELICA HARRIS
Before starting the 11th grade at her private all-girls school, Harris made the bold decision to pull out and complete her junior and senior years as a homeschooled student. She connected to a tutor, “a tutor who looked like me,” and “realized I had education gaps.”
Harris’ tutor was the first Black teacher she had – ever.
He helped her narrow in on the reading, writing and math skills she needed to improve.
Harris then created her own standardized test preparation system. She collected as many practice tests as she could and identified the most important categories of questions, and key questions that appeared frequently.
She noticed systemic issues, such as “a very Eurocentric lens” throughout the reading and writing questions. “There was a disconnect to the experiences of Black students,” she observed.
There’s an increasing body of research showing how standardized tests – those used in high school as well as for college admissions – leave low-income and minority students at a disadvantage.
In a 2021 National Education Association article titled, “The Racist Beginnings of Standardized Testing,” the authors describe the first key takeaway: “Since their inception a century ago, standardized tests have been instruments of racism and a biased system.”
A 2021 Forbes article, “How Admissions Tests Discriminate Against Low-Income And Minority Student Admissions At Selective Colleges,” details a study which showed issues with how tests are scored, and demonstrated through hard data “what college admissions test critics have long claimed: reliance on ACT/SAT scores to evaluate applicants creates rigid barriers to access for many minority and low-income applicants,” Bob Schaeffer, executive director of FairTest, said in the article.
In recent years, especially post-pandemic, many colleges and universities have made ACT and SAT scores optional, however a high test score can only benefit an application – make it stand out – and often plays a critical role in obtaining scholarships, Harris explained.
Regardless of bias – or changes in admission requirements – Harris knew she needed better test scores to open the doors she wanted to open. The current college admission climate is very competitive, she noted, and expensive.
Harris focused on the test itself – the types of questions asked and how they were presented. She created a spreadsheet. “I basically reverse-engineered the test,” she said.
Over the course of her junior year, Harris raised her ACT score from a 16 to a 32 – just in time for college applications.
“When I got a higher ACT score, I changed my life completely,” she said. “Test scores carry so much weight – even for ‘test optional’ schools. Higher test scores open so many doors to higher education opportunities.”
Harris attended Washington University in St. Louis on a full scholarship. She actually had a surplus of scholarships – more money than she could use for tuition.
While in college, she earned money tutoring younger students.
A family friend asked her to tutor their son. She helped him raise his ACT score from an 18 to a 27 in six months. “They were blown away,” Harris said of the student and his family.
As with her own test preparation, Harris helped the young man identify his own education gaps – the basic concepts he wasn’t getting, whether in mathematical equations or grammar. “We went to the root of the problem and I helped teach him the underlying concepts – that’s what helped increase the scores.”
Harris tutored more high school students, helping them achieve similar gains.
She earned undergraduate degrees in finance and computer science, and decided to pursue a master’s degree in computer science and engineering.
As part of the final segment of her master’s degree, Harris was required to compete a project of her own choosing.
“I saw that what was needed was a culturally competent tutoring platform,” Harris said. “Connecting Black students to Black tutors – that is such a huge need.”
Harris points to the research showing that students of color are more likely to succeed when they have teachers and mentors who look like them.
After creating her own tutoring platform as her final project, she convinced the St. Louis public school district to pilot it.
Harris decided to turn down a lucrative job offer as a software engineer in California, take a risk and continue to build her business, Top Tutors for Us.
Harris’ tutoring platform is now being used in 20 different public school districts across three states, including Louisiana. There are five participating public schools in New Orleans with plans to expand, she said.
“Top Tutors for Us partners with schools to offer free, culturally competent test prep to minority students,” describes a recent press release. “Students in the program are improving ACT scores at twice the rate of traditional programs, and many have gone on to earn full scholarships and attend top-tier universities.”
With a focus on recruitment at HBCU’s, Harris employs 200 tutors across the nation, as the tutoring sessions are conducted virtually through an online classroom.
While any student can access the tutoring program, students at participating schools can access the tutoring at no cost – the cost is covered by the school or district.
Students of all backgrounds take a questionnaire before being matched with a “culturally competent tutor.”
The questionnaire asks as much about culture as academics, such as whether the student prefers a tutor who is a first generation college graduate, or learned English as a second language.
The tutors are vetted and trained to teach the test-prep curriculum designed by Harris. Regular assessments continually identify any skill gaps in individual students.
Early results are showing the same “crazy jumps in student scores” that Harris experienced as an 11th grader, and during her own first tutoring gigs.
And the platform isn’t limited to the ACT – she also offers test preparation curriculums for the SAT, PSAT, ACCUPLACER and WorkKeys.
Every year, Harris is adding participating schools to her platform.
Last year, L.B. Landry and Sarah T. Reed High Schools joined, along with Travis Hill School at the Orleans Justice Center.
Harris, who still calls New Orleans home, employees about 30 part-time tutors at Tulane and Xavier Universities. Her rapidly growing company benefits many colleges students; it’s a job that is flexible with good wages, but also incredibly rewarding, Harris said, and part of a larger community.
While the data can look discouraging, showing only five percent of Black students meet ACT college readiness benchmarks (Council of Education), Harris’ personal experience and business venture tell another story: that standardized tests as a barrier to career paths can be overcome. It can be “unlocked,” she said.
And though Harris’ approach is drilling down to the fundamental skills, she’s also tracking how her tutoring program is improving students’ grades, not just their ability to perform on a test.
She stresses the “holistic” approach and the research-backed value of connecting Black students to Black tutors. “It’s been such a tremendous opportunity,” Harris said, of building her business and seeing how her own life trajectory was changed by a test score – by a simple number.
Harris has no regrets about turning down the software engineering job. She’s been able to stay in the city she loves and “have an impact on young peoples lives.” Her greatest reward comes with every student who improves their score.
As students head back to school, Harris’ best advice to them is to understand the weight admission test scores carry for a vast array of career paths. She also advises starting early on test prep and taking practice tests. She also points to many free resources available on the company website at toptutorsforus.com.
For more information about Top Tutors for Us, email [email protected].
This article originally published in the August 4, 2025 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.