Standardized testing is a stressful time for everyone involved: students, teachers, and parents. Does it really have to be?
Here are some tips for less stress during the annual State Testing Period:
Dear Teachers,
Please copy and send these tips home to parents. Our parents found them extremely helpful:
1. Do praise your child for the things he or she does well, and be supportive of his or her efforts, especially in areas or activities that are challenging. Kids who feel good about themselves and their abilities-and who aren't fearful about making mistakes-will feel more confident, and less anxious, when taking the test.
2. Do talk with your child about what they're doing in class and ask what he or she is reading. Studies show that kids who talked with their families on a weekly basis about school and what they were reading scored higher on the national standardized reading test than kids who talked about these things with their families less often.
3. Do limit your child's TV time. Studies show that kids who watched fewer than three hours of television a day scored higher on the national reading test than those who watched more.
4. Do express a positive attitude about the test and confidence in your child's ability to do well on it. Research shows that parents' and teachers' attitudes influence children's attitudes. So if you're upbeat and encouraging about the test, your child is likely to feel good about it.
5. Do encourage your child to read-newspapers, magazines, food labels, recipes, letters, and instructions, in addition to fiction and non-fiction books. Test makers draw on a wide variety of formats.
6. Do realize that putting too much emphasis on the test and the results can increase your child's anxiety about the test. Too much anxiety can prevent your child from doing his or her best.
7. Do reassure your child that test scores are only one measure of his or her abilities, not the whole picture. Don't judge your child on the basis of his or her test score.
8. Do ensure that your child gets a good night's sleep the night before the test and eats a nutritious breakfast preferably with protein the day of the test.
Here are some valuable test-taking tips for all members of the learning community:
Parents, teachers and students must keep an appropriate attitude about standardized (and all other) testing. It is only a snapshot of a moment in time that everyone hopes is accurate and corresponds with everything else we know about the child.
Let testing be a tool - not a weapon - for discovering more about a child and what they know or don't know. Kids are puzzles and if a piece is missing, you'll never see the whole picture.
Look at test scores, grades, motivation, abilities, interests, attendance, health, etc. No one piece should ever 'stand alone.' Strategies specifically for parents and students:
1-The night before, get a good night's sleep. Go to bed early. You will perform better if you are wide awake and well rested (so will your brain!)
2-Eat a good breakfast, don't skip it! You wouldn't drive your car with no gasoline. Food is brain power! And if you get hungry during the test, it will be harder for you to concentrate.
3-Listen to and/or read ALL of the directions BEFORE starting. You probably won’t get the answer correct, if you didn't do it in the manner the directions stated.
4-Take a deep breath and focus; put everything else out of your mind. Take ONE question at a time, so you won't feel overwhelmed.
5-Manage your time well. If you come to one you don't know the answer to, then skip it and you can come back to it if you have time at the end. See how many questions there are and how much time you have. Figure out how much time you can spend on each question.
6-Read the entire question and all of the answers BEFORE you answer. Especially if it says pick all of the correct answers, the BEST answer or one of the answers is "all of the above". These are sort of tricky.
7-Don't be afraid to guess. If you have a feeling that you know the right answer, then use your instinct. Chances are, you are right. And it is better than leaving it blank! Use the process of elimination to improve your chances of guessing correctly.
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” – Wayne Gretzky
8-Relax. Have confidence in your ability and what you have learned and studied!
9-Use the process of elimination. If you don't know the correct answer right away or, you are torn between two answers, then eliminate the ones that you know, definitely are NOT the answer, then work your way back.
10-Pay close attention to wording. Some words like NO, NOT, NEVER, and ALWAYS, can change the whole meaning to the question.
Below are more web sites that have wonderful test-taking strategies and some practice tests:
http://www.brazosport.cc.tx.us/~lac/objtest.htm Tips for avoiding careless errors, test taking tips, tips for true-false and multiple choice
http://www.waunakee.k12.wi.us/intermediate/Test-taking.htm Tips for before and during the test.
http://jc-schools.net/tutorials/test-strategies.ppt A great Power Point that hits the basics of test taking strategies.
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sr/css05rtq.asp Released test questions from all of the standardized tests from 2003 and 2004.
Tips for Parents
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/parents/TestTaking/index.html Published by the Department of education- good tips for parents to help their children in test taking situations.
http://intranet.cps.k12.il.us/Assessments/Preparation/preparation.html Despite being prepared for Chicago schools, these two booklets will help parents prepare students for elementary and high school standardized tests.
http://www.familyeducation.com/topic/front/0,1156,66-9028,00.html Articles and tips for students and parents.
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sr/css05rtq.asp Released test questions from all of the standardized tests from 2003 - 2005.
“Worry is like a rocking chair: it gives you something to do but it doesn’t get you anywhere.” Evan Esar
Hold on to your hats. Next Sunday’s Blog posting will be all about
“Helping Students Believe in Themselves.”
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