Supporting our kids through testing season - Top skills to conquer state testing with excitement and confidence!

Testing Season: How can we send our kids into the testing season excited and confident

There are LOTS of feelings and opinions on testing and whether we should even test students at all. As an educator, I think of it as a necessary and important part of the educational health of the student, teacher, district, state and country. I believe in the gathering of data to support not only the students but the teachers and other stakeholders, as well. 

How can I know how my students are mastering reading, math, writing, science concepts if I don’t test them. How can I know how my school, district or country’s students are doing without this data collection? Most importantly for me, was always, can I use the data collected from these tests to reflect on my instruction and see where the standards were that I had not covered enough or missed and how can I use that to inform my instruction going forward. The data collected from state tests like CMAS (Colorado Measures of Academic Success) serve so many important purposes:

• Measuring Student Mastery: They indicate how well students have grasped the state standards in subjects like math, English language arts, science, and social studies at the end of the school year.

• Tracking Progress: CMAS results offer a snapshot of a student's academic growth relative to these standards over time.

• Identifying Learning Gaps: Analyzing the results helps educators pinpoint areas where students are struggling, allowing for targeted support and adjustments to teaching methods.

• Informing Instruction: Teachers and schools can use the data to evaluate the effectiveness of their curriculum and teaching strategies and make necessary improvements.

• Ensuring Equity: By assessing all students, these tests help identify achievement gaps between different student groups, prompting interventions to ensure all students receive the support they need.

• Accountability: The tests provide data to hold schools and districts accountable for student learning and progress.

• Providing Information to Parents: Parents receive insights into their child's performance compared to grade-level expectations and their peers across the school, district, and state.

• Guiding Resource Allocation: State leaders and policymakers use state test data to identify schools and districts that may require additional resources or support.

• Meeting Federal and State Requirements: Administering statewide tests fulfills legal mandates and provides a consistent measure of student performance across the state.

• Real-World Skill Assessment: State tests like CMAS aim to measure critical thinking and problem-solving skills relevant to success beyond school.

Testing can be a sensitive time for students and can bring feelings and behaviors up in your kiddos that don’t show up on a day to day basis. Being nervous or anxious or even excited to compete, are all very normal reactions to testing week! Think about the last time you had a big presentation at work or were being evaluated by your boss. You probably felt some of these emotions, as well. I think if we can normalize these times in our lives where we get to “show what we know” and that we are here to try our best at everything we do, we can take some of that pressure out of testing, sports, performances, competitions, and all of the other things our kiddos are involved in!

Here are the top skills to conquer state testing with excitement and confidence. Go over these with them at breakfast before they leave for school and it will be fresh on their minds!

• Take Your Time: With state testing you have a set amount of time to finish each section. There is so much time to finish so take your time and don’t rush. This is not a race!

• Use your scratch paper: Your scratch paper should be full! Sometimes you will need to do your work on your test booklet to show your work and sometimes you will need to work through a problem on your scratch paper.

• Believe in yourself/ Affirmations: If we speak kindly to ourselves our brains will work better! Parents - I have my kiddos speak affirmations to themselves over breakfast and these become our “test week mantras” that they can come back to when they feel anxious, or stuck during testing. Examples: I can do hard things, I can show what I know, I can try my best, I have practiced and now I can do it! 

• Read Directions Carefully: Pay close attention to what the question is asking. For math problems, make sure you answer all parts of the question and pay attention to key words.

• “Slash the Trash”: On multiple choice questions, get rid of the answers that don’t make sense first and then it will be easier to find the correct choice. 

• Answer Every Question: Always answer all of the questions. Even if you feel stuck, it is better to make an educated guess than to leave it blank.

• Get Enough Sleep the Night Before: Being well-rested helps with focus. Try to wrap up after school activities early during testing week. 

• Eat a Healthy Breakfast!: Fuel your brain! A good mix of carbs, fruit and protein should keep hunger at bay during testing and send a filling snack for the second round of testing if your school allows. 

• Know that I love you always, no matter what!: You are amazing and such a hard worker. I know that you will try your best and that is all I ever want for you. I will be here to celebrate you when you get home today!

If you would like more in depth coaching around how to prepare your student for testing at all levels, Allied Education is here to support you. Reach out and we can set up a time to chat. Drop any questions in the comments and let me know what you think!