Are you tired of all the tests your children have to take?  It seems every minute of the day students have to take some kind of standardized tests. As a parent and teacher, I actually do feel a lot of empathy for students. I do not remember taking so many tests when I attended school.

Since we as parents or teachers have zero control over these tests, then how can we ensure students will score well on these state mandated exams.

Every year in the district, where I work all students taking levels one and two of French, Spanish, and Italian must take a pre and post test. Students take tests in four essential skills: Reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

Here is what I do as a teacher to make sure all of my students will score well on the tests. I give the students plenty of opportunities to practice test taking in the area they will be tested.

Reading: Students are required to read passages in the target language at least once a week, and they have to answer content questions based on what they read.

Writing: After every unit, we study; each student must write an essay using a picture as a prompt.

Speaking: Students must create a dialogue with a peer, so they can get practice on speaking the language. This is a fun way to allow students to learn and interact with each other.

Listening: Students must listen to a taped conversation and identify what they heard by choosing the correct answer. The listening tests are a great way to help students sharpen their listening skills while reviewing previously learned vocabulary.

What I have observed as a teacher is most often students do poorly on tests because they do not know how to take tests, and they do not get enough practice on test taking. 

As a parent, I always make sure I have on-hand sample tests for my kids to do. For example, I buy ACT/SAT study guides. I monitor them to make sure they do one-sample test every two weeks or so. 

Closer to the time of the actual test I register them in a class designed to teach them specific information about the test.

As parents and teachers, we cannot dictate to schools what tests children can or cannot take, but we do have the power to teach children some very basic skills that will set them up for success.

In my opinion, the biggest key to success is consistency. Doing a little, every day will get much better results than waiting until a few days before the test.

Lastly, one of the most important things you can do is to make sure children are reading constantly. An excellent reader will be able to decipher instructions on a test more efficiently than a poor reader.

 

 

 

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