Assessments

Tips For Students/How Parents Can Help

Tips For Students

• Get a good night's sleep the night before the test. Eat a light breakfast (example: cereal, bagel and juice). This will help you be at your best for the exam.
• Read each question carefully before selecting your answer. Once a computer based test has advanced to the next question, you CANNOT go back to change previous answers.
• If you don't know the answer, make an educated guess. This gives you at least a chance of getting it right!
• Use pencil and scrap paper to work out math problems. Don't try to do them in your head.
• Don't second guess yourself! You probably know more than you give yourself credit for.
• Relax! If you find yourself getting uptight, take a few deep breaths and exhale slowly through your mouth.
• Remember that a test is only one way your academic performance is measured. Test scores do not determine a person's worth.
• Most importantly, just do your best!

How Parents Can Help

• Regular attendance, being on time, good nutrition, and adequate rest are essential components for your student's successful academic performance.
• Ensure that your child eats a healthy breakfast. Avoid heavy foods that may make the child groggy and high sugar foods that may make the child hyper.
• Add test dates to your home calendar; schedule appointments on non-testing days.
• Talk to your child positively about testing. Explain that tests are how teachers, schools, and districts measure how well they are teaching and how well students are learning. The results are used to improve education. Tell your child about "standardized" tests that use the same standards to measure student learning across our state or even the entire country.
• Provide a quiet, well- lit, comfortable place for studying at home.
• Become involved in your child's education by maintaining regular contact with teachers, monitoring homework and providing books and magazines for your student to read at home.
• Have realistic expectations of your student's performance abilities.
• Don't place too much emphasis on test scores. Too much pressure can result in "test anxiety", a fearful condition where a student worries excessively about a test, losing confidence in their abilities and becoming very self-critical. Encourage your student. Children who feel good about themselves will do better on tests than students who are afraid of failure.