Tip #56 from 365 Teacher Secrets for Parents (McKinley & Trombly): Standardized Tests

 


Today's tip for parents from two talented teachers comes from 365 Teacher Secrets for Parents by Cindy McKinley Alder and Patti Trombly.


Standardized Tests

 

I’m not young enough to know everything
 ~James Barrie

 

Teachers learn about students’ academic progress by using a variety of methods. They assess students by observing them in the classroom, evaluating their day-to-day work, grading their homework assignments, keeping close records of how they change or grow throughout the year (such as in portfolios), and administering tests.

One type of test many teachers administer is a Standardized Test. Standardized Tests are not created by the classroom teacher. Rather, Standardized Tests are objective tests that are usually created by commercial test publishers. Some names of standardized tests that you may be familiar with include the California Achievement Tests (the CAT), the Stanford Achievement Test (the SAT), the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (the ITBS), and the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, to name a few.

Standardized tests are designed to give a common measure of students' performance. Since the same test is given to large numbers of students throughout the country or state, a "standard" of measure can be used to tell evaluators whether school programs are succeeding or to give them a picture of the skills and abilities of today's students.

Standardized tests can help teachers and administrators make decisions. They help schools measure how students in a given class, school, or school system perform in relation to other students who take the same test. Using the results from these tests, teachers and administrators can evaluate the school system, a school program, or a particular student. However, it is very important to understand that teachers do not use standardized tests to give report card grades. They are reported to parents separately.

It is important to remember that, while there are benefits to standardized tests, they also have some limitations. They are not the perfect measure of what individual students can or cannot do. Paper tests cannot measure everything that students learn. Also, your child's scores on a particular test can vary from day to day, and many factors can affect a particular score—whether your child guesses, receives clear direction, follows the directions carefully, is comfortable, has any test anxiety, and so on.

Because of the emphasis many schools place on the results of Standardized Tests, your child may be extremely nervous on the test taking day(s). Try not to let the seriousness of it upset your child. Help ease his anxieties by letting him know that this test will not affect his grade on his report card, but do encourage him to do his best. Let him know that the test will simply be used to help define his strengths and weaknesses in order to allow his teacher and parents to better meet his needs.

Your child’s teacher will share with you the results of your child’s test when they become available. Talk with the teacher about the results and discuss what they mean for your child. The percentages, statistics and graphs presented in the results can sometimes be confusing. Don’t be afraid to ask any question that crosses your mind to help you better understand your child’s performance. Together you and your child’s teacher can come up with the best action plan for the success of your child.

 


     Cindy McKinley Alder                                            Patti Trombly

 

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For more excerpts from 365 Teacher Secrets for Parents, click HERE.

          For more posts about books about parenting, click HERE. 



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