You can be a great help to your child if you will observe these do's and don'ts about tests and testing:
-
Do talk to your child about testing. It's helpful for children to
understand why schools give tests and to know the different kinds of
tests they will take.
-
Explain that tests are yardsticks that teachers, schools, school
districts and even states use to measure what and how they teach and how
well students are learning what is taught. Most tests are designed and
given by teachers to measure students' progress in a course. These tests
are associated with the grades on report cards. The results tell the
teacher and students whether they are keeping up with the class, need
extra help or are ahead of other students.
-
The results of some tests tell schools that they need to strengthen
courses or change teaching methods. Still other tests compare students
by schools, school districts or cities. All tests determine how well a
child is doing in the areas measured by the tests.
-
Tell your child that occasionally, he will take "standardized" tests.
Explain that these tests use the same standards to measure student
performance across the state or even across the country. Every student
takes the same test according to the same rules. This makes it possible
to measure each student's performance against that of others.
-
Do encourage your child. Praise her for the things that she does
well. If your child feels good about herself, she will do her best on a
test. Children who are afraid of failing are more likely to become
anxious when taking tests and more likely to make mistakes.
-
Do meet with your child's teacher as often as possible to discuss his
progress. Ask the teacher to suggest activities for you and your child
to do at home to help prepare for tests and to improve your child's
understanding of schoolwork.
-
Do make sure that your child attends school regularly. Remember,
tests reflect children's overall achievement. The more effort and energy
your child puts into learning, the more likely it is that he will do
well on tests.
-
Do provide a quiet, comfortable place for studying at home and make
sure that your child is well rested on school days and especially on the
day of a test. Children who are tired are less able to pay attention in
class or to handle the demands of a test.
-
Do provide books and magazines for your child to read at home. By
reading new materials, a child will learn new words that might appear on
a test. Ask your child's teacher for lists of books for outside reading
or get suggestions from your local library.
-
Don't get upset because of a single test score. Many things can
influence how your child does on a test. She might not have felt well on
test day or she might have been too nervous to concentrate. She might
have had an argument with a friend before the test or she might have
been late to school because the school bus got caught in traffic.
Remember, one test is simply one test.
-
Don't place so much emphasis on your child's test scores that you
lose sight of her well being. Too much pressure can affect her test
performance. In addition, she may come to think that you will only love
her if she does well on tests.
-
Do help your child avoid test anxiety. It's good for your child to be
concerned about taking a test. It's not good for him to develop "test
anxiety." Test anxiety is worrying too much about doing well on a test.
It can mean disaster for your child. Students with test anxiety can
worry about success in school and about their future success. They can
become very self-critical and lose confidence in their abilities.
Instead of feeling challenged by the prospect of success, they become
afraid of failure. If your child worries too much about taking tests,
you can help to reduce the anxiety by encouraging the child to do the
following things.
- Plan ahead. Start studying for the test well in advance. Make sure
that you understand what material the test will cover. Try to make
connections about what will be on the test and what you already know.
Review the material more than once.
- Don't "cram" the night before. This will likely increase your
anxiety, which will interfere with clear thinking. Get a good night's
sleep.
- When you get the test, read the directions carefully before you
begin work. If you don't understand how to do something, ask the
teacher to explain.
- Look quickly at the entire text to see what types of questions
are on it (multiple choice, matching, true/false, essay). See if
different questions are worth different numbers of points. This will
help you to determine how much time to spend on each part of the test.
- If you don't know the answer to a question, skip it and go on.
Don't waste time worrying about one question. Mark it and, if you have
time at the end of the test, return to it and try again.
After the Test
Your child can learn a great deal from reviewing a graded exam paper.
Reviewing will show him where he had difficulty and, perhaps, why. This
is especially important for classes in which the material builds from
one section to the next, as in math. Students who have not mastered the
basics of math are not likely to be able to work with fractions, square
roots, beginning algebra and so on.
Discuss the wrong answers with your child and find out why he chose
the answers. Sometimes a child didn't understand or misread a question.
Or, he may have known the correct answer but failed to make his answer
clear.
You and your child should read and discuss all comments that the
teacher writes on a returned test. If any comments aren't clear, tell
your child to ask the teacher to explain them.
You can be a great help to your child if you will observe these do's and don'ts about tests and testing:
-
Do talk to your child about testing. It's helpful for children to
understand why schools give tests and to know the different kinds of
tests they will take.
-
Explain that tests are yardsticks that teachers, schools, school
districts and even states use to measure what and how they teach and how
well students are learning what is taught. Most tests are designed and
given by teachers to measure students' progress in a course. These tests
are associated with the grades on report cards. The results tell the
teacher and students whether they are keeping up with the class, need
extra help or are ahead of other students.
-
The results of some tests tell schools that they need to strengthen
courses or change teaching methods. Still other tests compare students
by schools, school districts or cities. All tests determine how well a
child is doing in the areas measured by the tests.
-
Tell your child that occasionally, he will take "standardized" tests.
Explain that these tests use the same standards to measure student
performance across the state or even across the country. Every student
takes the same test according to the same rules. This makes it possible
to measure each student's performance against that of others.
-
Do encourage your child. Praise her for the things that she does
well. If your child feels good about herself, she will do her best on a
test. Children who are afraid of failing are more likely to become
anxious when taking tests and more likely to make mistakes.
-
Do meet with your child's teacher as often as possible to discuss his
progress. Ask the teacher to suggest activities for you and your child
to do at home to help prepare for tests and to improve your child's
understanding of schoolwork.
-
Do make sure that your child attends school regularly. Remember,
tests reflect children's overall achievement. The more effort and energy
your child puts into learning, the more likely it is that he will do
well on tests.
-
Do provide a quiet, comfortable place for studying at home and make
sure that your child is well rested on school days and especially on the
day of a test. Children who are tired are less able to pay attention in
class or to handle the demands of a test.
-
Do provide books and magazines for your child to read at home. By
reading new materials, a child will learn new words that might appear on
a test. Ask your child's teacher for lists of books for outside reading
or get suggestions from your local library.
-
Don't get upset because of a single test score. Many things can
influence how your child does on a test. She might not have felt well on
test day or she might have been too nervous to concentrate. She might
have had an argument with a friend before the test or she might have
been late to school because the school bus got caught in traffic.
Remember, one test is simply one test.
-
Don't place so much emphasis on your child's test scores that you
lose sight of her well being. Too much pressure can affect her test
performance. In addition, she may come to think that you will only love
her if she does well on tests.
-
Do help your child avoid test anxiety. It's good for your child to be
concerned about taking a test. It's not good for him to develop "test
anxiety." Test anxiety is worrying too much about doing well on a test.
It can mean disaster for your child. Students with test anxiety can
worry about success in school and about their future success. They can
become very self-critical and lose confidence in their abilities.
Instead of feeling challenged by the prospect of success, they become
afraid of failure. If your child worries too much about taking tests,
you can help to reduce the anxiety by encouraging the child to do the
following things.
- Plan ahead. Start studying for the test well in advance. Make sure
that you understand what material the test will cover. Try to make
connections about what will be on the test and what you already know.
Review the material more than once.
- Don't "cram" the night before. This will likely increase your
anxiety, which will interfere with clear thinking. Get a good night's
sleep.
- When you get the test, read the directions carefully before you
begin work. If you don't understand how to do something, ask the
teacher to explain.
- Look quickly at the entire text to see what types of questions
are on it (multiple choice, matching, true/false, essay). See if
different questions are worth different numbers of points. This will
help you to determine how much time to spend on each part of the test.
- If you don't know the answer to a question, skip it and go on.
Don't waste time worrying about one question. Mark it and, if you have
time at the end of the test, return to it and try again.
After the Test
Your child can learn a great deal from reviewing a graded exam paper.
Reviewing will show him where he had difficulty and, perhaps, why. This
is especially important for classes in which the material builds from
one section to the next, as in math. Students who have not mastered the
basics of math are not likely to be able to work with fractions, square
roots, beginning algebra and so on.
Discuss the wrong answers with your child and find out why he chose
the answers. Sometimes a child didn't understand or misread a question.
Or, he may have known the correct answer but failed to make his answer
clear.
You and your child should read and discuss all comments that the
teacher writes on a returned test. If any comments aren't clear, tell
your child to ask the teacher to explain them.
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