Preparing for Standardized Testing

Every spring, our students take the IOWA Assessment Test (formerly known as the Iowa Test of Basic Skills/ITBS), a nationally standardized achievement test for K-12 students. These tests are meant to offer a glimpse on how our students are grasping the lessons taught to them, as a whole and as individuals. We are proud that our students overall score higher than the national average every year.Still, taking a standardized test may cause stress and anxiety for some students. Leading up to the test, teachers in Catholic schools in Orlando work with students to overcome testing obstacles and make students more comfortable taking standardized tests. The Diocese of Orlando’s teachers have several ideas to share on how your children can be better prepared to successfully take these exams.

• Teach critical thinking: Most tests are a series of multiple-choice questions with the possibility of a few essay questions at the end. When students look at the multiple choices, they are often confused by the wording, answer quickly, and move on. Teach your child to read the question and answer it mentally before revealing the choices. When the mental answer matches the choice, a correct answer is more likely.
• Understand the concepts: Memorizing a response is ineffective when the question is altered. Understanding the reason the answer is correct will lead to a more complete understanding of not only that question, but all others like it.
• Practice what you don’t know: Many students create flashcards and rush through the deck dozens of times, tripping across a few as they fly by others. This method is faulted because the student is wasting precious study time reviewing facts that are already known. Instead, if a flash card is known, place it in one pile. If the fact on the flash card needs practice, place it on a second pile. Review the cards in the second pile only.
• More practice equals less anxiety: Remember how scary it was when you first learned to roller skate or ride a bike? How did you overcome that anxiety? Testing is the same: keep practicing until the anxiety disappears. Sometimes test anxiety is due to lack of preparation, which is easily overcome with better study habits. Other times, the student believes his or her entire scholarly career is based on one exam. Chances are extremely good that life will continue after the exam, and if the grade was not what was anticipated, many exams, such as the ACT and SAT, can be taken a second time.
• Meet the needs: Students whose basic needs are not met cannot focus on an exam. By fulfilling a student’s basic needs of rest, hydration, food, emotional well-being, and safety, a student will devote more positive energy to the exam.
• Remain positive: Children take a majority of their emotional cues from their parents. If you speak negatively about standardized tests, their attitude will be negative. Even if your beliefs do not coincide with the benefits of a standardized test, keep your enthusiasm upbeat and help your child study.

With the IOWA tests on the horizon, it is time for your child to begin the preparation to be a more confident test taker. Contact the Catholic school in Orlando your child attends to determine the standardized tests for this school year. Call the Diocese of Orlando at 407-246-4903 for our philosophy on standardized testing, and read our blogs to learn more about our schools and standardized tests.