Breathe Easier With These State Assessment Preparation Ideas

Preparing for state assessments is a year-long endeavor shared by every public school teacher in the country. From the first teacher in-service to the monthly staff meetings, districts constantly supply teachers with results, statistics, and research-proven instructional strategies to help improve state assessment scores. The bottom line is that we are constantly being asked to revise our approach, but there are some general things you can do to make test taking easier for both you and your students. First of all, you can help students brush up on their test-taking skills, and, secondly, you can review key concepts that can help build their confidence and motivate them to do their best on testing days.

Perhaps the most important way to prepare students for state assessments is to provide motivational and confidence building activities. For my sixth graders, “the test,” as we call it, is nothing new. They have been taking reading and math assessments since they were early elementary students. Over time, some students have begun to feel either defeated or bored with the idea of tests. I try to dispel this attitude at the beginning of the year by asking students to write about their past testing experiences. I find this helpful in a couple of ways; first of all, it allows me to understand the individual needs and challenges my students face, and secondly, it allows them a platform to “vent” frustrations and share their thoughts, feelings, and opinions about their past testing experiences in a safe and open manner.

After reviewing the responses, I plan assessments and routines accordingly. At the end of each quarter I administer an assessment that reviews each state indicator that was taught during that quarter. The classroom environment, routines, and procedures are the same as those found during the state test. I find this to be a good way to practice for the official assessment. It is also important to make this a positive experience for students. I do this by providing some sort of treat, or reward, after each assessment. I tell students that it is a celebration of our learning and time spent together. I also explain that the quarterly assessment is a way to assess my instructional effectiveness, and that I have a stake in how well they perform. I ask students to star questions that are difficult or confusing so that I know what to review and can make sure that everyone receives the assistance they need. This strategy may be a small one, but I find it helpful in promoting a positive testing environment.

In addition to building a positive environment for state assessments, I also like to review what was taught as we draw closer to testing time. Instead of providing endless packets and review worksheets, I have students do the teaching. Research has shown that the best way to learn a concept is to teach and/or explain it to another person. I divide students into groups of four and they choose a topic from a list of those covered during the school year. Each group is given a lesson plan template in which they outline the learning objective, list questions they will ask the class, show an activity outline, and make a closing/review of what was taught. I tell students that they are the teachers, and it is their responsibility to make sure everyone understands the information. With this in mind, students create and teach their lessons. Each student is responsible for a part of the presentation. I use a rubric to grade the presentation. I assess the group in a variety of areas, including level of preparedness, presentation, understanding of the topic, collaboration within the group, and the ability to answer students’ questions about the topic. This method of reviewing material is enjoyable for students, helps them review previously learned content, and brings up many important questions. Misunderstandings can be rectified, and confusing or forgotten pieces of content can be reviewed so that each group can present effectively.

Another way to prepare for state assessments is to help students understand how to read questions. Although students are exposed to questions similar in structure to those on the state tests all year long, during the two weeks prior to the test, I like to review the structure of questions, the verbs used in questions, and how responses are scored. Vocabulary lessons are focused on “common testing verbs” such as: analyze, compare, contrast, summarize, justify, evaluate, critique, identify, distinguish, determine, and explain. Students not only learn the definitions of each term, but practice using them.

One exercise I have students do is to complete questions that include the vocabulary terms, and then write a response explaining how they would answer the question. This helps students think about what each verb is asking them to do. Question structure is reviewed similarly. Students take a close look at released short answer and extended response questions from previous state assessments, and I provide them with the scoring guide. Students go through each question, highlight the verbs, break down how many items need responding to, and explain how they would answer the question. As a whole class we review the scoring guide and discuss how responses earn the maximum points possible. Then, in smaller groups, students are given responses to read and score. The groups also have to explain how each example could be improved upon.

Whether through building a positive classroom environment, or last minute content reviews, state assessment preparation is a year-long process that can be successfully accomplished. Through understanding students’ needs and allowing opportunities to become the experts on their own learning, students can walk into your classroom on testing day feeling confident, motivated, and most importantly, feeling successful. 

More Test Prep Ideas:

Revive Reviews with Student-Created Study Guides 

This lesson guides students through the process of outlining notes and creating a study guide. This lesson can be used in any subject, and would be an effective way to have students review concepts learned quarterly or by units. This lesson can be extended to include using all study guides for state test preparation as well.

Reading and Comprehending Text

In this lesson students review the key strategies in comprehending text. This lesson is a great way to brush-up on reading comprehension skills prior to testing. It can also be modified to fit any content area

8 Parts of Speech Review

This lesson is a great test review! Students each teach a part of speech to the rest of the class. The lesson can be modified to fit a variety of learning needs and levels.

Using Information Resources: Part 1

This lesson is a great review for students who need to practice locating and using information found in text. It can also easily be modified to fit any content area and can be test indicator specific.