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Standardized tests are assessments that are designed to be administered and scored in a consistent manner across all test takers. These tests are given in the same way to all students to ensure fairness and reliability in evaluating their knowledge and skills. The results of these tests are often used to make important decisions about curriculum, funding, and educational policies.

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Standardized testing has a big impact on students as it can create stress and anxiety due to the pressure to perform well. As a teacher it is important to provide support and resources to help students prepare for these tests and alleviate some of the stress they may be feeling.

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Throughout their time in school, students will have to take hundreds of tests. There's no escaping this common method of assessing student mastery. But we can't just automatically assume that students know how to take a test. As with everything else, we must explicitly teach students to be successful test takers. Let's explore some tips for teaching test taking strategies to elementary students.

Test Taking Strategies for Elementary Students

In order to help students be better test takers, we must provide them with test taking strategies. There are various test taking strategies we can use in our classrooms to help elementary students find success on a test. The Sadlier website has free handouts with additional strategies.

Strategies for Answering Questions

Underline key words in the question

Predict the answer before looking at the choices. Then choose the answer that is closest to your prediction.

Read all answer choices and "Slash the Trash" to eliminate incorrect answers.

Highlight the text evidence to support your answer.

Vocabulary Strategies

Substitute each answer choice in the sentence for context clues questions. Then select the one that makes the most sense within the context of the text.

Break down unknown words into known word parts.

Make connections to other known words. For example if a student knows the word circle, it can help them read and understand words such as semicircle and circulate.

Stop & Jot Strategy

When students begin to answer the questions, they can refer back to their notes. This may help them identify which paragraph closely relates to the question. As a result, they can go directly to that specific paragraph to look for the text evidence without needing to reread everything. Find out how you can use this test taking strategy for struggling readers.

Brain Dump

The brain dump strategy encourages students to write down everything they know about a subject before takingthe test. Before beginning a test, provide students with a blank piece of paper. When the test begins they can write down facts, vocabulary terms, tools, or other things that they want to remember.

Build Reading Stamina

While this isn't a test taking strategy, reading stamina plays a huge role in students' performance on standardized tests. If students are not used to reading for extended amounts of time, they'll quickly become fatigued on a test with multiple reading passages. You can improve students' reading stamina through independent reading and fluency activities.

Independent Reading

Before building reading stamina, you need to determine your students' starting point. Have them read independently while you take anecdotal notes. Which students remain focused the entire time? At what point do certain students begin looking around the room? Are there students who try to switch books to avoid reading?

Once you have your starting point, you can have students read independently for the least amount of time where they can be successful. Gradually increase the amount of time you expect students to read independently each day. It may also be beneficial to teach students some strategies for remaining focused while reading independently. Jennifer Serravallo's Reading Strategies Book offers specific strategies you can teach students in minilessons and small groups to help build their reading stamina.

Reading Fluency

Students will have difficulty building their reading stamina if they don't read fluently. Students who read word by word will become very fatigued on a standardized test because it takes them significantly longer than their peers to read a passage.

Test Prep Study Guides

While we can provide students with practice using testing strategies, it's impossible to help them study for a test as they can in other subject areas. A few years ago parents at our school started asking for study guides to help their children prepare for reading tests...which is easier said than done. All you can really do to "study" is practice authentic reading and talk or write about the text.

Not only can you send the study guides home with students, but it's also beneficial to add them to readers notebooks. By doing so students can refer back to it during independent reading and reading response activities. So while they're not studying for the test, they ARE practicing the type of thinking required to respond to questions they'll see on a test.

Teaching Test Taking Strategies to Elementary Students

We can't just expect students to automatically know how to implement test taking strategies. You need to spend time modeling and explicitly teaching them. Make sure to also introduce students to the various types of questions they may encounter on a test and how to approach these questions. Students will need ample opportunities for guided practice. This can be done during minilessons or small group instruction.

When and how you teach test taking strategies is entirely up to you. Some teachers prefer to slowly introduce and practice them throughout the year. While other teachers don't want to feel that they are teaching to the test. So they prefer to spend the year focusing on content instruction and only explicitly working on test taking strategies the last few weeks leading up to the standardized test. Either option is fine as long as you dedicate some time to this work!

Coaching Students with Test Taking Strategies

Ideally, you'd want to teach students the test taking strategies in an authentic context, such as when they are actually taking the test. It can be beneficial to "coach" students during a test by helping them understand what the question is asking or how to approach it. This does NOT mean giving them the answer but helping them understand how to answer the question. It also provides you more accurate information about whether the student actually knows the content versus getting a question wrong because they didn't under the question.

Rather than teaching the strategies in isolation, students are more likely to internalize them in the moment, which is why it's beneficial to coach as they're taking a test. If they see how the strategies benefit them while they're taking a test they're more likely to implement them independently. Some teachers opt to review incorrect answers with students after they've taken a test and teach them how to answer that question. But at that point, the student already knows they've missed it and it won't change their grade. So they're less likely to internalize it because they don't see the value.

Obviously, we cannot help students during a standardized test, which is why coaching should be used as a scaffold. Begin the year by modeling the test taking strategies you expect. As the year progresses, gradually reduce the amount of coaching you provide during testing. The last few tests before standardized tests should have absolutely no coaching. At this point, students already know what is expected of them during the test without you needing to say anything.

*Controversial Tip* Coaching has shown to be highly effective; however, there is debate surrounding it. Some believe there should be NO student support during a test. If comparing scores among grade level teachers, you'll want to make sure all teachers are on the same page with this strategy. If some teachers on a team coach students while others don't, you can argue that it's unfair to compare those results. Do what works best for your team!

Additional Test Taking Strategies

Testing is a reality of education that students cannot avoid. But we can help elementary students overcome testing anxiety and find success with these test taking strategies.

Have you implemented any of these test taking strategies with your elementary students? Which ones have been most beneficial for them? Are there other strategies that you've found to be helpful? Share them with us in the comments below!

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How to Teach Test Taking Strategies to Elementary Students | The Reading Roundup

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Prepare your elementary students for standardized testing by teaching them these simple test taking strategies.

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Effects of Standardized Testing on Students

Standardized tests fail to account for students who learn and demonstrate academic proficiency in different ways. For example, a student who struggles to answer a multiple-choice question about grammar or punctuation may be an excellent writer.

💬 Tests like these may not accurately measure their true abilities and potential.

By placing emphasis on reading, writing, and mathematics, standardized tests have devalued instruction in areas such as the arts, history, and electives.

💬 This narrow focus can limit students' overall educational experience and hinder their development of critical thinking skills. Focusing on a limited set of subjects can also contribute to inequalities by failing to recognize all students' diverse talents and strengths.

Effects of Standardized Testing on Teachers

Teachers may feel excessive pressure from their schools and administrators to improve their standardized test scores.

💬 As teachers strive to meet these expectations, they may be forced to prioritize teaching to the test over providing a well-rounded education. This can lead to a narrowing of the curriculum and less time devoted to subjects that are not tested, potentially limiting students' exposure to a variety of important knowledge and skills.

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The use of standardized testing to measure academic achievement in US schools has fueled debate for nearly two decades. Understanding the effects of standardized testing-its key benefits and challenges-requires a closer examination of what standardized testing is and how it's used in academic settings.

Developing ways to effectively and fairly measure academic achievement is an ongoing challenge for school administrators. For those inspired to promote greater equity in education, American University's Online Doctor of Education (EdD) in Education Policy and Leadership provides the knowledge and training to address such challenges.

What Are Standardized Tests?

Standardized tests are examinations administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner. They typically rely heavily on question formats, such as multiple choice and true or false, that can be automatically scored. Not limited to academic settings, standardized tests are widely used to measure academic aptitude and achievement.

The ACT and SAT, standardized tests used broadly for college admissions, assess students' current educational development and their aptitude for completing college-level work. Standardized academic achievement tests are mandatory in primary and secondary schools in the US, where they're designed and administered at the state or local level and used to assess requirements for federal education funding.

Standardized testing requirements are designed to hold teachers, students, and schools accountable for academic achievement and to incentivize improvement. They provide a benchmark for assessing problems and measuring progress, highlighting areas for improvement.

Despite these key benefits, standardized academic achievement tests in US public schools have been controversial since their inception. Major points of contention have centered on who should design and administer tests (federal, state, or district level), how often they should be given, and whether they place some school districts at an advantage or disadvantage. More critically, parents and educators have questioned whether standardized tests are fair to teachers and students.

Effects of Standardized Testing on Students

Some of the challenging potential effects of standardized testing on students are as follows:

Standardized test scores are often tied to important outcomes, such as graduation and school funding. Such high-stakes testing can place undue stress on students and affect their performance.

Standardized tests fail to account for students who learn and demonstrate academic proficiency in different ways. For example, a student who struggles to answer a multiple-choice question about grammar or punctuation may be an excellent writer.

By placing emphasis on reading, writing, and mathematics, standardized tests have devalued instruction in areas such as the arts, history, and electives.

Standardized tests are thought to be fair because every student takes the same test and evaluations are largely objective, but a one-size-fits-all approach to testing is arguably biased because it fails to account for variables such as language deficiencies, learning disabilities, difficult home lives, or varying knowledge of US cultural conventions.

Effects of Standardized Testing on Teachers

Teachers as well as students can be challenged by the effects of standardized testing. Common issues include the following:

The need to meet specific testing standards pressures teachers to "teach to the test" rather than providing a broad curriculum.

Teachers have expressed frustration about the time it takes to prepare for and administer tests.

Teachers may feel excessive pressure from their schools and administrators to improve their standardized test scores.

Standardized tests measure achievement against goals rather than measuring progress.

Achievement test scores are commonly assumed to have a strong correlation with teaching effectiveness, a tendency that can place unfair blame on good teachers if scores are low and obscure teaching deficiencies if scores are high.

Alternative Achievement Assessments

Critics of standardized testing often point to various forms of performance-based assessments as preferable alternatives. Known by various names (proficiency-based, competency-based), they require students to produce work that demonstrates high-level thinking and real-world applications. Examples include an experiment illustrating understanding of a scientific concept, group work that addresses complex problems and requires discussion and presentation, or essays that include analysis of a topic.

Portfolio-based assessments emphasize the process of learning over letter grades and normative performance. Portfolios can be made up of physical documents or digital collections. They can include written assignments, completed tests, honors and awards, art and graphic work, lab reports, or other documents that demonstrate either progress or achievement. Portfolios can provide students with an opportunity to choose work they wish to reflect on and present.

Performance-based assessments aren't a practical alternative to standardized tests, but they offer a different way of evaluating knowledge that can provide a more complete picture of student achievement. Determining which systems of evaluation work best in specific circumstances and is an ongoing challenge for education administrators.

Work for Better Student Outcomes with a Doctorate in Education

Addressing the most critical challenges facing educators, including fair and accurate assessment of academic achievement, requires administrators with exceptional leadership and policy expertise. Discover how the Online EdD in Education Policy and Leadership at American University prepares educators to create equitable learning environments and effect positive change.

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Effects of Standardized Testing on Students & Teachers | American University

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What are the effects of standardized testing on students and teachers? Explore how standardized tests are used, including their key benefits and challenges.

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As teachers, we should know how to differentiate assessments. Differentiated assessments allow us to meet the diverse learning needs of our students, ensuring that each individual is able to demonstrate their understanding in a way that works best for them. By providing varied assessment options, we can better assess student learning and provide meaningful feedback for growth.

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Differentiation methods:

Student choice: Offer multiple response formats and performance mediums such as, written, oral, graphic.

Personal relevance: Allow students to include their own relevant personal experiences to a topic. For example, discuss experiences of prejudice in a task related to Martin Luther King Jr.

Transfer of knowledge and skills: Offer variation in requiring transference of knowledge and skill to novel, complex situations. For example, some students might measure a simpler three-dimensional object, like a see-saw, while more advanced students measure a complex object, like a climbing structure on a playground.

Pace and structure: Provide students with flexibility in the amount of time allowed to complete the task and offer a variety of structures and supports to students. For example, provide a study carrel for an easily distracted student.

Complexity of resources: Provide resources and materials with a range of complexity. For example, texts at different reading levels.

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The use of technology for assessment has revolutionized the way educators evaluate student learning and progress. Teachers get to utilize various digital tools and platforms to gather real-time data on student performance, allowing for more personalized and effective instruction.

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Using technology for assessment requires teachers to be trained on how to effectively use these tools and interpret the data collected. It is important for educators to ensure that the technology being used aligns with the learning objectives and goals of the assessment.

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Check for understanding in a meaningful and sustainable way with these assessment tools.

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Top 3 tools I see myself using in my classroom:

1. Kahoot!: Student-response tool that allows teachers to run game-like quizzes and build presentations with embedded quizzes. Teachers can either create their own quizzes or find, use, and/or remix public quizzes.

2. Poll Everywhere: Student-response tool that offers whole-class participation and assessment through teacher-designed surveys, polls, and discussion boards.

3. Pear Deck: An interactive presentation and lesson delivery tool that can be used via the web or as an add-on or integration with a variety of other programs. It offers a variety of ways to engage and assess.

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Top Tech Tools for Formative Assessment | Common Sense Education

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Find the right formative assessment tools for your classroom. These digital tools range from discussion (e.g., Piazza, TodaysMeet) to quizzing, polling, and student responses (e.g., Kahoot, Formative) to interactive lessons and videos (e.g., Nearpod, Flipgrid).

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This Padlet covers three different topics for this course. The first topic, the use of technology for assessment, highlights the benefits of incorporating digital tools for evaluating student learning. Along with a few examples of assessment apps and websites that can provide immediate feedback to students. The second topic delves into large-scale standardized testing and its impact on students and teaching. The final topic focuses on differentiating assessments based on student needs and learning styles, emphasizing the importance of personalized evaluation methods to ensure all students have the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding. This project showcases my knowledge of assessments and serves as an excellent resource for educators looking to enhance their assessment practices.