Assessments: Preparing Students to Succeed on State Standardized Tests

We know starting discussions about this year's state standardized tests is a little early. But it is better to be early than late...right? Whether you agree or not, your school's test scores are often a measurement of school performance. So how do you prepare your students to succeed on your state test?

We asked three teachers to weigh in: Mitch Pascal in Arlington, Virginia, Kristi Grubaugh in Fort Worth, Texas, and Annie Caldwell a Teach for America teacher. Here is what they had to say:

"Interactive Student Notebooks assist with standardized test preparation because by their nature they make the content both relevant and engaging for students. Relevance and engagement are both factors that help lead to retention of material. The Interactive Student Notebook also affords students the opportunity to make connections to the big ideas or essential understandings related to the content." - Mitch Pascal

"If information is delivered to the students in only one manner, like a verbal-linguistic lecture, then the students only have one avenue to retrieve the information during testing: remembering the words they heard or the text they read. Not all students have strong verbal-linguistic intelligence so this method of instruction isn't beneficial in a standardized testing situation. If the information is presented in a variety of ways that tap into several intelligences so the students can recall the information visually, bodily, musically, as well as verbally, then they can make more connections in their long-term memory to recall the information during a static testing situation." - Kristi Grubaugh

"I feel the Interactive Student Notebook contributed greatly to the fact that 63% of my students passed the High School Assessment in my first year of teaching, in a school where the average pass rate was 42%. I attribute much of that success to the outstanding academic tool my students developed for themselves using the Interactive Notebook strategy. Using the Interactive Student Notebook not only helped my students develop better organizational skills, but also helped them see the connections and meaning behind everything that we did in the classroom throughout the year." - Annie Caldwell

Do you have more ideas on how to prepare your students for state tests? Visit the Elementary School, Middle School, and High School discussion groups and join in the conversation.

The Power of Interactive Student Notebooks

Here at TCI we are in love with Interactive Student Notebooks. And we've found that teachers and students love them too. Why? One reason is that Interactive Student Notebooks serve as wonderful study guides when students prepare for tests. They can review in-class, teacher-provided information and then study the interactive portions of the notebook to help recall the specifics of each lesson. Interactive Student Notebooks tap the visual-spatial, interpersonal, and body-kinesthetic intelligences. Because the student drew it, decorated it, wrote it, created it, she can easily recall the content she learned.

That said, many teachers struggle to find the best system for evaluating Interactive Student Notebooks. So we wanted to alert you to some great strategies and time-saving tips on the Middle School Discussion Group (read the "Grading the New Notebooks" thread) and the High School Discussion Group (read the "Grading Interactive Student Notebooks" thread). Also, visit the Elementary Discussion Group (read the "Tips for Using the ISN" thread) and the Interactive Student Notebook Tips page for additional ideas.

Bert's Blog: Students Speak Out on Their Interactive Student Notebooks