Compass Charter Schools (CCS) is continuing to celebrate its first State Testing Preparedness Month! At the end of March, scholars at CCS will participate in state testing — that’s soon! These standardized assessments are an essential tool that allows parents and educators to identify a child’s academic strengths and areas where they may need additional support. CCS is committed to providing personalized learning experiences for all scholars, and state assessments contribute to that process.
Scholars are strongly encouraged to participate in state testing. Federal law requires public charter schools, like CCS, to have 95 percent of its scholar population participate in state testing. In order to receive the proper funding and continue serving scholars, CCS needs to submit testing results as well as testing participation rates. Scholars who do not participate in state testing may have a negative impact on their school’s future.
Parents at CCS are invited to partner with teachers and school counselors to ensure that their scholar has a positive testing experience. Here are four helpful ways that scholars can prepare for state tests:
Practice Practice Practice!
Scholars can log into the Practice and Training Test Site to help prepare for their upcoming state assessments. To get started, scholars will need to visit the website, log in as a guest, select a grade level, and then select the practice test they would like to take. Taking practice or training tests can help scholars become more familiar with the testing system ahead of time. It’s also a great way to learn more about the supports that are available during testing. Another great resource to have on hand is the Keyboard Commands so that scholars can become familiar with the icons within the testing system.
Parents may be wondering, what is the difference between Training Tests and Practice Tests? Training Tests are shorter, arranged by grade, and include new item types (e.g., hot text and matching). Scholars can access and practice using all of the test tools, supports, and accommodations, which are not currently available on the Practice Tests. Training Tests do not include performance tasks. Practice Tests are longer, arranged by grade level, and include performance tasks.
Use Available Resources
Scholars at Compass can receive support from their teachers and school counselors to prepare for state assessments. But it doesn’t end there! CCS scholars are strongly encouraged to join two virtual workshops this month about combating test anxiety and also test preparation. (Sign up to join these sessions via ParentSquare!) Also, throughout this year, CCS hosted virtual writer’s workshops to help scholars prepare for state assessments. Scholars are invited to watch recordings of these great sessions while they continue to prepare for state testing.
Parents are encouraged to use the resources that are available to them, too! Please take a moment to watch The Importance of Testing, a virtual workshop hosted by our staff. Have questions about state testing? Parents are encouraged to communicate with their scholar’s teachers and school counselors to help them prepare for state assessments.
Meet with Teachers & Counselors
Teachers are here to help! They serve as excellent resources that scholars are encouraged to lean on for support as they prepare for state testing. Scholars can ask their teachers to host a one-on-one or small group meeting to help them prepare for state testing. They can share additional lessons and assignments that scholars can use to sharpen their skills or refresh their memory. Teachers can also spend time with scholars reviewing their previous assignments, like writing projects to discuss areas of improvement in preparation for state testing.
School counselors also serve as a very important resource for scholars. Counselors are available to help scholars learn healthy test-taking strategies. State tests can be intimidating for scholars and can sometimes make them feel overwhelmed. Children can often feel a lot of pressure to perform well on their state assessments. School counselors can help scholars reduce any testing anxiety they may feel and offer them techniques to cope with their emotions in a healthy way.
Take Time to Relax
Scholars can benefit from learning how to relax while preparing to take their state assessments. A few breathing techniques and seated stretches can help scholars during testing and reduce any anxious feelings they may have. The more relaxed and positive about testing a scholar feels the more likely their testing performance will be enhanced. Scholars can try using yoga and meditation techniques before testing begins and even during break time in between test sessions. Or, maybe they need to wake up early and go for a short jog in their neighborhood before they begin testing. There are a wide variety of ways that scholars can relax before they start testing.
Parents are also encouraged to maintain a calm, positive attitude about testing so that they can help reduce their scholar’s anxiety as well. On test day, parents are encouraged to be positive and encouraging and remind their scholars to use the relaxation strategies they’ve learned while testing.
For even more insight on the benefits of state testing and how to prepare for those assessments, visit the California Department of Education.