FORT RUCKER, Ala. -- Spring, specifically March, is school testing time in Alabama.
Schools take these tests seriously and so should you and your children. While the tests cover the subjects taught in school all year, they also serve a larger purpose.
The results of these tests are the basis for the choices many people make in selecting a school system to send their children and a community in which to live. States have a similar interest in students getting high test scores.
We have become a society demands that facts be quantifiable, so school test scores are often the basis for a Family's decision to send their children to one school over another.
These test results are reported back to the schools in minute detail, usually in May so that each school can analyze program weaknesses.
Schools also use these tests to make sure that a child who missed an item has remedial instruction on the missed item the following year.
Finally, in an effort to make sure a child has the best opportunity for academic success, guidance counselors use test scores when scheduling students to make sure they are in classes at levels where they can achieve.
Children can learn valuable test taking skills while taking these tests that will serve them well later when taking the ACT and SAT Reasoning Test for college entrance.
Alabama is in the process of phasing out the current Alabama High School Exit Exam for freshmen in the class of 2015. Alabama will pay for students to take the ACT college entrance exam instead.
How can you prepare for the tests' There are actually several things you can do. Something as simple as a good night's sleep the night before the test helps. Likewise a good high protein breakfast is really important. Finally, brush up on test taking technique.
General Test taking tips:
* Read the directions carefully, can there be more than one correct answer per question' Is there a penalty for wrong answers'
* Work quickly, skip questions you do not know the answer to and mark them so that you can return to them easily, then be sure you do return to them.
* Be very careful when answering questions with qualifiers like "seldom," "usually," "always." Make sure you understand the basic question.
* Guess the answer to the question before reading all of the answers and before writing it down. Read all of the choices. See if your guess matches any of them. If not try to eliminate obvious wrong answers before making your final choice.
* Watch for grammatical clues like "an." You will know the answer begins with a vowel.
* Try reading the question and answer together one at a time.
* Check your work, but avoid changing an answer without a good reason. Your first answer is usually correct.
* On multiple choice tests check carefully if more than three questions in a row have the same letter for the answer. Go over all of the previous four questions not just the last one. One of them is sure to be wrong.
* If there is no penalty for guessing, like so many points deducted from your score for each wrong answer, at least guess an answer in every blank. The only guaranteed wrong answer is a blank. Look for patterns in the finished part of the test. If there are obvious patterns use them in making any guesses.
More information on succeeding on standardized tests can be found at www.am.dodea.edu/rucker/Elementary/Standardizedtesttakingtips.html
Testing dates
These are testing dates for local school systems:
* Ft. Rucker Terra Nova - Monday-Friday
* Enterprise Jr. High and Daleville testing --March 22-23, March 29-31
* Ozark -- March 23-24, March 29-30
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