Making the Grade with Pearson
Pearson is highly concerned with helping parents and their children succeed. That is why parenting expert, Stacy Skelly and Amy Reilly, Director of K12 Innovative Assessment Solutions and former English teacher, join The Hype magazine to share tips for parents who are preparing their children for testing. How assessments are created and why they are important are substantial concerns. Many parents do not understand the exhausting and elaborate work that goes into test day. The results of the tests provide meaningful information to parents and teachers that help set goals and direct administrative decisions at the school, in districts and at the state level. With the right guidance and support, testing is just another measure that can enhance a students course of development in learning.
Stacy – Are there ways to prepare kids to take these tests?
Yes, I think as parents there is a lot we can do to sort of ease the pressure on themselves. One of the best things you can do is have a conversation with your teacher. They are in the class room everyday with our children, and they have a good sense of what is on the assessment. So, one of the things you can do is, giving that there are lots of different kinds of tests out there and lots of questions being asked of our kids, is get a sense of what’s on the test. Find out if maybe its online or pen and paper. Are there extra supplies allowed? I think David, one of the other great things you can do is the tried and true technique of getting a good night’s sleep and having an excellent breakfast in the morning!
Amy – What do today’s annual school tests tell us about individual kids and their learning?
Today’s tests give us lots of really good information about what students know relative to state academic standards. First and foremost, we want to understand that students have mastered those standards, and if not, where do we need to provide some additional remediation? Perhaps they are doing so well, that they could benefit from enrichment programs. They also tell us information about how schools are preforming relative to other schools within the state as well as districts. For the past few years, we have been working hard at Pearson to research different ways that we can provide information that is very accessible and actionable for teachers and use this to make good instructional decisions.
Stacy – Most kids feel pressure to do their best. Any recommendations on ways to reduce kids’ stress?
Don’t we all want to do our best? I think kids feel the same way! As parents, it’s important to do what we do during any big day. Test day is just one more day to go out there and give it your best! Whether it is a soccer tournament or a school play, I think what we can do for our kids is explain to them – this test is just one measure of learning. It is sort of a snap shot of what they know and can do. So, I can give them a little bit of encouragement.
In addition, it is important that we make sure our assessments are accessible and there for all students. So, we also investigate ways to create accommodation and tools, such as text to speech, so that each child has an opportunity to show what they learned that day.
Amy – We hear concerns that there’s just too much testing on kids these days. Is there any effort to help improve testing?
Yes! As a mom and a former teacher, I tend to agree, there is a lot of emphasis on testing and a lot of pressure. Not only for the kids, but also for the teachers. We have been working on lots of different ways to explore different types of assessments that don’t feel so much like stopping learning and taking a multiple-choice test. We can do this by taking advantage of new digital tools and capabilities. For example, instead of taking a science test, maybe we will we have digital science simulations. That way it will feel like a science lab. Then we can observe students and get a lot of information about what they know about different science topics.
For more information, you can go to www.pearsonlearningnews.com
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About the Author
David Morales is the Executive Editor of The Hype magazine. A graduate of Eastern Michigan University, David has a background as an artist manager, writer, blogger, drummer, and in the human services industry. He is passionate about helping others, learning and has a deep empathy for the creative process. You can follow his social media @dcypherstudios
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