| A huge puzzle has just been
dumped into your lap. One with what seems like a thousand
pieces. Lifting up the lid of the puzzle box,  you
find yourself looking at the faces of all your students. Throughout
the year of educating a student, a myriad of information is
dumped in your lap: health, personality traits, interests,
abilities, classroom grades, motivation, and test scores.
Like a huge puzzle, it’s hard to figure out which pieces
need to be worked with first and which way you should turn
them to see how they fit.
Standardized tests are one piece of the puzzle that some
might call an all-important corner piece. Others might say
it’s from a different puzzle and just rather throw it
out. No matter what your opinion of these tests, they’re
here, and probably here to stay. In order to take advantage
of this piece of the puzzle, you need to keep it in perspective
and be able to communicate this perspective to parents.
Parents need guidance in understanding the significance of
test scores. Try to use everyday language in explaining the
real purpose of the test. The following links may help in
your explanations:
Norm-
Referenced Tests VS. Criterion-Referenced Tests
 Who
is Norm and what is he doing in my class?
Understanding
Test Scores
It’s also crucial to compare your own classroom assessments
with test scores. If there is a discrepancy, parents need
to understand why. Outline what skills were measured. Convey
to parents what the test tells as well as what it does not
tell. Children have many qualities to be treasured that
can’t
be measured. Check out the following link for some tips to
talking to parents:
Talking
to your Child's Teacher about Standardized Tests
If test scores were lower than hoped, try to educate parents
about some elements that are conducive to good test scores:
a good night’s rest, a hearty breakfast, testing confidence,
test taking skills, knowledge of content, skills, and motivation
to perform well. Obstacles include learning disabilities,
English as a second language, and stress.
Communicating test scores to students is a balancing act.
Explain that test scores are one assessment that, in addition
to your own classroom assessments, can help determine their
academic strengths and weaknesses. Make it clear, though,
that many factors can affect scores on these tests and that
scores can vary from day to day. Together, set specific, realistic
goals for improvement.
Remember that you, your students, and their parents have
different pieces of the puzzle to add to the total picture
of their educational journeys. Work cooperatively to start
piecing them together, to better understand each student’s
strengths and weaknesses.
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