4 Ways to Help Students Prepare for Standardized Testing
As winter snow days turn into March slush and spring sunshine, a secondary teacher’s year begins to pivot towards what we refer to as “testing season.” In Michigan, these tests consist of the PSAT and SAT.
Despite educators’ feelings on standardized testing (and let’s be clear, educators have strong feelings), our job as educators is still to prepare students for these tests because they could have significant implications for their future.
Therefore, I am going to provide you with four different ways that you can help prepare students for standardized testing without losing track of your objectives for your courses.
1. Utilize Khan Academy
Khan Academy is a nonprofit organization that provides tools for educators in the form of video tutorials and lesson support, and they are definitely at the top of my list for PSAT and SAT support. Educators can blend Khan Academy right into their Google Classroom tools and assign students specific tasks that they use to review and prepare for any test connected to their grade level. Khan Academy will also provide individualized feedback on lessons or questions that students answer incorrectly, as well as provide teachers with an overall view of how their class as a whole is doing with a specific skill.
2. Involve Parents/Guardians and Students from the Very Beginning
It is essential that, with standardized testing having varying degrees of relevance to different students, districts and teachers take the time to educate parents/guardians about the entire process. I have found it to be really important to send out emails at the beginning of each semester with an idea of the content I will be going over. Also, having a parent/guardian information night every year where they can ask questions about school standardized testing preparations can help them understand these tests and what services the school will provide.
In addition, in my district, we will send monthly emails to students (especially in a testing year) that remind them about the upcoming tests and different ways to prepare. These emails include testing resources, and we also have a raffle that encourages students to do different review exercises and report their progress.
Finally, our district has individual meetings with students who may not be as engaged with the testing process to sign them up for different resources and answer any questions they have in more of a small group setting.
3. Utilize AI
There are so many different ways to utilize artificial intelligence for PSAT or SAT prep. One of the best ways is to simply ask an AI tool to create the questions for you that are personalized to your content and your students.
For example, my friend who teaches chemistry might ask Chat GPT to “create an SAT question for high school students that focuses on data analysis and thermodynamics.” AI will provide you with example questions and answers.
Obviously, you will still have to check the answers yourself, as well as figure out the best way to teach this content, but having those questions at your fingertips is a huge timesaver. Overall, this AI option can be incredibly helpful when it comes to personalizing PSAT or SAT prep for each student.
In addition, you can use other AI tools, such as Magic Schools or Brisk, to customize slides that could go over test prep content or provide additional support for student learning.
4. Remind Students that They Are More than a Test Score
One of my top priorities as a teacher is making sure that my students are not just academically supported in this testing season but that they are also emotionally supported. Students can sometimes feel an immense amount of pressure regarding these tests, so I take time to remind them of the reality: This is just one measure of your student performance that occurs on a specific day. That they are so much more than the number that the test score represents, and that they will be encouraged and loved no matter what.
To make sure that they take to heart my own beliefs in them, I give them mental and physical well-being tips leading up to the testing day, as well as keep things light and low stakes immediately following the test itself. Also, I truly believe in providing affirmations to my students about who they are as humans and making sure that they know, in my classroom, they are seen and valued.
2024-25 Michigan Teacher of the Year Kelley Cusmano is an English Language Arts teacher at Rochester High School in Rochester Community Schools and is in her 20th year of teaching.