Slight panic -- testing . . . talk me down (or not!)

[ByGrace3]

ok. Deep breathe. I am trying not to freak out. I have tried over the years to embrace the process of learning, not focus on testing, etc. and now I feel like I have totally failed at homeschooling. (OK yes a bit dramatic I know). Last year (my dd was in 9th) we did the Samford test. We had not tested since 4th grade. It was very meh. I tried not to be too concerned . . . This week I had her take the CLT 10. It was worse. Now I am panicking. It looks like the verbal reasoning/LA parts were a struggle but really the whole thing was equal opportunity bad. The math -- well, she said she didn't have time to finish and had 20 of the 40 problems not done at the time 😭 She did just guess to not leave them empty. Since she didn't answer about half it looks like she must have done fine on the ones she answered . . . she just didn't do half! ugh. She said it all was familiar for math, she just didn't have time. So, need to improve efficiency there.

She is not a good test taker. I know this. She gets anxious. At this point I am not sure if she doesn't know the material, just is super struggling with reading comprehension, or it is anxiety. But anyway, I am freaking out. She is a good student -- gets good grades not only from me but outside classes. She is a hard worker. But I can't help but feel like I have failed her in some way. Cognitively I KNOW this is NOT true. She enjoys learning, is a lovely young lady, strong in her faith, a great pianist, a servant -- loves to volunteer . . . truly she is great. BUT she has long term goals of being a physical therapist. Testing is important. I feel like I am at a crossroads. Do I panic (ok yeah I know that is a bad idea lol) and change course here . . . do I do something to supplement and just help with test taking? Do I add some kind of Language arts/reading comprehension/reading strategy supplement? All of the above?

 

and then . . . I have 2 kids coming up behind her...is the method failing? Do I jump ship and go to box curriculum . . . .I am really doubting myself here . . . I am doubting the curriculum, me as their teacher  . . . the whole process. I know I don't sound reasonable  . . . talk me through this. 

[EKS]

46 minutes ago, ByGrace3 said:

I have 2 kids coming up behind her...is the method failing?

To some extent test taking, especially standardized test taking, is a learned skill.  There are techniques that will help you go faster, narrow things down, get more answers correct.  So that's good, and she should start working on those skills.  

As for the other kids, IMO it is really important to get kids familiar with standardized tests (and all tests, really) from an early age.  In our society, it is a life skill.  So, if you haven't already, I'd make sure they take a standardized test every year from here on out.

As far as whether your entire approach to homeschooling is a problem...assuming you're not having her work beneath her instructional level, that probably isn't it.

[Junie]

I give my kids the Stanford test at home.  The time limits aren't really limits -- they are suggestions.  So my kids test with unlimited time and it is extremely beneficial to one of them.

[ByGrace3]

40 minutes ago, Junie said:

I give my kids the Stanford test at home.  The time limits aren't really limits -- they are suggestions.  So my kids test with unlimited time and it is extremely beneficial to one of them.

With the Stanford, she had plenty of time...it was the CLT 10 she ran out of time. 

[Momto6inIN]

My DD12 is like this and I'm considering having her take standardized tests every year to help her overcome her fear, which is not something I ever thought I'd do! My older 3 were tested to death in ps before we started hs'ing and they knew how to play the game and getting rid of those things was very freeing for them. But this DD has always been hs'ed and she definitely has test phobia. So ... I'm considering it even though I'm conflicted about it.

I definitely wouln't change the way I teach just because of standardized tests. Like @EKS said, doing well on them requires a certain skill set that can be taught and developed, so I'd focus my efforts there. Honestly, most of your DD's problem seems to be with timing and efficiency. That is totally a problem that can be improved significantly with practice!

So, just like you, I'm kind of worrying in advance about my DD and her "future prospects" because of her extreme test anxiety and poor performance. But I try to remind myself that there are multiple paths in life to where she wants to go, and if a bad test taking ability closes some doors, I'm sure others will remain open that enable her to accomplish her goals. HTH!

 

[Meriwether]

I have 5 great kids. I think three of them will be good test takers. Two of them are not. Dd17's ACT score puts her in the 99%ile of students who take the test. Ds16...hasn't taken it yet. It will be brutal, and I kind of hate the idea of making him do test prep. He has ADHD. He will never finish that test and by the science section, if not before, he will be worn out from trying to focus. I think he will get most of the ones he answers correct, but we'll see. Ds14 tests pretty well on standardized tests, and I expect he will do fairly well on the ACT. Really well if he does test prep. Dd10 tests so low a school district would probably put her in remedial classes based on her scores, but I know she would be a straight A student in school. She may be the least, um, academically gifted of my kids, but she is a great student- conscientious, diligent, thorough. She is outperforming the older kids on Latin by far. I've decided that I will teach her testing skills, but I don't give a darn about her test scores. She will do fine at college and even better at life. Dd6 hasn't taken tests yet, of course, but I anticipate she will be similar to Dd17, just exactly the kind of person suited to those stupid tests. The tests are a game. We'll play the game with three of the kids, but I refuse to let it define our school. Especially for the two who will never, ever win that game.

[EKS]

2 hours ago, Junie said:

I give my kids the Stanford test at home.  The time limits aren't really limits -- they are suggestions.  So my kids test with unlimited time and it is extremely beneficial to one of them.

If you don't adhere to the time limits, the test is no longer standardized.  The tests are actually developed so that most people finish within the time allotted.  So the time limits aren't suggestions--but if you're giving it at home, who's going to know how it's administered?  That said, as homeschoolers we are fortunate that some test companies allow us to use their products with our own children in our own homes.  I think we do the homeschooling community a disservice when we don't take the standardization process seriously.

Note that I completely understand about extended time being beneficial.  Both of my kids had official extended time accommodations through the school district.  One outgrew the need for them, but the other needed them throughout high school (including for the SAT/ACT).  He needed them in college to, but he decided to stop using them, and his grades suffered as a result.

[EKS]

4 minutes ago, Meriwether said:

Ds16...hasn't taken it yet. It will be brutal, and I kind of hate the idea of making him do test prep. He has ADHD. He will never finish that test and by the science section, if not before, he will be worn out from trying to focus.

You may want to consider having him take the SAT instead.  There is quite a bit more time per item than is given for the ACT.  And since the SAT was redone in 2016, the two tests are very similar.

[Meriwether]

16 minutes ago, EKS said:

You may want to consider having him take the SAT instead.  There is quite a bit more time per item than is given for the ACT.  And since the SAT was redone in 2016, the two tests are very similar.

I've thought about it and might do that, but everyone where we live does the ACT. I don't think any schools in the area offer the SAT, but I haven't actively looked yet so there may be some.

ETA: I looked. The local schools do not offer it, but it looks like a local college does host SAT testing 5 times per year.

Edited October 23, 2020 by Meriwether

[Junie]

8 minutes ago, EKS said:

If you don't adhere to the time limits, the test is no longer standardized.  The tests are actually developed so that most people finish within the time allotted.  So the time limits aren't suggestions--but if you're giving it at home, who's going to know how it's administered?  That said, as homeschoolers we are fortunate that some test companies allow us to use their products with our own children in our own homes.  I think we do the homeschooling community a disservice when we don't take the standardization process seriously.

Note that I completely understand about extended time being beneficial.  Both of my kids had official extended time accommodations through the school district.  One outgrew the need for them, but the other needed them throughout high school (including for the SAT/ACT).  He needed them in college to, but he decided to stop using them, and his grades suffered as a result.

The directions specifically say that students should be allowed to work for as long as they need.  This is supposed to be the case even when the tests are administered in schools.  (However, I know that a lot of students in school are cheated on the time element because the teacher doesn't want 29 students sitting around for another 30 minutes while one student finishes.)

[Junie]

11 minutes ago, EKS said:

If you don't adhere to the time limits, the test is no longer standardized.  The tests are actually developed so that most people finish within the time allotted.  So the time limits aren't suggestions--but if you're giving it at home, who's going to know how it's administered?  That said, as homeschoolers we are fortunate that some test companies allow us to use their products with our own children in our own homes.  I think we do the homeschooling community a disservice when we don't take the standardization process seriously.

Note that I completely understand about extended time being beneficial.  Both of my kids had official extended time accommodations through the school district.  One outgrew the need for them, but the other needed them throughout high school (including for the SAT/ACT).  He needed them in college to, but he decided to stop using them, and his grades suffered as a result.

Quoting you again to emphasize this: I completely agree!

[EKS]

20 minutes ago, Junie said:

The directions specifically say that students should be allowed to work for as long as they need. 

I just remembered that the Stanford is an untimed test.  So there's that!

[EKS]

25 minutes ago, Meriwether said:

I've thought about it and might do that, but everyone where we live does the ACT. I don't think any schools in the area offer the SAT, but I haven't actively looked yet so there may be some.

ETA: I looked. The local schools do not offer it, but it looks like a local college does host SAT testing 5 times per year.

A data point:  I will occasionally take a practice test for fun (or something--usually it is to see how one of my students will experience it).  I have a very hard time even making a first pass through the ACT within the time limit, but I can make a first pass through the SAT and the GRE in half of the allotted time.

I would definitely have him take practice tests for both to see if there is a big difference.

[RootAnn]

 I would just add a bit of test prep to her schedule. Part is learning how to be more efficient. Part is learning what the test makers want.

[Momto6inIN]

1 hour ago, Meriwether said:

I have 5 great kids. I think three of them will be good test takers. Two of them are not. Dd17's ACT score puts her in the 99%ile of students who take the test. Ds16...hasn't taken it yet. It will be brutal, and I kind of hate the idea of making him do test prep. He has ADHD. He will never finish that test and by the science section, if not before, he will be worn out from trying to focus. I think he will get most of the ones he answers correct, but we'll see. Ds14 tests pretty well on standardized tests, and I expect he will do fairly well on the ACT. Really well if he does test prep. Dd10 tests so low a school district would probably put her in remedial classes based on her scores, but I know she would be a straight A student in school. She may be the least, um, academically gifted of my kids, but she is a great student- conscientious, diligent, thorough. She is outperforming the older kids on Latin by far. I've decided that I will teach her testing skills, but I don't give a darn about her test scores. She will do fine at college and even better at life. Dd6 hasn't taken tests yet, of course, but I anticipate she will be similar to Dd17, just exactly the kind of person suited to those stupid tests. The tests are a game. We'll play the game with three of the kids, but I refuse to let it define our school. Especially for the two who will never, ever win that game.

This may be a spin off, but how do you (not just Meriwether, either, anyone else please answer too) help your not so good test takers feel not so badly about themselves when it comes to their performance on tests? I talk to DD beforehand about why we are doing the test and how I already know she's performing well and this is just a hoop to jump that she happens to struggle with, but I worry it will hurt her self image of herself as a good student and become a self fulfilling prophecy of sorts.

[Not_a_Number]

12 hours ago, Momto6inIN said:

This may be a spin off, but how do you (not just Meriwether, either, anyone else please answer too) help your not so good test takers feel not so badly about themselves when it comes to their performance on tests? I talk to DD beforehand about why we are doing the test and how I already know she's performing well and this is just a hoop to jump that she happens to struggle with, but I worry it will hurt her self image of herself as a good student and become a self fulfilling prophecy of sorts.

I think just making it seems like its own skill is helpful here. I actually think adding "test prep" to the schedule helps with that, because it makes it clear that the skill they are learning here (how to do all the questions within the time limit) is not the same as the skill of actually understanding the material. 

[wendyroo]

1 hour ago, Not_a_Number said:

I think just making it seems like its own skill is helpful here. I actually think adding "test prep" to the schedule helps with that, because it makes it clear that the skill they are learning here (how to do all the questions within the time limit) is not the same as the skill of actually understanding the material. 

I agree.  My 11 year old does not do well with stress/competition/testing (and his ASD makes flexible thinking difficult), so I started him on SAT/ACT test prep two years ago for practice. Just this past week he skipped a practice question because "none of the answers are quite right". I reiterated once again that test answers are different than real life answers, and that for standardized tests you always choose the best answer available...even when none of them seem very good or just right. Testing itself is truly its own unique skill separate from the skills that are supposedly being tested.

Edited October 24, 2020 by wendyroo

[Not_a_Number]

Just now, wendyroo said:

I agree.  My 11 year old does not do well with stress/competition/testing (and his ASD makes flexible thinking difficult), so I started him on SAT/ACT test prep two years ago for practice. Just this past week he skipped a practice question because "none of the answers are quite right". I reiterated once again that test answers are different than real life answers, and that for standardized tests you always choose the best answer available...even when none of them seem very good or just right. Testing itself if truly its own unique skill separate from the skills that are supposedly being tested.

It really is! We did a lot of test prep with my sister. It was totally separate from the actual remediation we did. 

[Momto6inIN]

My DD is 12 and while very bright, nowhere near ready for real SAT prep. She's taken the ITBS and that's it. What kind of test prep could I do for her? Any ideas?

[Not_a_Number]

Just now, Momto6inIN said:

My DD is 12 and while very bright, nowhere near ready for real SAT prep. She's taken the ITBS and that's it. What kind of test prep could I do for her? Any ideas?

Oh, really, anything. Timing her will help. Getting her used in situations where it's timed and there's no input. Figuring out WHAT KINDS of questions are taking a long time. Talking about how multiple choice questions work and tricks for that. 

We've been doing the Math Kangaroo with DD8 partially just to expose her to test-taking. We did a timed test once a week. We did stuff like "skip questions when you don't know the answer and come back," "know when you know things," "pay attention to the time," "write things down, but only if you need to." There was a lot of stuff. You get a lot of information when they actually take tests. 

I'd find a test that's the right level but similar to what you're aiming for and just go for it. 

[EKS]

37 minutes ago, wendyroo said:

I reiterated once again that test answers are different than real life answers, and that for standardized tests you always choose the best answer available...even when none of them seem very good or just right.

Another line I use when talking to kids about test answers is that they need to choose the answer that the test maker thinks is correct.

Also, for rigorously developed tests like the SAT, all of the wrong answers actually have something wrong with them that you can point to.  But this will not necessarily be the case for a teacher developed test (where getting into the mind of the test maker is going to be critical).

[Storygirl]

On 10/23/2020 at 2:53 PM, ByGrace3 said:

She is not a good test taker. I know this. She gets anxious. At this point I am not sure if she doesn't know the material, just is super struggling with reading comprehension, or it is anxiety. But anyway, I am freaking out. She is a good student -- gets good grades not only from me but outside classes. She is a hard worker. But I can't help but feel like I have failed her in some way. Cognitively I KNOW this is NOT true. She enjoys learning, is a lovely young lady, strong in her faith, a great pianist, a servant -- loves to volunteer . . . truly she is great. BUT she has long term goals of being a physical therapist. Testing is important. I feel like I am at a crossroads. Do I panic (ok yeah I know that is a bad idea lol) and change course here . . . do I do something to supplement and just help with test taking? Do I add some kind of Language arts/reading comprehension/reading strategy supplement? All of the above?

 

https://teach.com/resources/how-to-get-into-pt-school/

DD18 is in her first year of college with the goal of going to physical therapy school. She sounds a lot like your daughter, in that she was a good student in high school and a hard worker; she got A's mostly, but was still in the middle of her small, 15-person class, because the top 8 people were able to take more advanced levels of science and math. The top students did dual enrollment college classes while still in high school, but (as a family decision) DD stayed in her high school classes, because high school material was the right level for her. DD loves to do missions trips and loves working with people. She had a dance injury early in high school and went through physical therapy and now wants to help others who need therapy, and also continue to do missions work after college. She did well in high school, but she is not an overall advanced scholar.

She had an average ACT score after lots of test prep; she does not test well, and her ACT scores were well below the average admissions statistics for many colleges. She ended up at a university that is a perfect fit for her; though it is not a selective school, her first semester of classes have definitely been challenging for her. She is majoring in exercise science, pre-physical therapy and has been told that do get into PT school, students need to have a GPA of 3.8 or higher. She has to take two semesters of biology, two semesters of anatomy and physiology, two semesters of chemistry, and two semesters of physics. It will be really challenging for her to get through those classes and maintain the required GPA. I suspect her advisor may tell her at some point that she should consider switching to pre-occupational therapy, which only requires one semester of the above science classes, instead of two (he told us when we visited that he has honest conversations with students, to steer them toward the areas that are the best fit for them, because PT school is very hard to get into). Some PT schools do require the GRE, another difficult standardized test.

You may have gone over what it takes to get into PT school with your daughter already. I linked above one article, but you can find others online. We tried to encourage DD18 to consider doing a two-year physical therapy assistant degree instead. In comparison to becoming a PTA in two years at an inexpensive community college, becoming a PT requires a bachelor's degree then a three year doctoral degree, so it's at least 7 years of university expenses. DD18 was determined that she wanted a bachelor's degree.

So...being able to test well on both standardized tests and in college level science classes will be very important for your daughter to reach her goals. I completely understand your concerns and empathize, because I'm afraid that my own daughter is going to have to adjust her goals, and she does not want to think about it. PT school is very hard to get into, and statistics say that less than half of applicants are admitted.

I am not trying to frighten you or your daughter off. I am just explaining why I am in the same position of concern about my own daughter, who is a few years older than yours.

I would definitely have her add daily test prep to her school work. You can buy test prep books that include an online practice component. There are also online and in-person test prep classes that you can take (we didn't do in-person classes).

If you think she could have ADHD or other learning challenges, and you get them diagnosed, your daughter could be eligible for extra time on the ACT or SAT; they will not approve extra time without a diagnosis and official documentation. If ADHD is an issue (and it can definitely look different in girls, so read online about what it can look like in girls), taking appropriately prescribed medication can make a difference in performance on standardized testing. If she has anxiety, she can also learn techniques to help that from a counselor and/or be prescribed medication. There are also over the counter supplements that supposedly can help anxiety. Just throwing out ideas for you to consider.

If you think reading comprehension is a challenge in her daily schoolwork, that is an area that can be helped with intervention (I also have a son with a learning disability in reading comprehension). If you think that she is just challenged to connect the reading on the standardized testing with the questions the tests asked about the reading, there are ways to learn techniques to improve that from test-prep books and classes.

I hope that's helpful. There is help and hope, so don't panic!!! But under performing on standardized tests is definitely something to work on deliberately.

Edited October 26, 2020 by Storygirl

[Momto6inIN]

1 hour ago, Not_a_Number said:

Oh, really, anything. Timing her will help. Getting her used in situations where it's timed and there's no input. Figuring out WHAT KINDS of questions are taking a long time. Talking about how multiple choice questions work and tricks for that. 

We've been doing the Math Kangaroo with DD8 partially just to expose her to test-taking. We did a timed test once a week. We did stuff like "skip questions when you don't know the answer and come back," "know when you know things," "pay attention to the time," "write things down, but only if you need to." There was a lot of stuff. You get a lot of information when they actually take tests. 

I'd find a test that's the right level but similar to what you're aiming for and just go for it. 

I'm sure that a very significant part of the problem is that we don't *do* those types of assessments. I don't own any! 🙄 I sit right with her and do math. She reads and we talk about it for other subjects. I've never chosen curricula with multiple choice questions and worksheets with short answers. This year in 7th grade she's doing more output and writing, but still not very many "typical" school tests. So I don't even know what to buy! Doing timed tests of math facts stressed her out and brought on tears, but when I eliminates the timws factor she did great. Her chapter tests in MM stress her out too just because they have the word "test" at the top.

[Not_a_Number]

1 hour ago, Momto6inIN said:

I'm sure that a very significant part of the problem is that we don't *do* those types of assessments. I don't own any! 🙄 I sit right with her and do math. She reads and we talk about it for other subjects. I've never chosen curricula with multiple choice questions and worksheets with short answers. This year in 7th grade she's doing more output and writing, but still not very many "typical" school tests. So I don't even know what to buy! Doing timed tests of math facts stressed her out and brought on tears, but when I eliminates the timws factor she did great. Her chapter tests in MM stress her out too just because they have the word "test" at the top.

Well, I just downloaded Math Kangaroos online 😉 . I think "exposure therapy" can decrease anxiety with that kind of situation. We instituted pretty serious rewards for good performance on timed tests, so the associations were positive... 

It can also be a good idea to do really easy timed tests. Don't do tests of stuff that's actually hard for her, so you can work on the timing issue separately from the content issue. 

Edited October 24, 2020 by Not_a_Number

[GoodGrief3]

Lots of good advice. I'll just add that even apart from education, there is standardized testing involved with a number of professional certifications. It's a good skill to develop. Not every person will be a naturally good tester, but there are ways to improve for most people.

[ByGrace3]

I appreciate all of the input, thank you!

I guess, moving forward is a bit 2-fold. First, I need to determine if this is an anxiety problem or an educational one. Not exactly sure how to determine that? Any suggestions on how to differentiate here?

Second, with that knowledge either fill knowledge gaps or work on test prep or most likely both. 

Any specific resources for either are appreciated! 

[Meriwether]

On 10/23/2020 at 8:00 PM, Momto6inIN said:

This may be a spin off, but how do you (not just Meriwether, either, anyone else please answer too) help your not so good test takers feel not so badly about themselves when it comes to their performance on tests? I talk to DD beforehand about why we are doing the test and how I already know she's performing well and this is just a hoop to jump that she happens to struggle with, but I worry it will hurt her self image of herself as a good student and become a self fulfilling prophecy of sorts.

There are so many ways I could answer this, and I don't have much time. This may not may much sense out of my own head.

Ds16 has absolutely been affected by having a sister just a year older than he is who excels at so many things with so much less effort than he gives. It helps that we have become very matter of fact about it. Also, it helps that he now does a few things better than Dd17 does. I wish I had talked about things differently when he was little. He has taught me a lot about parenting.

I don't think Dd10 has internalized any bad feelings about it. I make a big deal about what she does well with school - which is almost everything. So, we celebrate things that actually matter in our family like hard work and learning for the sake of learning. I hope her test scores never matter much to her.

My kids have an example of parents with wildly different ACT scores. Dd17 almost outscored her father at the beginning of 7th grade. And yet, here he is, succeeding in a job he enjoys and living a full and happy life. It puts it in perspective a bit. This especially is good for Ds16, since he is so much like his father.

[Momto6inIN]

1 hour ago, Meriwether said:

There are so many ways I could answer this, and I don't have much time. This may not may much sense out of my own head.

Ds16 has absolutely been affected by having a sister just a year older than he is who excels at so many things with so much less effort than he gives. It helps that we have become very matter of fact about it. Also, it helps that he now does a few things better than Dd17 does. I wish I had talked about things differently when he was little. He has taught me a lot about parenting.

I don't think Dd10 has internalized any bad feelings about it. I make a big deal about what she does well with school - which is almost everything. So, we celebrate things that actually matter in our family like hard work and learning for the sake of learning. I hope her test scores never matter much to her.

My kids have an example of parents with wildly different ACT scores. Dd17 almost outscored her father at the beginning of 7th grade. And yet, here he is, succeeding in a job he enjoys and living a full and happy life. It puts it in perspective a bit. This especially is good for Ds16, since he is so much like his father.

I can relate to this so much! Oldest D'S is gifted with an almost photographic memory and his test scores are very close to perfect. 2nd D'S is incredibly bright and creative but nowhere near perfect when it comes to testing, and with them being only 2 years apart and both boys I spent a significant amount of time while they were growing up emphasizing their individual strengths. 2nd D'S always compared himself to 1st D'S even though I tried so so so hard to discourage that and to emphasize the areas where he excels and 1st D'S didn't. But even though his scores were lower than 1st DS's, they were still good and he never really struggled with testing like this DD12 does. So I feel like all that self comparison 2nd D'S struggled with is magnified even more for her 🙁

[Momto6inIN]

5 hours ago, ByGrace3 said:

I appreciate all of the input, thank you!

I guess, moving forward is a bit 2-fold. First, I need to determine if this is an anxiety problem or an educational one. Not exactly sure how to determine that? Any suggestions on how to differentiate here?

Second, with that knowledge either fill knowledge gaps or work on test prep or most likely both. 

Any specific resources for either are appreciated! 

I bought a test prep kit from Seton for the ITBS to help familiarize her with the actual test format and how questions are asked. I also bought a Spectrum Test Review workbook - something I thought I'd never do!! 🙄 I don't know if they go beyond 8th grade though.

[Lucy the Valiant]

5 hours ago, ByGrace3 said:

I appreciate all of the input, thank you!

I guess, moving forward is a bit 2-fold. First, I need to determine if this is an anxiety problem or an educational one. Not exactly sure how to determine that? Any suggestions on how to differentiate here?

Second, with that knowledge either fill knowledge gaps or work on test prep or most likely both. 

Any specific resources for either are appreciated! 

I tutor kids who are preparing for these tests, and when I start with a potentially-test-anxious kid with mediocre scores and excellent grades, I follow this path: 

1. Convince kid that he actually DOES know how to answer almost all the questions correctly, untimed. (Practice. Read the explanations. Discuss HOW the test writers think and plan the traps. If he needs to brush up on content, do that. If he hasn't gotten that far, teach him how to recognize that and just hit those questions with a "letter of the day" and keep moving. NO NEW CONTENT until kid is getting every question right that they DO know.)

2. Ask the kid how long he THINKS he needs, and then verify that. For the VAST majority of kids without a learning disability, the time they WANT is very, very close to the amount of time they are GIVEN. My students are consistently surprised by this.

3. Run the math calculations (or, better yet, have the kid do it himself) to show that *IF a kid needs to choose between (A) rushing and (B) going at his normal pace but sacrificing just a few questions, the pure math of it proves that his own pace is still the better choice. 

4. THEN practice going a little bit faster. I teach kids that there's a "pacing sweet spot" where they maximize their potential, and they need to learn where theirs is. The best way to do that is to practice, but practice intelligently (figure out WHY you missed each question, figure out AT WHICH POINT you felt rushed, etc.). 

 

[Storygirl]

10 hours ago, ByGrace3 said:

I appreciate all of the input, thank you!

I guess, moving forward is a bit 2-fold. First, I need to determine if this is an anxiety problem or an educational one. Not exactly sure how to determine that? Any suggestions on how to differentiate here?

Second, with that knowledge either fill knowledge gaps or work on test prep or most likely both. 

Any specific resources for either are appreciated! 

I wrote about how to figure out if it is an education issue on your other thread, but I don't know if you saw it. You can talk to her doctor about whether it's anxiety.

Edited October 26, 2020 by Storygirl

[ieta_cassiopeia]

Alternative angle that may be helpful: K-State produced a PDF of how to construct test questions called Is This A Trick Question? Perhaps working through this with your children and seeing if anything rings any bells for any of you might help? There are some tips in there (as well as some methods by which good test-writers seek to defeat the ones more likely to be exploited by students who know nothing of the topic), There are also examples of good and bad exam writing, which will hopefully show that test-writers are human like the rest of us, and that there are means of answering even suboptimally-written questions. The principles can be applied to any test, including any you might create yourself.

[Arcadia]

21 hours ago, Meriwether said:

DS16 has absolutely been affected by having a sister just a year older than he is who excels at so many things with so much less effort than he gives. It helps that we have become very matter of fact about it. Also, it helps that he now does a few things better than Dd17 does. I wish I had talked about things differently when he was little. He has taught me a lot about parenting.
 

 

19 hours ago, Momto6inIN said:

I can relate to this so much! Oldest D'S is gifted with an almost photographic memory and his test scores are very close to perfect. 2nd D'S is incredibly bright and creative but nowhere near perfect when it comes to testing, and with them being only 2 years apart and both boys I spent a significant amount of time while they were growing up emphasizing their individual strengths. 

Similar situation with DS15 and DS14. I have written numerous "essays" about them in the past on these forums. 

On 10/25/2020 at 11:20 AM, ByGrace3 said:

 

I guess, moving forward is a bit 2-fold. First, I need to determine if this is an anxiety problem or an educational one. Not exactly sure how to determine that? Any suggestions on how to differentiate here?

Second, with that knowledge either fill knowledge gaps or work on test prep or most likely both. 

Any specific resources for either are appreciated! 

To reduce the test anxiety issue, I gave assessments untimed as homework to DS14 when he was younger. Since he treat it as untimed homework, the results were rather accurate. DS14 is a slower test taker and did better on the SAT than the ACT.

I used the 2008 California state test released questions to test both my kids. It is meant to be untimed and the answers are on page 29-31 of PDF, This PDF is for Algebra 1.  

https://www.fairfaxhs.org/ourpages/auto/2017/9/5/40328024/Algebra 1.pdf

This is for geometry, answers on the last 3 pages https://mrmeyer.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/cstrtqgeomapr15.pdf