As NCLB heads into its fourth year, the pressure on schools to raise the percentage of students scoring at or above proficient on standardized achievement tests continues to grow. Conducting information workshops for parents about achievement tests and test-taking strategies is helpful, but should not replace efforts to help create home environments that support the development of academic skills. Schools need to plan a balanced approach to improving student performance on achievement tests-one that informs parents about the tests their children take and helps prepare families to support the development of knowledge and skills in their children.
Many NNPS schools conduct after-school, evening, and weekend parent workshops to help more students pass standardized achievement tests. In some cases, schools try to familiarize parents with the content, format, and uses of the standardized tests. For example, Hammocks Middle School and Leisure City K-8 Center organized events that gave parents an overview of the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test (FCAT), offered subject-matter instruction, encouraged parents to answer sample questions from the test, and provided time for parents to ask questions. As a result, family members better understood the purpose of the test, experienced what it is like to take the FCAT, and learned more about how they might help their children succeed.
In Ohio, the Action Team for Partnerships at Collinwood Computech Senior High School invited tenth graders and their parents to classes about the Tenth-Grade Exit Exam. During the Saturday workshops, teens and their parents played learning games together and received test preparation materials. The workshops familiarized parents with the test their children must pass to graduate, and provided resources to help students practice for the exit exam at home.
Attention to test-taking skills does not reduce the need for schools to help parents support their children's development of skills measured on achievement tests. Dearborn Park Elementary School in Seattle, WA created an after-school program that helped prepare fourth graders for the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL). While students received extra instruction, family members attended classes to learn about the state test. Students also received interactive homework that required them to talk with a family member about the academic content they were learning in order to reinforce their understanding of the material. The school noted that students in this program improved their performance on the reading, writing, and math sections of the WASL.
Providing parents with a better understanding of what their children are learning is important. Based on parent survey feedback, Meadow Glens Elementary School in Naperville, IL implemented Fourth- and Fifth-Grade Math Nights. Teachers conducted a typical math lesson for parents. Parents then completed math problems and compared their work to their children's. The instruction provided some training in advance so that parents could more effectively help their children practice the required math skills.
Because achievement tests have become a primary indicator of student learning and school effectiveness, familiarizing parents with these tests is an important goal of school partnership programs. However, focusing partnership programs on parents' awareness of tests without giving equal attention to children's academic skills diminishes the potential benefits for students. For other activities that help parents understand achievement tests and develop students' academic skills, see recent editions of Promising Partnership Practices by visiting www.partnershipschools.org and clicking on "In the Spotlight."