The dates for this year's benchmark exams are quickly approaching for Faulkner County students in grades three through eight and local teachers, and parents, have been helping them prepare.
The exams will be a little different this year, according to Sloan Powell, media specialist at Simon Intermediate. She said this test is now referred to as the augmented benchmark exam and it is a combination of a criterion-referenced and a norm-referenced exam, meaning the scores will measure a students' knowledge against both the content and the scores of other students.
The tests will be given Monday, April 14, through Friday, April 18, and the questions come from the Arkansas state frameworks and subjects students have been studying in the classroom the entire school year, according to Powell.
"Every day of instruction prepares them for this test," Powell said Friday. "Every day they're here, they are preparing and they are learning."
Although the students are already preparing in terms of content, schools across Conway have been holding family nights to get in a little extra practice and learn exactly what the test will look like.
Family members of Simon Intermediate students were invited to the school Thursday night to test their own knowledge to see if they were smarter than a fifth- or sixth-grader.
"When the students came in they were each sent to a station, either science, math or literacy, and then, using released Benchmark questions and answers, they competed against their family members and the students won," Powell said.
After the competition ended, Powell said all the students and parents came together to hear the school's math and literacy coaches talk about the benchmark exam so the parents could get a better understanding of what students should expect. She also said the parents were given tips on how to make sure students perform their best on the test, which included getting a good night's sleep and eating a balanced breakfast each morning.
"One of the things I heard during the event that resonated with me was one coach was making a parallel between the test and an important athletic event or musical performance by saying you really need to be able to be rested and focus your energy and be excited about it," Powell said. "You want to do your best on in it and we all have to let the students be confident in that they have prepared and let them know that they're going to do their very best."
According to Powell, it is always good for parents to know what their children are doing in school, and another Conway school held an informational meeting for parents Thursday as well. Several Bob Courtway parents gathered at the school Thursday to hear information about the upcoming benchmark exams, according to Lisa Oates, seventh-grader counselor.
"We give them samples of literacy open response questions and some math samples to let them see what the kids will actually be taking," Oates said before the event. "We also show things we've been teaching them this year, give them some test-taking tips and we also have a question and answer session for parents if they have any concerns."
One of the biggest concerns parents have about these tests is what the scores actually mean for their children, Oates said.
"They want to know what happens if their child doesn't score proficient and if the child scores basic or below basic, he or she will receive interventions the following school year," Oates said. "For instance we may focus on literacy with extra classes, different teaching techniques or after school or before school tutoring."
Test anxiety is another issue parents usually want to learn about before their students take the test and Oates said preparing throughout the year is important to reduce a student's anxiety.
"They need to come to the test prepared and parents should also be making sure throughout the year that they are checking students' homework, looking at their test grades and their chunk test scores, which correlate to the benchmarks," Oates said.
When parents know exactly what is going on in school, it not only gives them a chance to help prepare the child, it also gives the child the best opportunities, according to Oates.
"Sometimes if they're not familiar with what's going on, parents will schedule dentist appointments and doctor appointments and that interrupts with flow of the testing," Oates said. "Then they'll have to do make-up testing and that takes place in a different environment and we want to make sure they're in the best environment to do their best."
(Staff writer Jessica Bauer can be reached by e-mail at jessica.bauer@thecabin.net or by phone at 505-1236. To comment on this and other stories in the Log Cabin, log on to www.thecabin.net. Send us your news at www.thecabin.net/submit)
