As we approach the end of the school year and our scholars take state and federally mandated tests, parents often wonder why scholars are required to take these end of year exams. TEA requires all public-school students in grades K-12, to take STAAR tests, but Uplift also uses these tests as a data point to measure overall scholar growth.
At the end of April and beginning of May, Scholars in grades 3-8 the STAAR to measure their knowledge of the essential skills they will need for the following school year. Fifth and eighth graders are required to pass the STAAR for entry into middle school and high school. Fortunately, scholars have covered the content found on the STAAR as part of their coursework throughout the school year.
Parents often wonder how they can best prepare their children for standardized tests, so we have provided 7 straight-A steps families can take to help scholars do their best.
- Attendance (when possible) – Every day is a new opportunity to learn and make connections to essential knowledge and skills.
- Ask – Check with your child’s teacher to see if there was content that was especially challenging for your child and ask for strategies or tools to review the content at home.
- Area to study at home – A distraction-free space for homework and study time will help your scholar focus and retain information.
- A good night’s sleep – Make sure your scholar gets plenty of sleep the night before a test – late night cramming actually hurts a scholar’s ability to retain knowledge!
- Amazing breakfast – Just like a car, the brain needs fuel to work. Healthy breakfast has been associated with better memory, improved attention span and higher test scores.
- Avoid added stress – This isn’t an excuse for children to not complete their chores, but unnecessary stress can be detrimental to learning.
- Assist them and remind them to do their best!
Upcoming STAAR dates are as follows:
| Tuesday, May 7th | Algebra 1 |
| Wednesday, May 8th | US History
Biology |
| Monday, May 13th | 3rd Math
4th Math 5th Math 6th Math 7th Math 8th Math |
| Tuesday, May 14th | 3rd Reading
4th Reading 5th Reading 6th Reading 7th Reading 8th Reading |
| Wednesday, May 15th | 5th Science
8th Science |
| Thursday, May 16th | 8th Social Studies |
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