Ahh…spring is in the air! Flowers are blooming, breathe in that fresh air, and then…

Wait, what?

Did someone say…test prep?

Sigh.

Sigh again.

Deep breath in. Deep breath out.

I understand. I get it. I’ve been there. It’s inevitable.

In complete transparency, I have witnessed (and continue to witness) some completely wackadoo (keeping this a family-friendly blog) stuff out there.

In an effort to rescue us from the zombie-like fog of test prep that sweeps through schools every spring, I’m taking to the blog to share my top 5 tips so that we can move on with our lives in ways that bring us joy.

Tip #1 - The BEST test prep is to raise readers, writers, and thinkers

The only way to get better at doing something is to do it a LOT.

And I don't mean test prep - I mean READING, WRITING, and THINKING.

Authentic reading, writing, and thinking will serve students better than any test prep program or worksheet. We’ve got oodles of research that show us students who have authentic independent reading lives do better on tests.

Take a look for yourself: according to Scholastic Publishers, if a child reads for 20 minutes a day, they will be exposed to 1.8 million words per year and likely to score in the 90th percentile on standardized tests.

Students from low-income households who have access to books during the summer break outscore and outperform students from high-income households who have access to books. (Perhaps we also want to rethink the approach to summer school, hmm?)

chart showing how access to books in the summer helps students

Imagine if, starting from the very first day of school, students are given 20 minutes daily to read independently.

Let’s be clear. This is not round-robin reading, choral reading, call and response reading, or even “listening to my teacher” reading. This looks like students reading independently by themselves, reading a book they have chosen, that they can and want to read.

That means - they can read (decode) with high (95% - 98%) levels of accuracy, read fluently, comprehend the text, and - most importantly - LIKE and ENJOY the book!

Let’s apply some logic:

Most students would perform well on a standardized test if the test text they were reading was more accessible to them and at a level they could comprehend.
Most students would be able to answer questions correctly about a text(s) they understand.
If the test text is a higher level than students understand at the beginning of the year - the way to get them closer to more complex levels near the time of testing is to give them time to read daily in school.

Let’s imagine we started the first day of school with 20 minutes of daily independent reading through May (which is typically when testing is scheduled).

I’ve estimated the testing window at approximately the 160th day of school.

That equates to approximately 3,200 minutes (or 53 hours) of independent reading.

chart showing test scores increase as reading hours increase

With a commitment to prioritizing daily independent reading, I guarantee that students will grow as readers and be at a higher reading level in May when test season arrives.

Quick win, right? Does it happen? Not always…

Most classrooms schedule reading time as a whole-class novel experience, or students round-robin reading the same text, or students holding a text that has been given to them, and often is difficult and causes frustration, ultimately ending in a shutdown.

When this “not so independent reading” happens, often the results are classrooms full of students who identify themselves as “not a reader” and avoid it altogether.

The result: a plummet into a no reading zone, falling further and further from the level of the test text - not to mention losing out on a lifetime of reading and all the benefits that accompany it.

Recap - Prioritize at least 20 minutes of daily, independent reading where students select books they can and want to read. With all of that reading, perhaps you’ll need to freshen up your classroom library. Stay tuned for a few tips on this, and in the meantime, check out this resource.

Tip #2 - Be a Test Taker

Take the test yourself.

Ask your colleagues to join you in taking the test. While you are taking it, pay attention to what you notice, and what it asks you to do.

Here are a few categories to consider collecting first-hand research on:

Technology
Literacy - Reading
Literacy - Writing
Test-Taking Techniques
Mindset

What skills and strategies did you use to be successful at reading the passage on a screen? Answering a question in a text box? Keyboarding and typing? What reading skills did you need to use?

For example:

Did you synthesize information to find the main idea in a nonfiction text?
Were you asked to read texts that were in different genres and understand the structure of each?
What did you notice about how the directions were worded?
What information was given to you in the directions?
Could you use words from the directions and the texts in your written answers?
What techniques did you use to remain calm and alert?

After you take the test, schedule time with your colleagues to unpack your experience. Use the above categories to help you name the specific skill sets students need to perform well.

Then, think of how you can incorporate these skill sets throughout the year in subtle ways that, when compounded over time, will set kids up for success on the test.

Recap: Take the test and pay attention to the skills and strategies required to be successful.

Pro Tip: Consider scheduling a staff meeting or PLC study early in the fall for every teacher - even non-testing grades (i.e. kinder, first, second) - to take the test. After everyone takes it, discuss through lines of the current curriculum that - when taught well - will support students in being successful when applied to tests.

Tip #3 - Mindset and Messaging

Let’s avoid villainizing the test. If we carry anxiety for the test, our anxiety will read to students.

Instead, frame this as an opportunity to show all that we know, how we’ve grown, and how we appreciate the growth that results from overcoming a challenge.

Be sure to connect with caregivers and give them similar language to use at home. If you notice students are experiencing anxiety or test-day jitters, consider conducting conversations that normalize these feelings.

Perhaps read aloud a text with a character facing big, intense emotions and discuss how they use those emotions to overcome a challenge.

One particular character that comes to mind is Jabari, in the story Jabari Jumps. One of my favorite parts of this story is when Jabari’s dad recognized the intense (and perhaps a bit nervous and scared) emotions that Jabari is feeling as he faces trying something new.

“It’s okay to feel scared,” said his dad. “Sometimes, if I feel a little scared, I take a deep breath and tell myself I am ready. And you know what? Sometimes it stops feeling scary and feels a little like a surprise.” Jabari loved surprises. - Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall

Mindful Moment - Consider reading aloud texts (or listening to podcasts) with a variety of characters who overcome a challenge with persistence, courage, and determination (often by using those big emotions as a catalyst).

Ask students to jot their favorite quote from a book. Write it on a sticky note, or a piece of paper, and hang them around the classroom. These can serve as daily reminders and affirmations of our strength and courage and the normality of experiencing butterflies when we try new things.

Check out more from my bestie Gravity Goldberg and me talking about the differences between anxiety and nerves here from our latest resource Teacher’s Toolkit for Independent Reading.

What are the takeaways you might think about in your own teaching practice? Can you imagine linking this concept to students in developing their confidence as readers, writers, thinkers, and test-takers?

Sticky Note Challenge - To help you and your colleagues with mindset, perhaps you want to listen in or take a look at the Sticky Note Challenge I began with my good friend and colleague, Brooke Geller. Imagine if, during your next staff gathering, you each shared an important mantra for yourself this spring.

How can we support one another in creating conditions of joy in our teaching and learning? Joy in learning is contagious. As teachers, we have an opportunity to model joy in being the lead learner for students in our community.

Tip #4 - Year-Long Subtle Test Prep

Now that you really know the test (see Tip #2), you can start to design teaching that subtly includes test prep throughout the entire year in ways that preserve the integrity of your curriculum map of teaching reading, writing, and thinking without having to succumb completely to 100% test taking.

To be successful at reading and understanding fiction texts, you need a plethora of skills and strategies to help you think about the characters in the texts, their relationships, and how to analyze those characters.

Prioritize reading fiction and studying characters

We often think about and analyze characters as a pathway to interpret themes and big ideas from books. Test-takers set up readers to apply this thinking in tests. Knowing this, I’m going to make sure that in my year-long curriculum map, I’ve prioritized teaching an entire cycle of study on reading fiction and studying characters.

Two, I’m going to select read aloud texts during this study and design teaching by thinking aloud comprehension and thinking patterns fiction readers use to identify and build theories about characters. I’m also going to model how I write about this thinking in my Teacher’s Reading Notebook.

Create your own test prep questions for practice

Next, (here’s the subtle test teaching part…) I’m also going to engineer my own “homegrown” test prep questions throughout the read that set up students to practice these thinking patterns through their discussion in their partnerships, and whole-class collaborative conversations.

Occasionally, (here’s a bit more subtle test teaching tucked in) I’ll create a written question connected to the read aloud text that looks very similar to those found on standardized tests. I’ll borrow test jargon and test maker’s buzzwords to design the question - but instead of the question being about a random test passage, it will be designed about a familiar read aloud text.

Model the test questions during read aloud & integrate them into a routine

During read aloud time, I’ll teach this subtle test-taking technique by modeling a step-by-step process for answering someone else’s (the test maker) question.

For example, I’ll start by modeling how I first read the question. Then I analyze what it’s asking, and finally how to formulate a response. Then, I’ll model how to incorporate all the previous thinking I modeled, as well as what we have done together as a class in both our conversations and from my Teacher’s Reading Notebook.

thinking bubble with question mark inside graphic

This experience then becomes part of a daily habit we have built - reading aloud a text and thinking about it. Students are open to the experience and because we haven’t announced, “We’re working on TEST PREP…” It’s a common routine.

The minute we as teachers announce “test taking”, student anxiety often kicks in and brains shift away from any sort of learning because the glucose needed for learning in the brain has shifted to an effort of handling anxiety, rather than being open to an extended conversation about a text that is meaningful to the community.

Can you imagine starting the year in August with this subtle test prep? Over time, students see over and over again a process for reading, thinking, and writing about a text. It remains subtle test prep because it hasn’t been deemed “test prep instruction”, but rather part of the thinking we do in our everyday read aloud.

Wait…there’s more!

I can also design Shared Reading sessions with subtle test prep. Last, but certainly not least, I pay attention to the language I use in my daily conferring with readers and writers. I often teach by naming for students the work they are doing, using terms that readers and writers use and that will also (most likely) show up on standardized tests.

For example, when I confer with readers about the thinking they are doing in their independent reading - and they are discussing a theory they have about a character they have met - I often mirror this for them by naming it for them in a way they can replicate it with a subtle nudge towards test-taking jargon.

It might sound like this, “Wow! You are really adding your own thinking to this story…you’re reading the words, you’re thinking about them, and you’ve developed a theory about the character - another way to name this work you are doing is to say you are inferring - you are thinking about it in your own way!”

Imagine weekly conversations with student readers and writers that name their work in ways that not only elevate their understanding of their independent reading and writing but also set them up for success when linked to a testing situation.

Recap: Design subtle teaching throughout the year that incorporates skills and strategies students will need to be successful on tests:

Curriculum Mapping: A balance of both fiction and nonfiction reading cycles of study across the year
Interactive Read Aloud: Plan interactive read aloud to model thinking patterns, writing about reading, and answering questions
Shared Reading: Design a session or two that tucks in an opportunity to model reading and thinking through test-taking jargon and then model a process for answering those questions.

Conferring with Readers: Naming comprehension work using test buzzwords while conferring with readers

Tip #5 - Specific Test Prep Boot Camps

Well-designed teaching throughout the year will help students become successful readers and writers. Toss in a bit of subtle test prep along the way, and they’ll thrive without even realizing it’s also going to help them be successful on tests.

Last (for now), but certainly not least, to help students demystify more test-specific strategies, consider planning for short bursts of test prep teaching throughout the year in what I call “Test Prep Boot Camps.”

Too often, I see the integrity of quality teaching fall victim to the zombie fog of test taking. Instead, we spend half of the year giving students practice tests that result in zero to little change. This translates to the grim picture of students receiving a practice test while their teacher sits at a desk ready to “grade” the test.

Can we all agree these test practice scenarios are void of teaching and cause students to experience high levels of anxiety?

Also, what happens if the test format changes and all that test-taking drill work goes right down the drain?

Spoiler Alert: Not effective at all.

What if instead, we designated a few days in our curriculum calendars following each cycle of study to help students experience how those skills and strategies translate into successful test taking.

For example, design a 15 - 20 day study to teach fiction reading skills and strategies focused on understanding and thinking about the characters in those books.

Next, build in 3-5 days of “Boot Camp” after the study to teach students test-taking strategies - but in the exact same genre, in this case, fiction. The test students take in your region may or may not look exactly what I’m describing here - but that’s not the point.

We want to teach students throughout the year how to transfer the authentic strategies they’ve been using with books of their choosing and apply them to any scenario - even when they do not get to select the text they are reading or the topic they are writing about.

Nitty Gritty: This might mean duplicating a few short stories, and designing a few test-taking questions that match the genre of the previous cycle of study (ex. Fiction). Each day of “Boot Camp”, teach a brief lesson on how to use the skills and strategies of a (fiction) reader in ways that set up students to be successful test takers.

In these lessons you are designing teaching that supports students with:

Dealing with Difficulty – What do I do when I don’t understand something?
Managing Mindfulness – What’s my plan for staying focused?
Test-Taking Techniques – How do I unpack the question?, etc.

Finally, remember those lenses from Tip #2 when you sat in the test-taking seat. Incorporate that information here in your Boot Camps.

When designing this teaching, you might ask yourself a few of these questions:

Technology Techniques: How can I incorporate more experiences with navigating the technology for test taking?

Test-Taking Tips and Tricks: What’s a replicable process I can model as a test taker that students can transfer to their test-taking toolkits?

Mindset: What’s the language I can use to model navigating the ebb and flow of emotions in a test-taking scenario?

Wrapping It up

Let’s get back to that spring fresh air. Go for a walk, take it all in.

Be a test taker
- Take the test. Ask your colleagues to join you in taking the test. While you are taking the test, pay attention to what you notice about the test, and what it calls on you to do.
Manage your mindset
- Let’s avoid villainizing the test. If we carry anxiety for the test, that will certainly read to students.
Prep all year long
- Make sure that in your year-long curriculum map, you’ve prioritized teaching entire cycles of study on skills and strategies that support authentic reading, writing, and thinking across text types and genre studies.
Test-prep boot camp
- Build in 3-5 days of “Boot Camp” after your 15-20 day cycles of study to teach students test-taking strategies in the same genre students experienced as readers, writers, and thinkers.

And remember,

The best prep is to raise readers, writers, and thinkers
- Authentic reading, writing, and thinking will actually serve students better than any test prep program or worksheet.