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The Educator’s Ultimate Guide to Preparing for High-Stakes Testing

Oct 23, 2023
Guide to high stakes testing

Although it may feel like high-stakes testing is ages away, you’d be surprised how quickly it approaches. Between making sure that you are staying on pace with curriculum guides, practicing test-taking procedures and strategies, and providing the targeted preparation and reinforcement individual students need, time will fly, and state testing can quickly begin to feel overwhelming.

The good news is that a little research and planning can go a long way toward ensuring that you’re able to provide the support students need to be successful on their state assessments. So, take a deep breath—we’ve gathered some of our top resources on test preparation to help you do just that.

Classroom Practice Tips, Tricks, and Best Practices

Test prep doesn’t have to dominate your classroom agenda in the spring. By utilizing formative assessment strategies and making the most of practice testing, teachers can provide students with individualized support without sacrificing time from the standard curriculum (and of course, some fun!). Check out these resources to get started.

Four Last-Minute Strategies to Prepare Your Students for High-Stakes Testing

In this article, we dive into some practical tips for preparing students for high-stakes assessments, emphasizing the importance of focusing on test-taking strategies and alleviating anxiety rather than cramming content.

5 Proven Ways to Get the Most Out of Practice Testing

The old adage “practice makes perfect” is a familiar turn of phrase for a reason. Ensure that you’re getting the most out of every minute your students are spending on practice testing.

Marzano-Validated Best Practices for Online Learning

The Edmentum research team partnered with Marzano Research to conduct a peer review of research that Edmentum conducted for the classroom practice and assessment program, Study Island. Marzano confirmed our findings about the effectiveness of Study Island, and their work helped uncover four best practices to help students get the most out of online learning.

Testing Tips for Administrators, Educators, and Parents

No matter the exact situation, testing is a stressful process. But successful test taking, beyond content knowledge, is also a skill that can be taught, acquired, and mastered. Here are some of our best general test-taking tips to help ensure upcoming state assessments go as smoothly as possible.

8 Tips for Parents to Help Your Child Prepare for High-Stakes Tests

Parents and other caregivers are critical to every student’s education journey. So, get them involved in the test preparation process! Share these eight simple tips with parents to help them support their learners on testing days.

Teacher Tips: Getting Ready for Testing


Whether you’re a testing-season veteran or a first-year teacher ready to take on testing in your classroom for the first time, it’s easy to get stressed out when testing season rolls around. To help make this time of year a little easier on you, we’ve put together a few educator-approved tips for getting your classroom and your students ready to rock testing this year.

Looking for more effective strategies to enhance your school's testing season experience? Explore our resources and tips on fostering a resilient school culture that supports student success and well-being during this critical time.

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