rewarding good test scores

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Permalink Reply by PTA Administrator on July 13, 2009 at 11:29am

Excellent topic, Crystal. Here are a few resources on PTA.org that might be helpful.

Facts about educational testing: http://www.pta.org/2553.htm

Using rewards wisely: http://www.pta.org/2616.htm

For more information and resources, the Topics area of the website contains "Homework Help" and "Helping Students Achieve" sections under the Student Success category.

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Permalink Reply by Carissa Dollar on July 15, 2009 at 9:51pm

Instead for rewards afterwards for achievement, would your school consider something done BEFORE the test to boost confidence?

Our Principal went around and talked to staff and parents and made a video to show the kids prior to testing that had words of encouragement on it from everyone. He got our staff shirts with positive messages on it like "stay calm" or "think clearly" and "take a bite out of ISTEP" (we're bulldogs and it had a mascot on it). The kids are usually given a special pencil by the principal prior to the start of the test.

Then DURING the testing week, the kids who are testing all get snacks every day.

This year, right after the fall testing, the ENTIRE school (even grades who don't test) got to participate in a "Colts Junior Training Camp" as a fun activity. It was more of a fun, stress reliever kind of thing than a performance based reward.

Another possibility might be to reward kids for having perfect attendance during testing week.

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Permalink Reply by Sheila Davis on July 18, 2009 at 8:16am

Crystal,
I do agree with you, I would also feel like we were putting more pressure on the children to preform. That week of testing is stressful on the children. I was one of those children who studied and studied and "knew" the information. The day of testing, I froze and my mind went blank. :( I wish I had better advice or even a suggestion for you, but all I can do is agree with you on this one... Good luck...

Sheila Davis

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Permalink Reply by Catherine Romano on July 28, 2009 at 9:03pm

State profciency tests are intended to assess how the school is doing - teaching all children to proficency. And I agree some children are test shy. My recommendations are offering a variety of recognitions - reward effort, character trait demonstrations, volunteering, athletics, arts etc. Enough so childen see life is full of different types of competancies and all contribute to success. I also believe too much emphasis before the assessment, stated in class or feeling in the hallway raises stress. Look at what fun learning activities can be added during test week or prep weeks. Do a rally of support and offer children pencils with positive messages on day of test, offer healthy breakfast or lunch before the test too. So it is a "you can do your best day". Self recognition is the best reward and the kids know it already.

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Permalink Reply by PTA Administrator on August 13, 2009 at 3:14pm

This might not help so much with the idea of a reward for good test scores, but PTA just posted an article from Porject Appleseed on how parents can help their kids with standardized tests. Check out this tip sheet.

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Permalink Reply by Jenn Jaskula on September 22, 2009 at 12:31pm

Great New program that has been developed with helping the students achieve on testing (www.learn2earn.com), My kids are loving it and truth that I am as well- they are excited to go online and answer the questions( quizzes) and for every question they get right they earn points for prizes ( raffles kind of like a tricky tray for kids) Amazingly they are aking to play and love the characters.

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Permalink Reply by Beth Verlanic on September 28, 2009 at 12:40pm

Our PTA tries to help give the students motivation and aids to help them with the tests -- I should say test taking skills.

We decorate the school with posters with test taking tips. Students receive little treats -- last year we gave "special test taking pencils" and bookmarks with calming messages.

In addition, we typically provide a small snack as a treat for the students to eat just prior to taking their tests and a piece of sugar free hard candy to suck on during the test as research shows these can help students perform better.

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Permalink Reply by Lorie Moffat on October 6, 2009 at 1:00pm

In our school, the principal started a "Student of the Month" program. Each month, a particular high school department nominated a student from each grade to be the student of the month. Each department chose the criteria for selection.

The nominated students were visited by the school mascot in their class. The students' pictures were displayed in school's main office.

This was an overall recognition program, not directly proficiency test related.

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Permalink Reply by ong lee on October 14, 2009 at 10:43pm

This will be my first year joining the PTA group at my kid’s school and my first thought was to develop a reward program that would encourage all kids to work hard toward their class work. With this said, I'm thinking about asking the teachers to turn in quiz or test that score 90% or higher to the PTA and their will be a drawing either once a month or quarterly to have lunch with the principal vs. using the proficiency test scores. Do you think this will be a good idea?

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