Friday, March 12th will be a different kind of Friday for Erie High School students. 9th, 10th and 11th graders will be taking a practice standardized test at home through Schoology. 9th graders will prepare for the PSAT (grade 9). 10th graders will prepare for the grade 10 PSAT and juniors will prepare for the SAT. This is a practice test; it is not one of the official PSAT/SAT testing dates. Students will read the questions from a .pdf on Schoology and enter their answers in Schoology. They will get results immediately with feedback about why the incorrect answers they chose were incorrect. EHS practices these standardized tests because survey data has let us know that students feel better prepared prior to taking the actual tests. Practicing the test in a low-stakes environment helps reduce test anxiety for our students. The more practice they get, the less anxiety they feel.
Taking the practice test should be simple. The practice tests will be in Schoology. Students will need to access both the questions (on a .pdf) and the answer form in Schoology. Here is a short video that shows students the various ways they can take the practice test depending on their technology situation at home. It’s important to remember that test results may not mean what you think they mean. For more information see this page. The test should take approximately 3 to 4 hours to complete. It is recommended students begin the test no later than 9:00am in order to complete the test before the end of the day. However, we understand some of our families will schedule appointments on Friday in order to avoid missing class time Monday through Thursday. If your student needs additional time to complete the test they may do so without you calling in to excuse them on Friday. Students are not required to have the test completed by a certain time on Friday. Students should; however, have the test completed prior to Monday.
Seniors will be working on their Individual Career & Academic Plans (ICAPs). All instructions for seniors will be in Schoology. These are a graduation requirement and seniors need to have them completed prior to graduation. Other seniors will be required to attend a study hall to improve their grade for a class they need for graduation but are currently failing.
These activities are part of the regular school curriculum and are mandatory for all EHS students. We will track attendance based on the completion of the practice tests (for 9th – 11th graders) and the completion of the ICAP for seniors. Thank you for supporting your student as they complete these important activities this week.