Last year’s practice testing had a dramatic affect on Erie High School’s students’ growth. After students arrive at school at 10:15am on Wednesday, February 5th (Late Start Day), they will be taking a practice assessment to help them prepare for the State-required assessments they will take in the Spring.
Colorado has aligned the standardized assessments high school students take in the spring. In the spring of 2019, freshmen will take the 8/9 PSAT, sophomores will take the PSAT, and juniors will take the SAT. We work hard to prepare our students to be as successful as possible on these standardized assessments. Test anxiety and unfamiliarity with these assessments are frequently cited by students as key obstacles to high performance. The student surveys from last year indicate that a large majority of EHS students believe that frequent practice improves their performance on the official assessment in the spring.
For this reason, we are providing our freshmen, sophomores, and juniors with the second of two practice assessments in a low stakes environment; we believe this will improve both their confidence and their performance. As a school, we will analyze the results from these assessments and use them to help steer our course toward the next levels of academic excellence.
In the Fall, students created a College Board account. This account will help our students use the Daily Practice app work a little at a time to improve their scores with personalized practice on the areas that need the most improvement.
9th – 11th graders should bring their iPads, a water bottle, a snack and a hoodie (if taking the test in the gym) on Wednesday, February 6th and NOT bring their backpacks or other technology.
Seniors will be able to use Wednesday, February 6th as a day to study, catch up on class work, or work on college admissions essays in the library or junior senior lounge. (Seniors may work at home if they have parents excuse them for the half day.) Students taking Front Range Community College are encouraged to attend class that day so they don’t miss class. We can provide these students with the materials they need to practice on their own time.
As approach the Spring testing date we will provide opportunities for students to learn about their relative strengths and work on their areas of potential growth so they may achieve at the highest levels.