Even though our educational community is moving toward engaged learning, the fact remains that standardized tests continue to be administered in our schools, and are used to evaluate student and school performance.

The purpose of these resources is to help the educator gain and/or refine their understanding of standardized tests and to help them better achieve the goal of assessment: better instruction and student learning.

It is interesting to note that there are some who question standardized tests. In Preparing Students To Take Standardized Achievement Tests. ERIC Digest, (http://ericae.net/db/digs/ed314427.htm) the author William A. Mehrens, discusses why we give standardized tests and the ethical implications of teaching the test. He quotes W. A Mehrens,. and J. Kaminski, (1989) from their article "Methods for Improving Standardized Test Scores: Fruitful, Fruitless or Fraudulent?" Educational Measurement: Issues and Practices, 8 (1), 14-22 stating that providing practice or instruction on a published parallel form of the same test; and providing practice or instruction on the test itself is never ethical. Still, there are many resources available to help parents and teachers to assist their students success on standardized tests, some of which are parallel forms.

Much information about standardized testing with many resources can be found at
http://ericae.net/nintbod.htm. This site provides information on varied forms of achievement to include standardized testing but also including alternative assessment, computer assisted testing and automated essay scoring. Also, the Scoring Guide for Student Products was created to evaluate the content knowledge and the effective use of technology in communicating ideas and information that is evident in the products that students create with computers. Check out Using Scoring Guides vs. Rubrics to understand the scope of a scoring guide.

While there are many standardized tests available and at various levels, since our group was made up of middle-school teachers, the bulk of the test preparation resources will be centered on elementary level instruction.

One excellent source of information relating to assessment is found at Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators. There is a specific area related to assessment and rubric information which can be found at http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/assess.html.

The Illinois State Board of Education site has invaluable information relating to various Illinois State assessments used. There is specific information relating to each Illinois Standardized Test on the Illinois State Board of Education site. This particular site is maintained by the Assessments Division which is responsible for developing and administering tests that measure the performance of students and schools against the Illinois Learning Standards. (http://www.isbe.net/assessment/) This link also provides educators with sample test items from the various subject areas on the tests. Another invaluable resource this site provides teachers with is a section which advises how to link curriculum, assessment and instruction. For example, if you go to the link concerning writing http://www.isbe.net/assessment/writing.htm and then to Linking Assessment and Instruction PowerPoint Presentation (http://www.isbe.net/assessment/writingCAIppt_files/frame.htm), you will get information relating to how one can best prepare students to succeed in the writing portion of the test. Similar links are provided for reading, mathematics, science, social science, physical development and health, and fine arts. Yet another invaluable resource can be found at http://tp1.clearlearning.com/ISBE/

A summary source of information relating to the development and use of Illinois State standardized tests can be found at http://www.isbe.net/board/meetings/sept01meeting/Overview%20of%20State%20Assessment.pdf. This site gives a rather comprehensive overview and history of the use of standardized testing and the development of Illinois Learning Goals.

The Illinois School Improvement Web site contains resources regarding the Illinois Standards Achievement Test to include rubrics and sample guides for the ISAT tests. http://206.166.105.86/vision/rubric_links.asp It also provides resources to help students improve by subject area and topic, linked to standards. These resources can be accessed through the following link: http://206.166.105.86/knowledge/index.asp

The North Central Regional Education Laboratory offers a very interesting article Critical Issue: Using Technology to Improve Student Achievement at http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/methods/technlgy/te800.htm

The American Guidance Service offers (for a price) test preparation software. They state: “Use AGS test preparation materials to ensure your students are ready for the important standardized tests they have to take this year. Whether your classroom requirements call for traditional, paper-based materials or test preparation software, look to AGS for the resources to meet your needs.” Their web site is: http://www.agsnet.com/Markets.asp?sMarketCode=3

Another source of practice tests is available through http://www.learningshortcuts.com/new1reviewsa.html For a fee, you or your classroom could access reviews in various subjects and for standardized tests. The url which gives one access to the subscription information and a test drive is http://www.learningshortcuts.com/new1Buy.html.

The following link gives ideas from parents as to how to help students succeed on standardized tests: http://familyeducation.com/whatworks/item/nogroup-index/0,3002,1-11915,00.html?relinks.

Emerging Technologies (emTech) offers many, many links to topics relating to assessments at this url: http://www.emtech.net/assess.htm.

The American Association of School Administrators site http://www.aasa.org/issues_and_insights/assessment/ lists various sites with information on assessments and standards that are useful to administrators, educators, and parents. As an example of just one of the many resources posted for parents is a resource site for parents to help understand standardized testing which is available at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/schools/etc/guide.html. This site also educates parents regarding resources to help their child succeed on standardized tests.

How do promising schools in Texas get results? A summary version of how this is done is found at http://www.just4kids.org/US/pdf/PP_OSummary.pdf. This site offers strategies for effective teaching skills necessary for student success on standardized tests.

Using the Edhelper.com site, one could perform a search for standardized testing which results in a great number of sites. These include: Pronoun Worksheets! at http://www.edhelper.com/language/Pronouns.htm
, Language Arts and Grammar Worksheets! at http://www.edhelper.com/language/language.html, Number Puzzles! at http://www.edhelper.com/number_puzzle.htm, Standardized Test Prep for Grade Four! At http://www.mathtestprep.com/testprep_grade4.html, Standardized Test Prep for Grade Five! At http://www.mathtestprep.com/testprep_grade5.html, and PBS TeacherSource - Mathline - Assessment Suggestions at
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/mathline/assessment/external.shtm

If one were to go to a site such as SmarterKids.com and use the keywords “standardized tests” to search for test preparation software, one would find many toys, books, games, music/videos, and software programs designed to assess and assist students in preparation for standardized testing.

At http://www.educate.com/online/testing.html, Sylvan Learning Systems, Inc. offers parents a site with a collection of resources that will help them and their child understand and prepare for important standardized tests. They also offer opportunites to subscribe to an online tutoring program.

At http://www.homeroom.com/printed_tests/index.asp?track=02 the Princeton Review offers sample tests to educators including the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS), California Standards- Based Assessment, Virginia Standards of Learning (VA SOL), New York State Testing Program, Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT), and Stanford Achievement Test, Ninth Edition® (SAT 9)

There are additional sites that offer preparation for standardized tests. These concentrate on test preparation above the elementary level:

Kaplan Test Prep (http://www.kaptest.com) offers coverage of standardized tests and admissions procedures for a broad variety of graduate and professional programs; a free demonstration of its online GRE preparation software; and, advice on financial aid processes.

Educational Testing Service (ETS) (http://www.ets.org) offers free mini assessments and/or practice test questions which can be accessed through the individual tests.

At TestPrep.com (http://www.testprep.com/), Stanford Testing Systems, Inc., offers free, online skills development lessons and relatively low cost software for preparation for the SAT.