We teachers do our best to prepare our students for standardized tests, college entrance exams, college programs, the work force, and anything and everything in between. It can sometimes be overwhelming to acknowledge all that we plan to do in one school year. Most states have general frameworks and competencies that teachers are expected to cover in their classrooms. There are many ways to cover the set curriculum and technology (being one of them) thankfully affords today’s teachers with a world of resources at our fingertips
The school where I teach subscribes to an internet tutorial program that is intended to help improve students’ scores on standardized tests. USATestprep is currently available in fourteen states nationwide and is coming soon to two more states. The website offers specific tutorials based on the state tests for each individual state. Students and teachers each receive log-in information. Teachers have access to streamlined lesson plans, worksheets, puzzles, and much more. Students create a profile and the website emails teachers the individual scores of their students. Students can take diagnostic tests and quizzes. They can also complete a number of activities online. There are games where students can compete with each other in activities that review your state’s framework. Once students are in the USATestprep system, teachers can pull data from their quiz and test scores to see weak areas as well as areas of improvement. This website will even export your students’ scores and data to a Microsoft Excel database for you.
I’ve only been using this website for the past several months but have already discovered endless possibilities. If this program is available in your state I highly recommend it. If your school district doesn’t already subscribe to it, get in touch with the curriculum director and ask them to check it out. It is just as important to cover all aspects of the curriculum as it is to present the curriculum in innovative ways to students. This website works wonderfully to provide supplementary material when preparing for the standardized tests as well as for one’s lesson plansl. Check it out!
