Plan Ahead to Make Testing Days Run Smoothly

Hi!  I'm Nicole Chavanne from Learning Lab!  I am so happy to be a part of this collaborative blog with some amazing educators.  I have learned so much in the short time since we launched and look forward to learning more!

One topic that has been talked about over and over is testing.  I am not going to tell you my opinions on testing, but I am going to tell you a simple way that I found to make preparing for testing days, and not just high-stakes tests, much easier.  

I'm a bit of a Last-Minute-Lucy.  In the past, I spent the morning of a classroom test scrambling around to group kids together with adults and gather the supplies needed for the assessment.  It seemed like I was reinventing the wheel each time!  I knew something had to change!  While I was out on maternity leave, my substitute started packing test folders.  I thought her idea was genius and took it a step further.  

At the beginning of the school year, I assess the needs of my classroom.  I teaching in an Integrated Co-Taught classroom so we have a high population of students that require testing accommodations.  I have some pretty needy students so I am lucky enough to have a couple of teaching assistants.  And by a couple, I mean FOUR!  Yes, I know how lucky we are!

Anyway, I look at all of the IEPs and I group students according to similar testing accommodations.  A few of my students get tests administered in an individual setting for various reasons so that leaves me with 11 students to divvy up between myself and the remaining two teaching assistants.

I also look around to the spaces we have available in our building.  Although some spaces are not readily available at all times, I try to keep our testing spaces as consistent as possible.  

I created labels to go on the front of each folder.  The labels list the name of the proctor, the location the test will be given, and the students in the group.  

What I keep inside is the most important part!

I make testing accommodations easy to follow by keeping them organized on a chart.  I keep a master for myself with my entire class.  Then, I make separate charts for each folder with just the students in that group.  

 Once I have all of that organized, it is easy for me to just pop in the correct number of tests needed for each folder.  This system has saved me a lot of time and a lot of headaches.

Another benefit is that the students seem to like working with the same adult in the same location for their tests.

If you would like to use my templates, you can find the editable testing folder labels and the testing accommodations chart in my store, Learning Lab along with other time-saving special education essentials.

Thanks for stopping by Classroom Tested Resources.  I hope you can learn as much from here as I have!  See you again soon!