My Child Does Not Test Well

I wish I had a dime for every parent that appeared before me, as I prepared students to take the SAT test or some other test that was crucial in a child's education, and suggested that their child does not test well.

Obviously those comments did not emanate from the parents of a pupil that did well. There are a host of reasons for this "does not test well" affliction.

"You know of course that Mary has attention deficit disorder"

"The stress and anxiety associated with these tests prevents Johnny from performing to his full ability"

"Recently my husband and I separated and Billy has had trouble adjusting"

"Sue has self esteem issues that prevent her from doing her best"

"Betsy was selected for the gifted and talented program in elementary school, but her teenage years have been a difficult time"

The list continues with dozens of scenarios painted in an to attempt to explain why a child does not do well.

I always examined previous tests to see if the current test produced results similar to those of the past. They usually do.

Are there any parents of these "afflicted students" that can stand the truth? The reason your child did not do well is that they did not know the answers to the questions. They successfully answered the easy ones - so what happened when the questions became tougher? I'm tired of parents providing a crutch for their children that only harms them. If children buy into this "does not test well" excuse they can use it all their lives to justify sub-par performance. The problem is that sooner or later one will come to the revelation that it will not help.

The "does not test well" phenomena arose because too many teachers were afraid to grade appropriately and an average grade of "C" (which really would apply to most of us because indeed we are average - look up bell curve if you don't believe it) fell by the wayside so that currently a "B" is average and in some cases an "A". This leads parents to believe that their offspring are really more able than they actually are.

There are no judgment calls in standardized testing. The question is either answered correctly or not. The test is scored by a machine and a valid comparison can be made between children. The score can be matched with previous standardized scores to ascertain a pattern. They almost always do. I think it has something to do with intelligence.

The SAT test or other standardized test scores are the accumulated result of what was successfully learned in the past. Learning is the result of time, repetition and hard work. Some students learn quickly and some do not.

Parents can avoid the "does not test well" problem by insuring that their child is studying and applying themselves in the best way possible. The standardized tests administered to children in elementary school will provide the insight that is necessary for parents to successfully guide there children. Make sure you understand completely how the scoring is computed for these tests. Most parents do not.

Don't let your child adopt the "does not test well" excuse. You will be doing a great service for your child.

Note: I understand that there in fact may be issues that do in fact affect a child's standardized test scores, but these difficulties are far less than the actual number of cases where parents use the does not test well story.