The CRCT, Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests are to measure how well students gain the skills and knowledge under the Georgia Performance Standards.
Georgia law requires that all students in first through eighth grades take the tests. District throughout the state test their students for 9 days anywhere from the beginning of April to the beginning of May.
- Savannah-Chatham elementary and middle school students take the test from April 29th - May 9th.
- Bryan, Bulloch, Tattnall County students will take the test from April 21st - April 30th.
- Long County students take the test April 22nd - 24th and 29th & 30th.
- McIntosh County April 14th - April 25th.
- Glynn County: April 21st - May 1st.
There are many things parents can do to prepare their students to do better on the tests.
Here is some advice from Savannah-Chatham County School officials.
Tips and Strategies on Preparing for Tests
Good News
- There are some common sense approaches to studying and test taking that can reduce anxiety and improve test performance. You can help your child learn test-taking strategies throughout their entire education.
- When your child feels confident in test-taking skills, they will have less test anxiety and be able to focus on showing what was learned — and that's what tests are all about!
Suggestions for Helping You Child Perform Better On Standardized Tests
- Learn about the tests your child takes, and how the results can help your child in school.
- Know when the tests are given, and mark the dates on your calendar.
- Be sure your child attends school every day during the testing period.
- Remind your child to listen carefully to the instructions given by the teacher.
- Make sure your child gets plenty of rest the night before a test and that they eat a nutritious breakfast on the day of testing (not many sugar items).
- Drink plenty of water before a test. Water helps the brain function more efficiently.
- Eat fish prior to the days of the test. Fish is brain food.
- Encourage your child to do his/her very best.
Before the Test
- Ask the teacher and record the material the test will cover and the types of questions to expect.
- Avoid cramming. Instead, study a little every day.
- Review the material more than one time.
- Answer practice questions in textbooks.
- Have your child teach the subject to you or a study partner.
Study in small groups
- Make sure your study group contains only students who are serious about studying. At least some of them should be at your level of ability or better.
- Go over as many different problems as you can (like old homework problems, unassigned problems in the course text, and problems on old exams). Set up the solutions, but don't crunch numbers. Don't leave a problem until you're convinced you could do it by yourself.
- Brainstorm possible things you could be asked and answers you might give.
Get sleep
- Don't stay up all night studying. Try to get a reasonable amount of sleep the night before the exam. If that's not possible, try to get a nap before the exam, or at least a short rest.
- Set up a backup system for your alarm clock.
Make a crib sheet
- Make a crib sheet as though you were going to cheat on a closed-book exam. If the test is closed-book, know what's on the sheet. If it's open-book, bring the sheet with you.
Suggestions to help avoid careless errors
Prepare:
- Analyze your past test results.
Each test can further prepare you for the next test. Use your tests to review when studying for final exams.
- Arrive early for tests.
Bring all the materials you will need such as pencils and pens, a calculator, a dictionary, and a watch. This helps you focus on the task at hand.
- Be comfortable but alert.
Choose a good spot and make sure you have enough room to work, maintain comfortable posture but don't "slouch."
- Stay relaxed and confident.
Remind yourself that you are well-prepared and are going to do well. If you find yourself anxious, take several slow, deep breaths to relax.
Don't talk about the test to other students just before it; anxiety is contagious.
On the Day of the Test
Coach your child to:
- Listen closely to verbal directions and read carefully any instructions on the test itself.
- Ask the teacher to explain any instructions not understood.
- Scan the entire test for the types of questions and use this information to pace yourself.
- Jot down memory aids, formulas, or important facts in the on your scratch paper.
- Answer the questions you know first and come back to the harder ones later, remembering to mark unanswered questions so they're easy to find.
Bring everything you need ot the exam
- textbook/lecture notes if the exam is open book
- paper and several pencils with erasers
- calculator with extra batteries
- allowed handbooks and tables (such as steam tables)
- allowed class handouts
- crib sheets (if allowed)
During Test Taking
- Read the directions carefully.
This may be obvious, but it will help you avoid careless errors.
If there is time, quickly look through the test for an overview.
Note key terms, jot down brief notes.
- Answer questions in a strategic order.
- First easy questions
to build confidence, score points, and mentally orient yourself to vocabulary, concepts, and your studies
- Then difficult questions or those with the most point value
- First easy questions
- Stay in motion
Work on a problem until you get stuck. Think about it for a minute or two, and if nothing comes to you then drop it and go on to another problem. Don't spend 30 minutes sweating out an additional five points on a problem and run out of time, leaving a 40-point problem untouched. You may later have time to return to the first one and you're much more likely to think of how to do it then.
- Show your work
Give enough detail so that both you and the grader can tell what you're trying to do. Even if you can do the problem in your head, don't. If you're wrong, you get a zero; if you're right, you could be suspected of cheating.
- Think partial credit
Try to put something down for each part of every problem/question. If you don't have time to solve a problem completely, tell what you'd do if you had more time.
- Keep your work legible
If an instructor can't read what you wrote, you aren't likely to get full credit and you may not get any.
- Don't panic
If you feel yourself sweating or hyperventilating, put down your pencil, close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, and consciously relax any muscles that you're clenching (jaw, neck, stomach). When you're calmer, go back to work.
- Review
- Resist the urge to leave as soon as you have completed all the items.
Review your test to make sure that you have answered all questions, not mis-marked the answer sheet, or made some other simple mistake.
Proofread your writing for spelling, grammar, punctuation, decimal points, etc.
- Change answers to questions if you originally misread them.
If you have encountered information elsewhere in the test that indicates that your first choice is incorrect.
- Resist the urge to leave as soon as you have completed all the items.
- After the Test
- Your child can learn almost as much from mistakes on a test as from studying. Go over test results and read the teacher's comments. Look for patterns of errors to help in future studies.
- Were questions left blank due to a lack of time? Help your child practice judging time needed and pacing work.
- Were any errors due to not following instructions? Remind your child to read directions carefully and circle important words.
- Were mistakes made because your child didn't know the subject thoroughly? Next time, set aside more study time or try new study strategies.
- Your child can learn almost as much from mistakes on a test as from studying. Go over test results and read the teacher's comments. Look for patterns of errors to help in future studies.
- Best Practices
Decide on and adopt study strategies that worked best for you.
Identify those that didn't work well and replace them.
Be sure to tune in to News 3 at 6 to hear what school district officials have to say about the test.
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