Right food helps kids on tests

Before you give your child a carb-heavy breakfast on testing day, consider the possibility that he or she might have a sugar high, followed by a crash.

Jami Jacobson, Albuquerque Public Schools executive director of curriculum and instruction, said students are better served by food with protein, like nuts and snacks.

“I know it sounds kind of old-fashioned, but parents have got to limit what they’re giving them to eat,” Jacobson said. “Send them cheese or sunflower seeds, rather than a Coke and a bag of Hot Cheetos.”

She said sugary snacks can give students a rush, “and then all of a sudden they crash, and they can’t focus any longer.”

Students will take the Standards-Based Assessment starting next week. For high school students, the test is now their ticket out of high school. For younger kids, the test has low stakes for the students, but high stakes for their schools and teachers, since the scores are used to determine A-F school grades and will soon be used to evaluate teachers.

The test is taken by students in grades 3-8, 10 and 11. For third-graders taking it for the first time, Jacobson said the test can provoke anxiety. She said some younger students have literally made themselves sick with concern.

“We do have the occasional kiddo who upchucks in the middle of the test,” Jacobson said. “It just gets to them sometimes.”

So how can parents help?

Jacobson said parents can do routine things like feeding students a protein-rich breakfast and making sure they get enough sleep before the test. Parents can also help by asking students how they’re feeling, she said.

“Rather than give them advice, they should ask their kids what they need,” Jacobson said, suggesting some sample questions. “‘How do you feel about today? Do you have any questions or things I can help you with?’ So they feel supported, and see that their parents know what’s going on.”

If a student seems extremely anxious, parents can call the school counselor or the student’s teacher to let them know ahead of test day that the student is very worried.

Elementary students take their tests in the mornings over two weeks. Jacobson said younger students are able to focus better in the morning while, in the afternoons, teachers try to do hands-on projects or other activities that let kids get up and move. Secondary students condense their testing into three or four days, testing both in the mornings and the afternoons.

Jacobson said while some students are overwrought about the testing, others may be indifferent and just create designs with the bubbles on their answer sheet. She said it’s important for parents and teachers to strike a balance between telling students to relax and do their best, but also making sure they take the test seriously.

“Teachers have to take them aside individually and say, ‘Part of the thing this test does is it helps me to know what I still need to teach you. If you aren’t trying, how am I going to know what you still need?’ ”

Jacobson said most teachers will work with first-time test-takers beforehand, helping them with basic strategies, like always putting something for short-answer questions and guessing rather than leaving answers blank. She said teachers will also work with students on how to read a question carefully to understand what’s being asked.

“The teachers do that up front before testing week begins and try to get them prepared for what it’s going to look like so it’s not a big shock when they get this big booklet,” Jacobson said.