Do You Have Students Who Get Stressed Over Testing?

Lori Desautels explains how we as teachers can use 6 brain compatible strategies to help our students manage stress during testing days.  These strategies should become useful as we are close to the final days of MAPS testing. 
     [It has been my own experience with testing that some students simply don't care if they do well or not, mainly because they don't understand the nature of high-stakes testing.  On the other hand, these same students do become very stressed when testing involves masteries, end-of-chapter or unit tests.  Why?  They understand their grade depends on their performance.  So to me, there are tests and there are tests and the important thing is how it affects student perception.]

Survive and Thrive During Testing Season.  Lori Desautels. 4.4.14. edutopia.
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/survive-thrive-during-testing-season-lori-desautels

Sample Questions for the New Math & Reading Tests

Want to see what the new test questions might look like?  The sample questions published here are from PARCC, an oirganization working with a 19 state consortium to create next generation asessments. Wisconsin is not one of the PARCC states.  A review of sample questions from PARCC could let us know the kind of questions we might be having in the next update here in our state.
Be sure to check out the embedded links, sample math items and sample literacy items.
If you read the comments at the end of the article, there are criticisms on using standard English.

Testing Consortium Previews Test With Sample Items.  Catherine Gewertz. 8.20,13. Education Week - Curriculum Matters.
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2013/08/testing_consortium_releases_ne.html?cmp=ENL-TU-NEWS2