• Note test dates on your home calendar; schedule appointments on non‐testing days
• Encourage your child to take responsibility for homework and class study
• Encourage your child to ask questions at home and in class
• Get to know your child’s teachers
• Attend parent‐teacher conferences
• Confer with teachers on a regular basis
• Help your child to set realistic, yet ambitious goals. Support them in reaching their goals
• Gather available test preparation materials and information
• Assure your child knows that you value a good education
• Praise your child’s efforts
• Recognize hard work and persistence, particularly when facing difficult tasks

• Ensure your child is rested and eats a healthy breakfast.
• Make sure your child arrives at school on time.
• Encourage your child to do their best work and to be persistent.
• Do not remove your child from school on test days for appointments.
• Maintain calmness about tests.
• They are small portions of a child’s overall education and performance.
• Ask your child how they are feeling about the upcoming test. Do your best to calm any anxieties.
• If your child is experiencing anxiety, communicate this to the teacher so the teacher can work to alleviate test anxiety.

• Ask your child about the test
• Examine any reports that are sent home and share them, as appropriate with your child
• Determine areas of strength and weakness
• Share your child’s areas of strength and help them make a plan to address any weaknesses
• Talk with the teacher if other information is needed
• Support your child in setting and achieving new goals

Standardized Assessments are tests that are given outside of the curriculum and instruction process. They are typically purchased from a test vendor and provide normative comparisons at the national or state level. The timing of the administration of assessments is more closely related to the school year calendar and program decision-making timelines, than to the pacing of the curriculum and instruction in the classroom. They are used to measure student progress toward meeting grade-level standards, predict performance on state accountability tests, triangulate data for program decisions, screen students for remediation or enrichment, and identify relative strengths and weaknesses in district curriculum and instruction practices to inform professional development and curriculum resource decisions.

We administer several standardized assessments to monitor student academic achievement, academic growth and preparedness for college and career goals. They fall into three categories.

• State Accountability Tests: These tests are mandated by the state and are used to measure student attainment of Minnesota Grade Level Standards, school/district effectiveness and student readiness for MN State College and University courses.
• District Standardized Tests - These tests are purchased by the district and administered to inform educational programming and instructional decision-making.
• National College and Career Readiness Tests - These tests inform students, parents and staff on student progress toward national college and career readiness standards.

STMA Assessments Overview Page

Below is a link to District Target Scores for all local standardized assessments. Target scores allow families and staff a reference to student performance. District Target scores also allow staff to determine if students are on track with their peers, of if any additional instruction (or enrichment) will fit the needs of that student. 

District Target Scores

The Minnesota Report Card gives you easy access to understandable district and school data.

This tool is designed to provide parents, educators, schools, districts and citizens with easy access to important information about schools to help them make decisions and be engaged in the education of Minnesota students. Choose from several reports to learn more about the state of education in your local district, a specific school, or the state as a whole.

Minnesota Report Card

St. Michael-Albertville Public Schools uses district standardized assessments to measure student progress toward meeting grade level standards, predict performance on state accountability tests, triangulate data for program decisions, screen students for remediation or enrichment, and identify relative strengths and weaknesses in district curriculum and instruction practices to inform professional development and curriculum resource decisions. The district administers several standardized assessments to monitor student academic achievement, academic growth, and preparedness for college and career goals. Detailed information about the district’s assessments can be found on the Assessment page of the district website under “Assessment Overview” - https://www.stma.k12.mn.us/Page/2710

Parent Refusal for District Assessments

As a parent, you reserve the right to have your son and/or daughter participate in Statewide testing. The state gives each individual district flexibility on how parents may request that their child not particpate in statewide testing. St. Michael-Albertville requires that any parent requesting to not have their son or daughter participate in Statewide testing must complete this form and turn into the building pricipal of that student. No other forms of refusal will be accepted (ie.  letters, notes, email, phone calls...etc). 

Parent/Guardian Guide and Refusal for Student Participation in Statewide Testing

Below is a link to the Minnesota Department of Education's Statwide Testing Page. Here you will find information about all statewide assessments. 

Minnesota Department of Education Statewide Testing