You can help your students achieve a commended status by reviewing actual test material with them. The Texas Education Authority (TEA) publishes previous TAKS tests on its website each year. Have your students practice taking these tests as a way to familiarize themselves with the material. Taking practice tests will also help students pinpoint areas where they are weak and need extra work. Students who need extra work should be given extra teaching either before or after school.
The TEA publishes study guides to the TAKS. These include benchmarks, objectives and strategies for mastering the curriculum skills and knowledge that will be tested on the TAKS. You should use these benchmarks as guidelines for preparation. Make sure your students are familiar with all of the material that will be tested on the TAKS and that they have a chance to review and practice these areas. In your class preparation, focus primarily on the areas that will be tested by using content-area and grade-level specific study guides.
You can prepare students to do well on the TAKS by emphasizing skills they will use on all the exams, such as writing, reading, analysis and reasoning skills, all year round. All of these skills will be used to answer every question, and the more students use them, the more likely they are to get a commendation. Because every question involves reading, even the math and science questions; emphasizing literacy skills throughout the year is another way to increase commendations.
Prepare your students for the exam by going over test-taking strategies and reminding students of test basics such as: reading each passage and all instructions carefully before answering; reading every answer carefully; answering questions one at a time; using reasoning to eliminate wrong answers; skipping difficult questions and returning to them later; relaxing and thinking positively. You can also institute a school-wide reward or commendation system for students who receive commendation level. This can act as an incentive for students to study harder.