Eight Ways to Help Students Improve Test Scores

Nothing saddens students than seeing a red "F" on their test paper or a huge "0" during a quiz. This can hurt the student's self-esteem and this can cause them to become lax in later classes. When students develop the lack of interest in academic, their performance starts to fail and this can end up with them having difficulty later on, especially in dealing with critical thinking problems and other important principles they will apply later on in the actual setting. In order to motivate these students, here are eight ways to help them out to lift up their scores.

1. Offer Consultation

Naturally, students will feel down when they receive a bad score, so the first course of action is to talk to them about it. Let them share their feelings so that they can come a closure with their emotions. It is important for them to realize that it isn't the end and they can still lift up their grades with a little more focus and a little less sorrow.

2. Provide Positive Reinforcement

If students get low scores, it is no use to deepen the scar by scolding them or pointing out their mistakes and how they could have tackled them. What you can do however is to offer a reward if they can get a better score next time. This will give them that drive to work hard so that they can reach the goal and grab the prize they seek.

3. Suggest Effective Study Habits

The probable reason why he or she got a low score was due to his or her study habits. Suggest effective ones that are not stressful to maintain but very productive. This can help the student retain knowledge more readily because of the frequent hours spent going over the material.

4. Teach the Lesson in a Fun Way

Retention increases the more entertaining a certain lesson is, so make sure that you tap into this aspect if you want to help a student increase his or her test scores. Introducing math with a game is so much better than just equations and continuous solving.

5. Offer the Student a Break

You never know it, he or she might be too pressured, resulting in his or her poor performance on the test. Once in a while, students need a break so let him or her spend the day enjoying it instead of worrying about the score. You never know, the next quiz might be aced because of the boost in confidence and the relaxation he or she gets by taking a day off the books.

6. Teach Strategies

This means to get down to serious business in answering the quiz. The student may have been dumbfounded by the questions to realize how easy they were. Make sure that they are receptive to this approach because you wouldn't want to deal with a burdened student. He or she won't get the information as readily as an eager student would. These strategies involve test-taking tips and analytical processes to use while under pressure, especially during the test.

7. Teach Time Management Options

Students need to balance their time, not only between study and play, but also between tests 1 and 3! Teach students how to manage their time properly during the tedious test hour so that they may come out of the room proud and without a worry. The panic because of lack of time is actually a major cause of low scores.

8. Focus on the Areas that Need Improvement

Students who lack the strong foundation to master a subject area will have difficulty, especially since they will not only be dealing with trying to recall the subject matter itself, but also they will be dealing with time and the pressure that occurs during the test. Strengthen these weak points so that the next time he or she takes the quiz, he or she need not bother much because of the strong foundation he or she has already developed.

These eight tips are geared toward to realizing the potential of the student, most especially during tests. Having low scores can be rectified quite easily by these tips, so make sure to use the one that applies to your student the most for the best results.

Have you ever had a student struggle with grades?  What were some ways you were able to help restructure their performance?