In North Carolina, students and their parents are faced with End-of-Grade testing or EOG exams. But EOG, its rationale, components and results are logical and easy to understand. And there are several ways parents can help their children feel at ease when taking the EOGs.

What Is the EOG?

The EOG tests a student's abilities in various subjects, including reading and mathematics, through a series of exams implemented during the last three weeks of the school year. This statewide assessment program began in 1996. According to North Carolina State Board of Education policy, all third to eighth grade public school students, including those attending charter schools, must participate in this testing. Private school and home-schooled kids are not required to take the EOG tests, but are able to participate at their parent's request.

How Are EOG Results Interpreted?

The results of the tests are ranked by achievement levels: level 4 being the highest, level 1 being the lowest. Most of these tests have no 'pass/fail;' they are intended to gather information about the skill levels of students as a whole, and for teachers and parents to evaluate how individual students are performing.

However, students in grades three, five and eight are required to score at achievement level 3 in order to be promoted to the next grade, unless the principal determines the child will be promoted based on other factors. Additionally, for all courses, the EOG test scores are included into students' final course grades.

Eighth grade students must also successfully undergo proficiency testing for computer skills if they are to eventually receive North Carolina high school diplomas. Students in the 8th grade who fail to pass their tests at satisfactory levels have to take North Carolina Competency Tests in math and reading in grades nine through 12.

Prepare your Child

Work with your children after school it may help if you can set aside specific times during the week to sit down with them and answer their homework questions. Limit their television and video game time during the school week so they have plenty of time to study alone as well.

Know When to Ask for Help

If studying is not helping your child reach their full potential, you may also want to consider a tutoring program. Tutoring programs can help identify weak spots in your child's education before they take the tests at the end of the year. By successfully targeting your child's struggles, many tutoring centers are able to create lesson plans to help your child understand and master these important math and reading skills.

Sometimes parents have problems when scheduling tutoring appointments because of their work schedule or other prior commitments. Online tutoring can be a great option. With online tutoring programs, children are able to complete their scheduled tutoring sessions from any computer that has Internet access. This means your child can schedule tutoring appointments without you having to drive them to the center. Online tutoring centers are as effective as conventional programs, providing children with measurable results in such areas as self-esteem, grades, and joy of learning.