RESERVE – St. John the Baptist Parish Schools Superintendent Courtney P. Millet is encouraging parents and students to take advantage of free resources available with the Louisiana Department of Education to help them gear up to take standardized assessments beginning next week.  

In particular, the Louisiana Department of Education is offering assistance through its Tutoring Hotline. The agency will host two sessions of the Hotline that correspond with the testing dates.  

The first session will run through March 19 to help students prepare for phase I of the LEAP, which will be administered on March 20.

The second session will run from April 2 to April 12, corresponding with the phase II test dates – April 12-13 and April 16-17. All students scheduled to take the LEAP, iLEAP and GEE will test during these times. The Hotline is open from 5-7 p.m., Monday-Friday. The toll-free phone number for the Hotline is 1-877-453-2721.

“As teachers, students and families prepare for the test, they may become anxious or simply desire more practice material,” Millet said. “The state has the resources to help students practice, and we know that as student become more comfortable and confident in their test-taking skills, they do better.

“I want to encourage parents and teachers to identify areas where students may need more help and refer the student to the appropriate resources provided by the state,” Millet said. “The state has a treasure trove of great resources, so it makes sense that our students take advantage of these valuable resources.”

Information about the testing resources provided by the state is as follows:

• The assistance offered through the Tutoring Hotline is specifically centered on assisting fourth- and eighth-grade students and their families as they prepare to take the Louisiana Educational Assessment Program test. Tutors assist students in answering questions from English Language Arts and math sample books that were developed by the LDOE and distributed to schools and students in February.

• The agency also developed and distributed sample books for students participating in the state’s Graduation Exit Examination tests.

• In addition to the Tutoring Hotline, which the agency launched in 2008, the Department offers a number of free resources on its website at www.louisianaschools.net.