Here at Mandeville Middle School we have several programs in place to help student achieve success on LEAP and ITBS testing. Mandeville Middle School provides its students with three opportunities to enchance their critical thinking and problem solving skills.

        One program is called LEAP Intervention and is offered to 4th grade students whose 3rd grade iLEAP scores were unsatisfactory or approaching basic in math or reading. These students spend approximately 40 hours completing tutoring lessons based on higher order thinking and problem solving. State tutoring guides, teacher created lessons, and Orchard software are used with these students. Tutoring sessions occur in the regular classroom as well as in the Computer Lab. Certified teachers plan and supervise all lessons presented to the students.

          The next program, LEAP Acceleration, is an after-school enrichment program for 4th grade students. Students with ITBS scores of 46%-65%, 66%-84%, and 85%-99% are invited to attend five after-school sessions and are grouped according to scores. These sessions are based on math and reading activities with the focus on critical thinking and problem solving skills.

           LEAP Remediation is provided in 5th grade for students scoring Approaching Basic or below on the LEAP test in 4th grade. These students receive 20 hours of tutoring throughout the school year to begin preparing them for the 8th grade LEAP and sharpening the skills needed to help them achieve success.

Favorite Links for LEAP Preparation

Louisiana PASS - Test practice - password is "tiger". When you set up your account with your own login and password, be sure to write them down and save them.

Charlie French.com - Lots of lessons for LEAP practice

Louisiana Department of Education LEAP Information - Check out this site for released test items, sample test questions, practice tests, LEAP 21 tutoring guide, and promotional policies.

St. Tammany Parish Library - The library has a practice test called "Practice Run". Click on Online Databases on the left hand bar then choose "Access to databases from outside the library." You will need the 14 digit barcode number from your library card to access the program.

1. Reassure your child that he or she does not have to answer all the questions correctly to pass. It is not expected that students answer every question correctly.

2. Tell your child to attempt to answer all of the questions and not to leave any blanks. There is no penalty for guessing, and students can get partial credit on the open-ended items.

3. Remind your child that the test is important.

4. Explain to your child the importance of using time wisely. If your child gets stuck on a question, encourage him or her to make the best guess or place a mark in the test booklet by that item and go back to it after finishing that section of the test.

5. Make certain your child gets a good night’s sleep and a good breakfast before taking the test.

6. Try to make the morning of the test a pleasant one. Do not add to your child’s stress.

7. Get your child to school on time the day of the test.

8. Remind your child to listen carefully to the instructions from the teacher and to read the directions and each question carefully.

9. Encourage your child to stay focused on the test, even if other students finish early.

10. Remind your child that it is okay to mark in the test booklet as a help in taking the test -- i.e., underlining important words, etc. -- but to mark all answers on the answer sheet.