Test anxiety affects parents as well as students, but nagging kids to study isn’t helpful. While parents want their junior high and high school students to do well, their role is pretty limited. By the time kids reach junior high, they’re expected to be fully responsible for all their school work.

However, parents can help their preteens and teens learn some study skills and test-taking tips. The best way to help your child prepare for tests is to make sure he attends class and keeps up with all his class work and homework. When he keeps a calendar of test dates, he can begin studying several days ahead, instead of cramming — a highly ineffective strategy. Tell him to ask the teacher what the test will cover, then suggest that he study only what he doesn’t know, not what he knows. Offer to help him review or practice for a test.

Successful Strategies Here are some tried-and-true test strategies you can share:    • Once he gets the test, tell him to do a “brain dump.” Tell him to write key concepts, math formulas and vocabulary on back of the test or in the margins.    • Remind her to follow directions — verbal and written — exactly.    • Suggest he budget his time and avoid spending too much time on any one question unless it’s worth a lot of points.    • Recommend that she answer the easiest questions first, but to answer every question to the best of her ability.    • Tell him to check his ans-wers if time allows, but avoid changing any unless he’s absolutely certain. Research shows that when students change ans-wers, they frequently replace a correct answer with an incorrect one.    • After the test, review how well she tackled the test. Help her understand what she did wrong so she can avoid the same mistakes on the next exam.

Parents can help in other ways. Remind her to pack everything she needs for the test — pens, pencils, paper, calculator, etc. Make sure she gets a good night’s sleep and wake her up on time so she doesn’t have to rush around. Have her eat a good breakfast, but not too many heavy carbs, which can make her sleepy later. Help her stay relaxed and be positive about her ability to do well.

If your child is struggling with tests despite studying, ask the teacher for advice. The teacher should be able to provide specific feedback on test performance.

Tim Jahn is a human development specialist with Cornell Cooperative Extension. Visit www.cce.cornell.edu/suffolk for parenting information.