The authors' institution exceeded the Texas Science of Teaching Reading (STR) exam's passing rate of 86.6% for the 2021-2022 academic year. The authors think this success was largely due to conducting an analysis of test questions and helping preservice teachers better prepare for the exam. The authors helped preservice teachers supplement the…

The Advanced Placement Psychology exam is one of the fastest growing exams offered by the College Board. The average percent of change in the number of students taking this exam over the past five years is 12.4%. With 238,962 students taking the exam in 2013, the AP Psychology exam is the sixth largest exam, surpassing AP Biology and AP World…

Preparing at-risk youth and students with mild disabilities for state and district tests is important for improving their test performance, and basic instruction in test preparation can significantly improve student test performance. The article defines noncognitive variables that adversely affect test-taker performance. The article also describes…

For initial certification in French, German, and Spanish, teacher candidates in most states are required to pass one of the Praxis II subject matter tests. As of October 2010, a new test was added to the "Praxis Series." This Praxis II: World Language Test represents a significant change from previous versions and relies heavily upon the…

Howard University School of Law had a problem, and school officials knew it. Over a 20-year period, 40 percent of its graduates who took the Maryland bar exam failed it on their first try. During the next 24 months--the time frame required to determine its "eventual pass rate"--almost 90 percent of the students did pass. What they did…

Despite their current popularity, many still view coaching schools for college admissions as somehow vaguely unethical, as a form of "teaching to the test." But "coaching" as an instructional exercise only crosses some ethical line of propriety when instructors have access to and in fact teach the actual items that will appear…

Aside from simulating test taking, most test preparation courses stress the importance of following directions, working rapidly, thinking clearly, and learning other elements of test-wiseness. (Author/IRT)

By viewing standardized reading tests as a unique genre that could be taught, the author designed a two-week genre study for her reading workshop. The article describes how she planned, taught, and reflected on the unit. This genre study resolved some of the dilemmas she faced around preparing students for mandated testing. (Contains 1 table and 2…

Parents and teachers can help relieve student test-taking anxiety by redirecting the student from fear of failure toward productive study skills. (DF)

Presents a musical play designed to orient students to standardized tests by promoting appropriate test-taking skills and attitudes. Suggests effective staging techniques. (ABB)

Teachers can do something to help ensure students will do better on tests. They can actively teach test-taking skills so pupils will be better armed in the battle to acquire knowledge. The author challenges teachers to use the suggestions provided in this article in the classroom, and to share them with their students. Test-taking strategies will…

Parents are an essential component in their children's SAT success, says Starlett Craig, director of outreach and enrichment programs at Clemson University in South Carolina. Clemson is home to a successful two-week SAT summer camp, where students are immersed in workshops that prepare them for the exam. But whether a child goes to a SAT camp or…

Describes a classroom guidance unit designed to assist middle school students in exploring their skills, habits, and attitudes related to taking examinations. By presenting appropriate test-taking habits and attitudes in a stimulating, group-oriented format, the unit offers an opportunity for students to acquire important academic skills.…

Testing professionals need to work with teaching staff and parents to help students prepare for standardized testing. Year-long preparation involving teachers and parents is a better alternative than teaching test wiseness strategies at the last minute before a standardized test. (Author/PN)

It is concluded from a review of the literature and consideration of the type and objectives of tests and programs in English as a second language that, just as limiting an instructional program to what is to be tested in standardized tests would be inappropriate, so would constructing such a program without regard for what was to be tested. It is…