There is a lack of standardized instruction among the different General Educational Development (GED) preparatory programs in the country as a result of different state requirements for taking the GED exams. As such, the purpose of this quantitative non-experimental correlational study is to examine if scores of students on GED Ready Opt and the…

For a number of years now, South Africa, like many other countries, has been debating a major paradigm shift in education, a shift from learning and teaching, which focused primarily on content to learning and teaching focused on outcomes. One of the most dramatic trends in education over the past decade has been the shift towards the use of…

Tests require a special kind of savvy, a kind of critical thinking and knowledge application that is not always a part of classroom reading experiences. Who better to teach you how to prepare your students for reading tests than someone who has written them? Charles Fuhrken has spent years working with several major testing companies and…

Although much is known about how students perform on standardized tests, little research exists concerning how students think and process while taking such tests. This mixed methods action research study was designed to investigate if a constructivist approach to test preparation could yield improved results for 37 English language arts freshmen…

An argument is presented on whether helping students intelligently critique standardized tests is a necessary form of test preparation. The detailed analysis of typical questions reveals what students are truly asked to do on the tests.

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…

Performance on subtests of the California Achievement Tests was compared for students in grades one, two, four, and five who had been assigned to one of two groups, one of which had received formal instruction in test-taking skills. Results are discussed. (Author/MT)

A study involving 18 boys and 20 girls attending Grade 1 in a rural elementary school was conducted to determine if a program designed to develop test-taking skills would result in higher standardized achievement test scores than would one focusing on the content assessed by the test. Each student was assigned to one of two groups and administered…

Offers tips for preparing for and doing well on the SAT. (FL)

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

Curriculum alignment, which links instructional content to state-designed tests, is destigmatizing "teaching to the test." Ignoring this linkage can have painful consequences. Substandard school performance can cause Texas principals to lose their jobs and Maryland schools to forfeit substantial monetary rewards. Indianapolis schools try…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of teaching eight secondary students with disabilities, including seven with learning disabilities, a strategy for answering a variety of inferential questions. A multiple-baseline across-subjects design was employed. Outcome measures included scores on researcher-devised comprehension…

Discusses why and how to improve the performance of minority college students on standardized tests. Emphasizes the importance of providing instruction in effective test taking and reinforcing acquired skills on practice tests. (KH)

This article discusses how test preparation helps students with deafness to develop the skills required to do well on standardized reading tests by examining test-taking strategies and common language structures used in test items. Common errors made by students are listed and helpful remedial classes are discussed. (Contains four references.)…