A middle school teacher asked her students how they felt they learned best and how they felt a teacher could assess what they learned. Students perceived a large gap between their learning and what tests reflected they had learned. They provided suggestions for a more effective tool for measuring learning. (SM)

Suggestions for students, parents, and teachers on how to prepare students to take standardized tests are presented. The value of deliberate efforts to teach students test-taking skills is supported by research. Activities to prepare students include the following: (1) teachers should develop some of their tests and worksheets in formats similar…

While research on the composing process has revealed great variation among writers and among types of writers, research has largely ignored fluctuation in the writing behaviors of a single writer. A study contrasted both texts and behaviors of six graduate and undergraduate students of English as a Second Language (ESL) as they wrote a practice…

Data from the public health field indicate a shift in emphasis from treatment models to wellness models which focus on individuals' health and how to maintain it. Similarly, school psychologists can enhance and maintain students' competence, thereby reducing the need for remediation. This would create a new role for psychologists in the schools, a…

This report describes instructional strategies to decrease anxiety and frustration in the Spanish classroom. Participants were five 7th grade Spanish classes in two suburban middle schools. Student interventions included a study skills guide; partner and group presentations, skits, and activities; and group oral reading. Teacher interventions…

Promising developments in test anxiety treatment research help decrease the related physiological responses, strengthen the ability to handle tensions through study skills and test-taking training, and use cognitive restructuring and cognitive supports to handle problematic testing situations. The article reviews the three philosophies and…

Performance of 156 undergraduate and 48 graduate students on a self-adapted test (SFAT)--students choose the difficulty level of their test items--was compared with performance on a computer-adapted test (CAT). Those taking the SFAT obtained higher ability scores and reported lower posttest state anxiety than did CAT takers. (SLD)

Relationships among student motivational orientation, self-regulated learning, and classroom academic performance were examined for 173 seventh graders. Results provide empirical evidence for considering motivational and self-regulated learning components in models of academic performance. Involvement in self-regulated learning is tied closely to…

The cognitive processes students use in doing the 1996 science assessment of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) were studied using two booklets from the 1993 NAEP science field test. Blocks of items from these booklets, a hands-on task block and either a conceptual/problem solving block or a theme block, were administered to 16…

The San Francisco Math Leadership Project is an attempt to re-educate elementary teachers, many of whom do not consider mathematics their favorite subject and have limited mathematics backgrounds. The task is to increase the mathematics knowledge of these teachers and build their confidence in their own ability to do mathematics and to teach it.…

Students' macroprocessing of instruction was studied in a learning situation which used adjunct questions. The subjects were offered various macroprocessing options while reading a passage on data processing and computer programming. Each sentence appeared on a computer CRT screen one at a time. The options included: (1) review any sentence or…

A study was conducted at the College of Alameda to assess the factors contributing to math anxiety and to determine methods of fostering positive attitudes toward math among women and non-traditional students. During the study, 150 students in three introductory algebra sections were administered a series of attitude scales designed to measure…

Students' reported reasons for academic success or failure (categorized as ability, effort, task difficulty, or luck) were studied simultaneously in over 1,000 students in grades 4, 8, and 11. Differences between 16 attributional groups (4 success x 4 failure) were reported by discriminant analysis, according to grade, sex, and ethnic…

In mathematics, physics, and chemistry, women are still considered to be at a disadvantage. In the present study, the development of the symptoms of learned helplessness was of particular interest. A study involving average and mildly gifted 8th-grade boys and girls (top 60%) investigated whether girls, regardless of ability level, experience…

This document is one of a series of student workbooks developed for workplace skill development courses or workshops by Mercer County Community College (New Jersey) and its partners. Designed to help employees who must take certification examinations for job retention and promotion, this test-taking tips course aims to help employees to use…