This article reports an empirical study that examined the pattern of test preparation for College English Test Band 4 (CET4) and the differential effects of test preparation practices on its scores, thereby drawing implications for CET4 score validity. Data collection involved 1,003 test takers of CET4. A pretest was administered at the beginning…

This essay describes the various problems China faces on account of its exam-centric education system and pedagogy. Along with interviews and focus groups, this study draws on survey responses from 43 Chinese high school students enrolled in the Yunnan Province's No. 10 school. Moreover, this essay explores the policy arguments and key assumptions…

Traditional review sessions are intended to help students learn and prepare for upcoming exams. Most sessions are passive question and answer sessions that look backward at content deficits rather than advancing student learning. By incorporating active and cooperative learning approaches during a review session, students are able to recognize…

One of the most important questions in education research is whether the gains from interventions for which perceived short-term success can be sustained. The possibility of short-lived impacts is especially relevant for research on charter schools, where charter operators who face high-stakes assessments have an incentive to "teach to the…

The 2010 update to the resource you have been waiting for to help you prepare to take the National School Nurse Certification Exam. Dr. Janice Selekman DNSc, RN, NCSN, a recognized expert in pediatric nursing, and NASN Past President Linda C. Wolfe MEd, BSN, RN, NCSN, FNASN are the authors. This text was created in response to many years of…

This paper looks at some washbacks of the TOEIC examination on the teachers and students through his own teaching experience with TOEIC preparation courses and interview results from those of a Bangkok's business school.

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…

There is now a well developed literature on the impact of high stakes testing on teaching approaches and student outcomes. However, the student perspective has been neglected in much research. This article draws on a mixed method longitudinal study of secondary students in the Republic of Ireland to explore the impact of two sets of high stakes…

As the face of education in Philadelphia's public schools changes in response to budget constraints and politics, current "Teach For America" (TFA) corps members' roles have also changed. These changes have resulted in the majority of second-year TFA corps members being relocated from school district to charter-managed schools, many of…

Preparation for high-stakes testing, while unavoidable, may become meaningful, these authors argue. The article illustrates the case of a third-grade classroom in a metropolitan public school, where test preparation was approached as genre study. In addition to examining the specific unit of study, the authors describe the efforts of the classroom…

The San Jose State University Electrical Engineering (EE) Department implemented a skill audit exam for graduating seniors in 1999 with the purpose of assessing the teaching and the students' mastery of core concepts in EE. However, consistent low scores for the first years in which the test was administered suggested that students had little…

This article presents a cross-case analysis of two fourth-grade teachers' instruction while preparing their students for an English language arts test. Both teachers taught in high-needs urban public schools and were identified as effective teachers of balanced literacy through a multiple nomination process. This article uses situated literacy…

There has been relatively little research on the pre-conceptions of doctoral students about the final examination, the viva voce and hence there is a shortage of evidence to underpin activities designed to prepare them for this experience. The present paper, which is based upon data from a wide range of focus groups of pre-viva students, seeks to…

This phenomenological qualitative study explored the lived experiences of parents who used stress-reducing interventions with children during home preparation for the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) in Kingston, Jamaica. Eight Grade Six parents with children who participated in the 2010 GSAT were interviewed. Only parents with a Grade Six child…

The No Child Left Behind Act emphasized the responsibility of states to improve student academic performance. In one state, students are required to take subject-area tests and master each test to graduate; however, in some schools, many students are failing the English II test administered during students' sophomore year. Two districts have…