SkillsTutor and its competitors (including dot.com companies) are tapping a potentially lucrative market--kids wanting academic coaching to improve test scores. Some experts worry that test-prep could overemphasize skill-building materials or usurp broader-based, critical-thinking classroom activities. The jury is still out. (MLH)

The School of Physics at the University of Sydney has introduced voluntary workshop tutorials in large first-year courses. The tutorials are based on informal cooperative groupings with structured worksheets and short hands-on activities. In this study we explore the relationship between attendance at the workshop tutorials and student performance…

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…

This essay discusses the author's encounter with PRAXIS II test preparation questions that distort and misrepresent complex reading processes. Three sample test items are presented and discussed.

This review of the literature examines the effectiveness of instructing students in various test-taking strategies, particularly in reference to multiple choice questions. Among findings reported are that while test-wiseness strategies may be taught, these strategies have limited generalizability across exams and learners who proactively process…

A practicum addressed the high percentage of high-level high school students not making minimum Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) verbal scores required by area colleges for placement in regular college course work. Two advanced sophomore English classes received 12 weeks of instruction with five components, including the use of: (1) the College…

A quantitative method, meta-analysis, is used to integrate research findings from a representative group of 38 coaching studies. Because different studies reported results on different scales, effect size was used to transform all results to a common metric. This meta-analysis showed that there are two distinct literatures on the effectiveness of…

An anagram test administered under varying time parameters was used to evaluate the effectiveness of test-wiseness strategy. The relationship between test and state anxiety, and specific test-wiseness skills was explored. Students completed an anagram test in 15 or 25 minutes. Two groups received time-using directions and assistance during the…

One hundred fifty-two senior nursing students at a traditionally Black college participated in a study to determine the effect on academic performance of: (1) test-taking instruction; (2) a combination of test-taking instruction with cooperative learning procedures; or (3) no intervention. Spring semester grades were used to represent academic…

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 study investigated factors associated with medical students performance on the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step One examination. The USMLE Step One emphasizes basic mechanisms and principles that are typically covered in the first 2 years of medical school. The study examined the relationship among student performance…

The stability of a two-factor model recently proposed for the Gibb Experimental Test of Testwiseness was assessed, using confirmatory factor analysis. Designed to measure seven specific testwiseness skills with 10 items per skill, Gibb's test has been shown to discriminate between persons trained and untrained in selected testwiseness skills. Such…

Building student abilities for taking standardized tests has certainly become an issue as testing has become increasingly important in the U.S. educational system. How much emphasis should a school or district place on educating students to do well on such tests? It is certainly possible to spend too much school time learning to take tests, and…

This report summarizes self-reported information about the kinds and extent of test preparation used by those taking the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). For the first time, in June 1989, test takers were asked to volunteer information about how they prepared for the LSAT. Approximately 75% of the test takers in June and September 1989 responded…

Data collected by the Federal Trade Commission from the Educational Testing Service (1975 to 1977) and two commercial coaching schools in the New York metropolitan area are used in an observational study to test the hypothesis that commercial coaching can improve performance on the Scholastic Aptitude Test. (Author/PN)