Teaching to the test has significant undesirable effects. This practice skews scores and invalidates the test, promotes convergent thinking, promotes learning that may be obsolete, excludes the arts and extracurricular activities, promotes didactic instruction over discovery learning, involves only short-term memory, and excludes higher-order…

Describes the design and implication of a 10-week unit for third and fourth graders using QARs (Question-Answer-Relationships) to integrate reading and writing tasks and prepare for standardized tests. Concludes that the student-friendly model described here is easy to implement and can be customized for any classroom and grade level. (SG)

The Document-Based Question (DBQ) is an integral part of the United States History Advanced Placement Exam, and is required as part of an exam that also includes answering two general "free response" essays and a multiple choice question section. For the DBQ, students are given a question about a specific time period in American history,…

This paper reports on a test that is being used to fulfill a university writing examination requirement for non-native speakers of English. The test, which requires students to read two passages, write short-answer comprehension and synthesis questions, and write an argument essay on a topic related to the passages, replaces a test that was based…

In the winter and spring of 2007-08, the Center on Education Policy (CEP) expanded its ongoing research on the impact of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) by conducting case studies of six schools in Rhode Island to learn more about the influence of NCLB and related state accountability policies on curriculum, instruction, and student…

This investigation was designed to determine the influence of metaphorical priming on students' comprehension of issues and concepts pertaining to the U.S. Constitution when students studied the subject matter in a problem-based hypermedia instructional system. Sixty-five high school seniors studied the system for 5 days after receiving relevant,…

The review presented and discussed in this paper explores the theoretical underpinnings and research findings of the washback of high-stakes tests in the field of language teaching and testing as well general education and suggests areas and ways of researching the phenomenon in the future. (Contains 1 figure and 1 table.)

The federal journey into public education has followed a long and winding road. Most educators know that the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act is simply the latest version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which dates all the way back to 1965. In the years since its initial passage, the ESEA road has taken a number of…

This study guide was specifically designed for individuals preparing to take the Georgia Teacher Certification Test (TCT) in art. It contains content objectives for the TCT in art and a list of references, organized to correspond to the six individual subareas of the test. These areas include: (1) elements and principles of art; (2) drawing and…

This study guide is designed as an aid to individuals taking the Georgia Teacher Certification Test (TCT) in communicative arts. Learning objectives are described for: (1) logical reasoning; (2) research; (3) written composition; (4) language; (5) communications media and careers; (6) literature; (7) reading; and (8) oral communications. Following…

This study guide is specifically designed for individuals preparing to take the Georgia Teacher Certification Test (TCT) in mathematics. The test covers seven subareas: (1) sets, numbers, numeration, operations, etc.; (2) geometry; (3) algebra; (4) trigonometry; (5) analysis and calculus; (6) probability and logic; and (7) measurement, relations,…

This study guide is intended for use by individuals preparing to take the Georgia Teacher Certification Test (TCT) for school counselors. The content objectives, or competencies, to be demonstrated are: (1) general knowledge of growth and development of the child; (2) knowledge of theories of personality and learning; (3) knowledge of major…

This study guide is designed for individuals who are preparing to take the Georgia Teacher Certification Test (TCT) in school psychology. The five broad subareas from the field selected for the test are: (1) professional practice; (2) school organization and instruction; (3) human growth and psychological development; (4) psychological assessment…

A study was conducted to increase students' passing rates on the reading subtest of the Pre-Professional Skills Test (PPST) by increasing their ability to answer reading items correctly, increasing their comprehension speed, and increasing their confidence in their test-taking abilities. Subjects were 27 students at Southwest Texas State…

The study examined associated treatment effects on State Board Examination (SBE) scores of two predominantly black nursing classes who had been exposed to different intervention methods: (1) the teaching of effective test-taking skills, and (2) a combination of that instruction with learning team methods. The SBE performance of the two groups who…