Study Strategies (continued)

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Test-taking Strategies

As standards-based accountability systems increasingly control education, students take more and more tests. And test performance substantially influences the futures of students and their schools. Consequently, preparing students for tests is a study strategy that now is an educational priority.

Test preparation is not the same as test practice (Kraemer, 2005; Santman, 2002). As one student who felt authentically ready for testing put it, “You prepare us for the test without teaching to the test.” Teachers who prepare students for tests authentically connect test demands with coursework, integrating what is tested into the ongoing curriculum rather than only allocating separate time to isolated activities. These teachers do not focus on raising schools’ test scores; they focus on improving youths’ reading proficiencies. They first teach students how to improve their reading, then they teach how to succeed with tests.

When the focus is on succeeding with tests, teachers approach the task like any other genre. They explain the special forms and functions of tests, calling attention to how tests are similar to and different from other types of reading. They engage students in the genre, talking through the process of understanding it. They have students read test items carefully, deliberate with others over appropriate answers, and generate guidelines for succeeding with this genre.