High school students with high-incidence disabilities and struggling writers face considerable challenges when taking high-stakes writing assessments designed to examine their suitability for entrance to college. I examined the effectiveness of a writing intervention for improving these students' performance on a popular college entrance exam, the…

Most computerized adaptive testing (CAT) programs do not allow test takers to review and change their responses because it could seriously deteriorate the efficiency of measurement and make tests vulnerable to manipulative test-taking strategies. Several modified testing methods have been developed that provide restricted review options while…

In this report, the authors examine the impact of scoring a 1 or 2 on an AP® Exam in 10th grade on later AP Exam participation and performance. As access to AP courses increases within and across schools, a growing number of students are taking AP courses and exams in the earlier grades of high school. Using a matched sample of AP and no-AP…

Research on examinees' response changes on multiple-choice tests over the past 80 years has yielded some consistent findings, including that most examinees make score gains by changing answers. This study expands the research on response changes by focusing on a high-stakes admissions test--the Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning measures…

"Above-level testing" (also called "above-grade testing," "out-of-level testing," and "off-level testing") is the practice of administering to a child a test that is designed for an examinee population that is older or in a more advanced grade. Above-level testing is frequently used to help educators design…

Most colleges and universities in the United States require students to take the SAT or ACT as part of the college application process. These tests are high stakes in at least three ways. First, most universities factor scores on these tests into admissions decisions. Second, higher scores can increase a student's chances of being admitted to…

Special preparation for tests has been a relatively contentious issue. The controversy has entailed (a) disagreement over the effectiveness of such preparation, (b) concern over unequal access to it, and (c) worries about its impact on the validity of test scores. This paper provides a brief history of ETS's involvement with, and contribution to,…

The purpose of the study was to develop a "Test Preparation and Test Taking Strategies Scale" (TPTTS) to diagnose exam-preparation and exam-taking strategies to be used by students preparing for the university selection examinations at national level. The participants of the study were from different kinds of public high schools and were…

In 2001, the No Child Left Behind legislature was introduced, along with the era of the highly qualified teacher. A highly qualified teacher meant that teachers not only had to graduate from an accredited teacher preparation program but also had to pass Praxis I and II tests. However, Praxis I became a test of elimination because teachers no…

In this article, the author describes his project to take every standardized exam English majors students take. During the summer and fall semesters of 2012, the author signed up for and took the GRE General Test, the Praxis Content Area Exam (English Language, Literature, and Composition: Content Knowledge), the Senior Major Field Tests in…

This study investigates the relationship between test preparation and test performance on the "TOEFL iBT"® exam. Information on background variables and test preparation strategies was gathered from 14,593 respondents in China through an online survey. A Chinese standardized English test was used as a control for prior English ability.…

High-stakes placement testing at eleven plus remains a central and constant feature of education systems in the Anglophone Caribbean. In the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the Eleven Plus has been retained well into the era of universal secondary education, with a perceived legitimacy founded on the belief that examinations provide the fairest…

The four college years is the last important developmental period of a young person's life, and what happens then can and often does have substantial consequences. He can be awakened and fired up to develop himself and his talents, he can plod through largely untouched or unenlightened, he can be frustrated and turned off, he can transfer, or he…

Despite their current popularity, many still view coaching schools for college admissions as somehow vaguely unethical, as a form of "teaching to the test." But "coaching" as an instructional exercise only crosses some ethical line of propriety when instructors have access to and in fact teach the actual items that will appear…

Purpose: In common with most standardized admissions tests, the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores disproportionately screen out applicants from disadvantaged and underrepresented minority groups, relative to their demographic importance. The impact of programs to prepare students for the MCAT has not been adequately addressed. The…