Understanding test-taking strategies (TTSs) and the variables that influence TTSs is crucial to understanding what reading comprehension tests measure. We examined how passage and student characteristics were associated with TTSs and their impact on response accuracy. Third (n = 78), fifth (n = 86), and eighth (n = 86) graders read and answered…

The present study examined the processing and performance of examinees in reading comprehension (RC) tests, when they read the whole text "prior" to its questions ("text-first" strategy [TFs]) compared to reading the text "while" and "for" answering the questions ("questions-first" strategy [QFs]).…

While the effect of reading strategies on L2 test performance has been extensively researched, the effect of test-taking strategies remains underexplored, with mixed results due to varying contextual factors. This study, therefore, investigated the latent structure of test-taking strategies and the relationships among test-taking strategies,…

Tests are often applied to evaluate students' academic performance in all educational contexts. In order to be successful in the tests, students are required not only to possess the knowledge of the subject, but also test-taking strategies which enable them to gain higher test score. The present study was aimed at investigating the relationship…

Teachers often encourage students to use test-taking strategies during reading comprehension assessments, but these strategies are not always evidence-based. One common strategy involves teaching students to read the questions before reading an associated passage. Research findings comparing the passage-first (PF) and questions-first (QF)…

Disengaged responding poses a severe threat to the validity of educational large-scale assessments, because item responses from unmotivated test-takers do not reflect their actual ability. Existing identification approaches rely primarily on item response times, which bears the risk of misclassifying fast engaged or slow disengaged responses.…

Reading comprehension tests involve not only reading passages and answering questions but also making choices such as the test-taking strategy to use, whether to search passages for answers, and where to begin searching. We examined the associations between student characteristics, passage type, test-taking strategies, and students' time searching…

High-stakes reading tests significantly influence one's future success, leading many second language learners to engage in intensive test preparation. This study examines nine TOEFL reading preparation lectures from two popular cram schools, or [foreign characters omitted] "hagwons," in Korea, with a total duration of five hours and…

In education, examining students' learning in detail, determining their strengths and weaknesses and giving effective feedback have gained importance over time. The aim of this study is to determine the distribution of students' answers to the reading comprehension achievement test items which were written at different cognitive levels and to…

Students in a gateway college science course were assigned to two instructional conditions: explanation-only or augmented instruction. In the explanation-only condition, students wrote explanations for six excerpts from their textbook. The augmented-instruction condition wrote explanations on only four of the excerpts, with the other two serving…

Learning from expository science texts is challenging. These studies explore whether difficulties can be attributed to poor memory or poor reasoning. To eliminate the need for memory during testing, some students took the tests with the texts available. To test for the effects of reasoning on performance, some students were prompted to engage in…

A teacher's ability to read effectively is critical to that individual's ability to teach reading skills. Correspondingly, most state departments of education require that prospective teachers earn a passing score on a standardized reading comprehension test before they can enter university-based teacher education programs or otherwise get a…

This article investigates how test-takers change their strategies to handle increased test difficulty. An adult sample reported their test-taking strategies immediately after completing the tasks in a reading test. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling specifying a measurement-invariant, ability-moderated, latent transition…

An increasing number of students with disabilities now attend college, but many do not complete their college program due to poor grades. This may occur because students with high-incidence disabilities often struggle acquiring the academic skills essential to success in college. Teaching learning strategies to students with high-incidence…

Being able to read and write in English as a second language (L2) in the globalized world has been increasingly considered important to gain greater personal, academic, and business achievement. This study investigates English (L2) reading and writing abilities in relation to first language (L1) reading and writing abilities, L2 vocabulary…