The effectiveness of test-taking skills training was studied by calculating test performance quantitative indices of effect magnitude from data in 24 studies. Longer training programs produced significantly greater achievement gains than shorter programs, supporting recommendations for test-taking training in schools. (Author/MT)

Recommendations are offered for combining study skills and test-taking training, relaxation, and modification in thinking processes to help learning disabled college students improve their academic effectiveness. A stress management program is outlined in terms of assessment and interventions. (CL)

The increasing use of high-stakes tests has focused attention on test preparation activities. The term test preparation can apply to a number of different practices that vary on the degree to which they are defensible. Although some test preparation is legitimate, there are concerns that certain test preparation activities may have a negative…

This brochure is intended to help teachers and parents prepare students for the North Carolina Open-Ended Assessments (in reading and mathematics) given at grades 4 and 8. The brochure states that teachers in grades 2-5 can use the information to prepare students for the open-ended assessments. This particular brochure focuses primarily on the…

Test anxious students were less likely to have effective study habits and more likely to delay academic tasks than those showing low debilitating anxiety. (Editor)

Studied whether neurologically unimpaired individuals can fake believable deficits on the Halstead-Reitan neuropsychological test battery. Results supported the belief that nonimpaired individuals of at least average IQ cannot alter their performances to appear significantly brain-impaired. (WAS)

A study of scores on England's General Certificate of Education (GCE) examinations suggested that, compared to females, males perform better on objective tests than they do on other forms of assessment. The fact that nonobjective tests emphasize written communication skills, which tend to be more highly developed in female candidates, may explain…

Mean subtle-obvious ratings of all MMPI items were obtained from individuals relatively naive to psychological inventories. Analysis of previous subtlety-obviousness measures in terms of ratings obtained here demonstrated that different procedures produced results that are superficially similar. Further research should demonstrate whether…

Curriculum alignment, which links instructional content to state-designed tests, is destigmatizing "teaching to the test." Ignoring this linkage can have painful consequences. Substandard school performance can cause Texas principals to lose their jobs and Maryland schools to forfeit substantial monetary rewards. Indianapolis schools try…

Fourth grade and fifth grade mainstreamed and at-risk students, who were offered systematic review of content and practice to become comfortable with achievement test formats and timed situations during mathematics instruction, scored significantly higher than control students on three measures on a mathematics achievement test. (Author/JDD)

The "high stakes" environment surrounding student performance on standardized achievement tests has pressured educators to improve test scores--in both appropriate and inappropriate ways. Convened to examine such testing practices, a National Council on Measurement in Education developed guidelines for managing ethical, instructional,…

Researchers examined the effects of student-generated knowledge maps as a learning strategy. Eighty-one college students learned to make knowledge maps then participated in in-class and out-of-class testing sessions. Mapping positively affected their performance on recognition and recall tests, positive effects which were maintained. (SM)

Surveyed 90 elementary and secondary school counselors to examine strategies employed in test preparation programs, degree to which counselors follow structured curriculum in presenting test-taking activities to students, extent to which counselors target particular strategies, and how counselors evaluate program success. Found counselors more…

A review of five recent studies concludes that on multiple-choice tests, changing uncertain answers improves results; testing plus feedback produces more learning than additional study time; students learn and retain more when they are tested more often; and question and completion formats are equally acceptable for multiple-choice items. (KS)