The materials were developed to help prepare eleventh and twelfth graders to be successful in an academic environment when their school history indicated little chance for success. The booklet includes instructional materials to teach test-taking and note-taking, two skills many failing students lack. A syllabus is included for each unit along…

Although many students and teachers may believe otherwise, answer changing can be helpful in test taking. This study examined the effects of having a teacher lecture on answer changing as a beneficial test strategy. Participants (N=470) were college students randomly assigned to intervention or nonintervention treatments. In the intervention…

Thirty-six undergraduate psychology students who had high measured test anxiety were randomly assigned to one of three groups: covert reinforcement, placebo control, and no-treatment control. Pretreatment, posttreatment, and follow-up scores were obtained on three criterion measures. The findings supported the use of covert reinforcement for…

The susceptibility to faking on the Tennessee Self Concept Scale was examined among college students. Additionally, groups of respondents, instructed to respond in a "random" fashion to pre-determined numbers of items in the TSCS, were subjected to a plausibility analysis of their test response vectors using the Rasch measurement model.…

Fifty-seven secondary school students were involved in a study that examined the effects of three types of initial tests on later retention: a short answer test, a multiple choice test, and a full free recall test. Questions on the first two of these tests covered only half of the passage contents. The subjects studied a brief history text before…

The effects of calculator use by college sophomores on measures of mathematical aptitudes and classroom examinations in the area of business statistics were studied. It was found that students using calculators during aptitude measures performed consistently better and sometimes significantly better than students who did not use calculators.…

Fifty-eight undergraduate and graduate student volunteers participated in a factorial experiment designed to test hypotheses about the effects of two levels of information organization and four types of adjunct prequestion treatments on performance on specific amount items and two types of items organized in the same manner as the graphical…

Information and suggestions are given to serve to motivate and assist those interested in developing a course in test-taking skills and test wiseness. The author lists 11 questions, which should be answered prior to implementing such a course. (Author/KC)

The effect of test-wise behavior on mental ability and achievement test performance was investigated. When test-wise and test-naive college students were instructed in test-taking skills, both groups demonstrated significant gains in test wiseness. While instruction did not affect test performance, the test-wise subjects performed more…

The conclusion of Bridgeman and Buttram that race differences on a nonverbal reasoning test are smaller when subjects have been given verbal strategy training is not supported by their data. The conclusion that the tests used are inadequate psychometrically can be supported. (Author/DEP)

Proposes a detailed model involving the curricular, instructional/guidance, and assessment dimensions of promoting study skills and test-taking techniques among secondary school principals. Includes extensive references. (Author/MD)

Parents can prepare their preschoolers for educational assessment by: determining reasons for the assessment; collecting relevant information and questions for the assessment team; discussing the testing program with their children and making sure they are comfortable; and discussing assessment results fully with the professionals when they have…

Suggests class activities in three short articles including: (1) "Students Evaluate Reading," by Lenore Sandel; (2) "Solving Verbal Analogies," by Edward J. Dwyer; and (3) "Becoming Testwise," by Dean Schoen. (RS)

Parents and teachers can help relieve student test-taking anxiety by redirecting the student from fear of failure toward productive study skills. (DF)

Presents a musical play designed to orient students to standardized tests by promoting appropriate test-taking skills and attitudes. Suggests effective staging techniques. (ABB)