Background Comments – Testing in Today’s Schools Links for Students, Parents, Teachers, and Counselors |
||
|
Links for Students, Parents, Teachers, and Counselors [COMMENT: Many of the following sites are similar in their approach. They address the need for proper preparation before the test, techniques (testing tips) to use during the test, and reviewing the results from the test (if and when the test is returned). The following are amongst the best of several websites dealing with test preparation and test taking that were reviewed. A very brief annotation precedes each.] One of the best organized, and easy to use sites is from Penn State University. It covers “Test Preparation”, “Test Taking Tips”, and “Test Anxiety”. This is intended for entering college students, BUT most of the thoughts and suggestions apply to most all students (no matter how young / old). http://www.ulc.psu.edu/studyskills/test_taking.html#top This website was put together for a school in the north Los Angeles area (nice to have a little community support). It is a well-arranged website -- easy to read and follow, appropriate for middle and high school students (and others), and even has a whole section of suggestions regarding “study skills”. Somebody spent some money putting this together, but we can visit it for “free”. http://www.harvardwestlake.com/students/studyskills/chapter6.html#true This is perhaps the easiest site to navigate, which still has very comprehensive coverage. This George Washington University site is excellent and easy to use. With teacher assistance, even elementary school students could begin practicing good test taking practices, so they could “Show what they know”. http://gwired.gwu.edu/counsel/asc/improve/tests/index.html This site focused on “Improving Your Objective Test-Taking Skills.” This Learning Assistance Center states, "Students who have not learned good test-taking skills are working with an unseen handicap. In almost every objective test, they give up points needlessly due to undisciplined testing behavior, irrational responses to test items, or a variety of other bad habits." http://gator1.brazosport.cc.tx.us/~lac/objtest.htm The website from U.C. at Berkeley is addressing college classroom tests, but its suggestions are very worthwhile. The site is short, simple, and direct. http://slc.berkeley.edu/calren/TestsGeneral.html This is a very easy-to-use site on “Testing”. It includes a set of “Test Preparation” strategies and a set of “Test Taking” strategies. There are several good thoughts and a “site attitude” of wanting to be helpful and useful. Again, this is a college site, but at least check-out the “Ten tips for terrific test taking”. http://www.iss.stthomas.edu/studyguides/tstprp.htm This site (again, it is a college) has a useful set of “Test Taking Strategies” – including “Preparation for a Successful Exam Day”. This site even takes the student through a self-analysis of reasons why the student may not do well on multiple-choice tests. It leads the student through strategies to improve test performance and increase the student’s confidence during the testing situation. http://www.southwestern.edu/academic/acser-skills-teststr.html This Santa Monica College link directs its attention on test preparation – for mathematics tests. The introduction states, “There certainly is an art to test preparation - studying for tests is not a natural-born talent. Some students learn effective test preparation strategies through trial and error over years of schooling and some do not. The following presents a comprehensive step-by-step approach to successful test preparation for any math student. Choose and then experiment with any of the following tools to enhance your individual test-preparation style or strategy.” http://homepage.smc.edu/math/dept/testups/testpreparation.htm Last, but not least. This site is unusual, but useful. Again it is written for a college-level student taking professors’ exams, but it has several excellent suggestions. The site is very comprehensive in coverage (before the test preparation, note taking, how to approach different exams, how to cope with test anxiety, etc.). The site is prepared with a good sense of humor, and a stimulating format. Have fun, but don’t take each all the suggestions literally. http://webits3.appstate.edu/apples/study/Ace_tests/ace_tests.htm Test preparation suggestions and links for college entrance tests (SAT and ACT) may be found in that key area of this BorderLink website. They are NOT repeated in this key area. If you would like to jump to the “Key Area Of College Entrance Testing”, just click the link below. TAKE ME TO THE COLLEGE ENTRANCE TESTING KEY AREA |
||
