TEST-TAKING SKILLS: SOME IDEAS FOR STUDENTS
(Created by the Anaheim Union High School District)

Have you ever studied for a test and felt like you knew the information; then when you actually took the test, you didn’t do very well? Part of not doing well on a test can be caused by nervousness, not being sure what the directions are, not getting finished, and other such reasons.

Knowing how to take a test can reduce the fear and create a much better situation for you. Knowing the content is the most important step in preparing for a test. However, you may know the content but still be unprepared, because you really don’t know how to take an exam. You may not even realize that scoring well on a test requires more than just knowledge of content.

This pamphlet is designed to help students build test-taking skills. If taken seriously, these ideas will help you, not only in school, but beyond school. You will take some very important tests in junior high, in high school, and after you graduate from high school. Knowing how to take these tests will be a great help.


TEST-TAKING SKILLS: A DEFINITION
Test-taking skills are those skills not related to subject matter knowledge, which include your attitude and how you approach the taking of a test.

When you gain skills required to take a test, you will receive a higher score than you might otherwise have gotten.

THE BIG FIVE
There are five major areas for developing test-taking skills. They include:
I. Establishing a good attitude when taking a test.
2. Knowing the different kinds of test items and how the test will be graded.
3. Following directions.
4. Moving from item to item without wasting time.’
5. Attacking difficult questions/guessing.


1. Establishing a Good Attitude

1. Learn how to control nervousness. Take one step at a time. A little nervousness is natural. Don’t worry about things you don’t know. Learn how to relax when you take a test, and practice relaxing.

2. Think positively. Your goal is, “I’m going to do the best I can,” rather than “I’ll never make it through this test.”

3. Be physically fit. To perform well on a test requires that you be alert. A good night’s rest, a good breakfast, not drinking an excess of fluids, and not eating too much are good steps to take.

4. Know your personal strengths and weaknesses when you take a test. All students have weaknesses of one kind of another. Establish a plan for improving your weaknesses.

2. Knowing the Different Kinds of Test Items and How the Test Will Be Graded

1. Become very familiar with the five most common kinds of items that are given on tests. These are the following: multiple-choice, true-false, short answer or blank filling, matching, and essay. Learn the steps to deal with each of the five.

2. Know how important each test is. Oftentimes, students believe that the results of a test are far more important (or less) than they really are

3. Know which of the five kinds of items will b~ included on any particular test. Ask the teacher what kinds of items there will be and study accordingly.

4. Know how the test will be graded. Ask questions before you take the test. How many points will be given for each question? Know whether guessing is a good idea.

5. Know what will count and what won’t count when a test is graded. For example, will spelling count on a social studies test? Do you have to show your work on a math test? Will capitalization and punctuation count on a science essay exam? Ask your teacher these questions before you take the test.


3. Following Directions

Understanding and following directions are yen important to your success on a test. Oftentimes when students do not understand the directions they fail to ask the teacher for clarification. Whet you take an exam, you must understand al directions.

1. Listen carefully to the directions, and ask questions about any you do not understand.

2. Know exactly what each word in the directions means. Sometimes words used in directions can be confusing. Be sure to ask the teacher the meanings of any words in the directions that you are not sure about.

3. Know exactly how to mark machine-scored answer sheets. You can receive a lower score if you do not fill in the bubbles completely (if you leave stray marks on a machine scorable answer sheet.) The computer will pick up these marks as errors.

4. Machine scorable answer sheets usually require the use of a #2 pencil. If this kind of pencil is not used, the answers may not be read on the computer, and you will receive a lower score.


4. Moving from Item to Item Without Wasting Time
Have you ever become panicked when you are running out of time on a test and may not get through? This is very common. Usually this problem is caused by spending too much time on difficult questions.

I. Managing your time when taking an exam is a very important skill to develop. Ask your teachers for help in this area.

2. Learn to skip it. Quickly look over the whole test before beginning. Learn to pick out the easy and hard questions without trying to answer them right away. Do the easy items first. Do not just automatically do #1, then #2, and so on.

3. The decision to skip an item should be made very quickly, not after several minutes of attempting to answer. When moving through a test, this is probably the most important idea to remember.

4. If you are using an answer sheet and skip an item on the test, be sure to mark the skipped item on the answer sheet. This will keep you from answering the next item in the wrong answer space.

5. When taking a multiple-choice test, be sure to read each possible answer before marking your choice. Many students read choices “A” or “B,” think one is correct, and immediately mark it without reading all choices. This is obviously a serious mistake.


5. Attacking Difficult Items/Guessing

When you see that an item is difficult, you should have a plan to deal with that item. Teachers can be a great help in assisting you to develop such a plan. Guessing on an exam will occur. Educated guessing is a type of guessing that will assist you in getting higher scores. In order to make an educated guess, you have to have some knowledge about the content on the test.

1. Learn to approach a difficult item on a test the same way that you approach a difficult problem when you do your homework. When doing homework, ask the teacher for hints as to how to go about solving difficult problems. If you learn this, it will carry through on the test.

2. Know whether guessing is a good idea. In most cases it is.


Tricks to Get a Higher Score When You Have No Idea What the Correct Answer Is (Wild Guessing)

The following hints are not related to test-taking skills. However, when you have no idea what the answer to a question is, and guessing is recommended, some of these hints may help in getting a few more items correct. We call these “Hints for Wild Guessing.” Please understand that the credit you get by using these techniques is not related to the knowledge tested, and carefully prepared tests will avoid making some of the mistakes identified below.

• In a multiple-choice test the correct answer is often more carefully stated than the incorrect choices.
• In a multiple-choice test a positive statement is more likely to be correct than a negative statement.
• In a five-choice, multiple-choice test, there are usually more “C” answers than “A’ “B” “D’ or “E’
• In a multiple-choice test, if the last word in the stem ends with “a;’ then you know the answer must begin with a consonant. Likewise, if it ends with "a," the answer must begin with a vowel.
• A true-false test usually has more “true” than “false” answers.
• On true-false questions the words “always” and “never” are usually false. Words like “sometimes” and “usually” in a statement will more often produce true answers.