Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment How to teach test taking skills

I am going to apply to a few sought after private schools in my area in the next 2 months for my DS who is 6 years old (entering 2nd grade). All of them have entrance exams which include "achievement" testing as one of the components to the exam. My DS always makes mistakes due to carelessness in his school testing. He gets facts that he knows very well wrong during testing - couple this with his atrocious handwriting, he gets around 95% in a subject where he should be getting 100% - for e.g. he had written 19-5=15 in a test and when I asked him to read it to me, he read the same thing as 19-5=14 and when I pointed out his written wrong answer, he said that he was not paying attention while reading it and during the test. Another example - he had to write the abbreviation for the state New Mexico - his answer was scrawled and looked like NN - I could see that he had attempted an M for the last letter but he had not written the letter out neatly or properly and it ended up with the strokes stuck to each other and looking more like an N than an M. Our handwriting struggles have a long history and I am just glad that he is writing and not refusing to write at this point, but these things are going to penalize him in an achievement test.

He also gets very anxious when timed and then he loses his sanity and nothing he writes makes sense after that.

I am applying to schools that promise to meet him at his level and consider the acceleration that we requested. But, they do want him to take an achievement test to determine his level and to see if he meets the criteria for acceleration. I am against coaching a child for an entrance test - but, I think that I need to help my child find strategies to show what he knows in a test instead of making mistakes due to carelessness. I want to teach him to think, slow down, be careful, double check and control his instincts during a test. How do I teach him these basic test taking strategies?

ashley, I think that it is going to depend on the exact format of the achievement test that they offer/require.

We've focused on having my DD be familiar with the testing format and style of questions, eventually going toward timed practices-- that really helps in terms of reducing the anxiety.

Looking at what TYPES of questions/topics are most problematic can help, too, in terms of strategy. "When the problem uses the word 'difference' it seems like you might need to slow down and read the question again to avoid making mistakes. What do you think about trying that next time to see if it works?"

Test prep software intended for kids to do better on state testing might be helpful to you. Also, sometimes the state DoEd website has practice tests that can be printed.

Thank you, HK. These schools use either the ERB or the Iowa test. I appreciate your experience and input - even on the threads I don't participate in

I did not think of doing timed practices at home - it is an excellent idea because I may be able to help him cope with his anxiety at home ahead of the tests.

I am working on making him slow down and not being impatient while taking tests.

I was not aware of Test Prep software - time to go check them out ...

Curriculum associates (a publishing co) has a series of test prep booklets Test Ready I think is the series. I think individually they are like 6 or 7 dollars.

DD has a problem with multiple choice standardized reading tests, for instance she seems to impulsively choose answers rather than considering each possible choice or the pros/cons of picking one choice over another. I bought her a Scholastic Reading Tests book over the summer and had her do some of it. Her fall reading comprehension score went up dramatically from her spring score since she became more adept at multiple choice test taking. I did not teach her anything about reading--it was just a matter of teaching her how to take tests. I just ordered her the next higher book to work on over Christmas break (turned out the one I bought her was way below her level but it still helped her).