Attacking the Standardized Exam

Attacking the Standardized Exam
Author: Ronald S. Thompson
Publisher: Author House
Total Pages: 115
Release: 2011-09-16
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1463422059

I have spent the better part of the last 53 years taking well over a thousand multiple choice tests. As a teenager, I struggled through high school. Armed with an average IQ and some fairly significant learning disabilities, I barely graduating with a 1.4 grade point average. However, I was smart enough to figure out early on that much of academics, and that achieving success in academics, had far more to do with the ability to master multiple choice tests than raw intellect. From there I began a 35 year study on the art and science of passing, mastering and scoring high on multiple choice tests. Despite a very substandard high school GPA, I scored high enough on the SAT and the ACT to be accepted to the University of Michigan, one of the top academic institutions in the Country. Upon graduation from college, I accepted a commission as an officer in the United States Marine Corps. As a Marine Officer, I completed dozens of military and civilian schools, including a Masters Degree from Boston University, and a Juris Doctor Degree from the University of Detroit School of Law. In fact, I earned a full ride military scholarship to law school based primarily on the fact I scored so highly on the Law School Aptitude Test (98th percentile). Upon completion of law school, I passed the Michigan Bar exam on the first attempt, scoring 149 points on the multistate (the multiple choice portion of the exam), which was one question away from automatic passage (at 150 they examiners do not need to grade the essay portion). I have also taken and applied many of the Marine Corps concepts of discipline and mental toughness to the art of preparing for, taking, and passing multiple choice tests. Resigning my commission and leaving the Marine Corps in 1990, I continued both my education as well as honing my test taking skills. I currently hold 12 professional licenses and 5 professional designations, which required me to pass several comprehensive and difficult multiple choice examinations. I have also attended dozens of professional test preparation courses. From those courses I have cherry picked all of the valuable lessons and test taking tips and have included those in this book. One of the professional licenses I hold is a paramedic license. As a paramedic I have gained a much greater understanding of the anatomy and physiology of test taking. Test taking is all about the central nervous system, which of course includes the brain. However, as I explain in this book, it is clear that the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems have as much to do with passing and failing multiple choice tests as does the brain. Accordingly, I have also applied many of those principals in this book.

Attack of the Chicken Nugget Man

Attack of the Chicken Nugget Man
Author: Kumar Sathy
Publisher: Student Solutions Inc
Total Pages: 112
Release: 2011-03
Genre: Education
ISBN: 098217294X

Third-grader Chris Robb just can't seem to do anything right--failing tests, getting blamed for things he didn't do, and struggling to make friends. While school isn't his favorite place, it's crazy enough to keep him from getting bored. One of the craziest things is the Chicken Nugget Man. Only kids can see him, and only smart kids can capture him. There's a test that identifies the kids smart enough to find him, and Chris is sure he'll never be able to pass, unless he has a little help.

Standardized Minds

Standardized Minds
Author: Peter Sacks
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Total Pages: 351
Release: 2001-01-10
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9780738204338

"Standardized Minds" dramatically shows how an unhealthy and enduring obsession with intelligence testing affects everyone. Drawing creative solutions from the headlines and front lines, Sacks demonstrates proven alternatives to such testing, and details a plan to make the American meritocracy legitimate and fair.

Reading Comprehension Builder for Admission and Standardized Tests

Reading Comprehension Builder for Admission and Standardized Tests
Author:
Publisher: Research & Education Assoc.
Total Pages: 604
Release: 1996
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9780878917938

REA's Reading Comprehension Builder For students studying for any test with reading comprehension questions. REA's Skill Builders help students prepare for the specific skills and subjects tested on an exam. They are designed to tutor students on every skill level, from high school to graduate or professional school. Keys are included to show students which chapters to study for specific tests. REA’s Reading Comprehension Builder reviews all reading comprehension questions covered on standardized tests such as AP, ASVAB, CBEST, GED, GMAT, LSAT, PPST, PSAT, SAT. This book includes chapter reviews for basic reading comprehension, reading for content, reading for style, reading short passages, reading medium passages, reading long passages, and attacking critical reading questions. Each chapter includes a diagnostic test, drills, and a review of helpful test strategies. A chapter on vocabulary enhancement is also included for additional study and practice.

Kill the Messenger

Kill the Messenger
Author: Richard P. Phelps
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
Total Pages: 356
Release:
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9781412827140

"Kill the Messenger describes the current debate, the players, their interests, and their positions. It explains and refutes many of the common criticisms of testing. It describes testing opponents' strategies, through case studies of Texas and the SAT. It illustrates the profound media bias against testing. It acknowledges testing's limitations, and suggests how it can be improved. It defends testing by comparing it with its alternatives. And finally, it outlines the consequences for America of losing the "war on standardized testing.""--BOOK JACKET.

Measuring Up

Measuring Up
Author: Daniel Koretz
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2009-09-15
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0674254988

How do you judge the quality of a school, a district, a teacher, a student? By the test scores, of course. Yet for all the talk, what educational tests can and can’t tell you, and how scores can be misunderstood and misused, remains a mystery to most. The complexities of testing are routinely ignored, either because they are unrecognized, or because they may be—well, complicated. Inspired by a popular Harvard course for students without an extensive mathematics background, Measuring Up demystifies educational testing—from MCAS to SAT to WAIS, with all the alphabet soup in between. Bringing statistical terms down to earth, Daniel Koretz takes readers through the most fundamental issues that arise in educational testing and shows how they apply to some of the most controversial issues in education today, from high-stakes testing to special education. He walks readers through everyday examples to show what tests do well, what their limits are, how easily tests and scores can be oversold or misunderstood, and how they can be used sensibly to help discover how much kids have learned.

None of the Above

None of the Above
Author: David Owen
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 1999
Genre: Prediction of scholastic success
ISBN: 9780847695072

Part devastating expos, part savvy test guide, "None of the Above" demystifies the development of the SAT and offers practical strategies on how to beat the test.

Measuring Success

Measuring Success
Author: Jack Buckley
Publisher: JHU Press
Total Pages: 341
Release: 2018-01-15
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1421424967

"Once touted as the single best way to measure students from diverse backgrounds, schools, and experiences, standardized college admissions tests are now criticized for being hopelessly biased in favor of traditionally privileged groups. Out of this has emerged the test-optional movement that seeks to allow students to apply to schools without sitting through the rigors of the SAT. This book takes a step back and applies rigorous empirical measurements to these rival claims. Drawing upon the expertise of higher education researchers, admissions officers, enrollment managers, and policy professionals, this edited volume is among the first to investigate the research and policy implications of test-optional practices. It was conceived in response to the editors' frustration with the fragmented and incomplete state of the literature around the contemporary debate on college admissions testing. Many students, teachers, parents, policymakers--frankly, nearly anyone immediately outside the testing industry and college admissions--have little understanding of how admissions tests are used. This lack of transparency has often fueled beliefs that college assessments are biased, misused, or overused. Decades of research on various aspects of testing, such as the predictive validity of assessments, makes a compelling case for their value. But all-too-frequently researchers and admissions officers talk past one another instead of engaging substantively. This collection intends to remedy the situation by bringing these disparate voices together. This book is designed for provosts, enrollment managers, and college admissions officers seeking to strike the proper balance between uniformity and fairness"--

More Than a Score

More Than a Score
Author: Jesse Hagopian
Publisher: Haymarket Books
Total Pages: 338
Release: 2014-11-10
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1608464369

"Jesse Hagopian brought a rare moment of truth to the corporate-dominated Education Nation show when he spoke on behalf of his colleagues at Garfield High in Seattle. He instantly became the voice and face of the movement to stop pointless and punitive high-stakes testing."—Diane Ravitch, author of Reign of Terror In cities across the country, students are walking out, parents are opting their children out, and teachers are rallying against the abuses of high-stakes standardized testing. These are the stories—in their own words—of some of those who are defying the corporate education reformers and fueling a national movement to reclaim public education. Alongside the voices of students, parents, teachers, and grassroots education activists, the book features renowned education researchers and advocates, including Nancy Carrlson-Paige, Karen Lewis, and Monty Neill. Jesse Hagopian teaches history and is the Black Student Union adviser at Garfield High School, the site of the historic boycott of the MAP test in 2013. He is an associate editor of Rethinking Schools, and winner of the 2013 "Secondary School Teacher of Year" award from the Academy of Education Arts and Sciences. He is a contributing author to Education and Capitalism: Struggles for Learning and Liberation and 101 Changemakers: Rebels and Radicals Who Changed US History, and writes regularly for Truthout, Black Agenda Report, and the Seattle Times Op-Ed page.

Test

Test
Author: William Sleator
Publisher: Abrams
Total Pages: 204
Release: 2010-12-31
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 1613120028

Now in paperback! Pass, and have it made. Fail, and suffer the consequences. A master of teen thrillers tests readers’ courage in an edge-of-your-seat novel that echoes the fears of exam-takers everywhere. Ann, a teenage girl living in the security-obsessed, elitist United States of the very near future, is threatened on her way home from school by a mysterious man on a black motorcycle. Soon she and a new friend are caught up in a vast conspiracy of greed involving the mega-wealthy owner of a school testing company. Students who pass his test have it made; those who don’t, disappear . . . or worse. Will Ann be next? For all those who suspect standardized tests are an evil conspiracy, here’s a thriller that really satisfies! Praise for Test “Fast-paced with short chapters that end in cliff-hangers . . . good read for moderately reluctant readers. Teens will be able to draw comparisons to contemporary society’s shift toward standardized testing and ecological concerns, and are sure to appreciate the spoofs on NCLB.†? —School Library Journal “Part mystery, part action thriller, part romance . . . environmental and political overtones . . . fast pace and unique blend of genres holds attraction for younger teen readers.†? —Booklist