THE EFFECTS OF INSTRUCTION AND PRACTICE IN CONTENT‐INDEPENDENT TEST‐TAKING TECHNIQUES UPON THE STANDARDIZED READING TEST SCORES OF SELECTED SECOND‐GRADE STUDENTS

Twenty‐four relatively test‐naive second‐grade students received eight 30‐minute periods of deliberate instruction and practice in content‐independent standardized test‐taking techniques over a four‐week period. Immediate and delayed effects of treatment were assessed through an analysis of improvement in standardized reading test scores as measured by the difference between experimental and control groups in the Stanford Reading Test. The results showed that students who received instruction and practice in test‐taking techniques achieved significantly higher scores on both the immediate posttest administered the week following treatment and the delayed posttest administered four months after treatment. Mean differences were about a quarter of a standard deviation.