The Effects of an Instructional Test-Taking Unit on Achievement Test Scores

Children can be handicapped when taking a standardized achievement test because of a basic unfamiliarity with the test-taking skills unique to each test. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of practice with an instructional test-taking unit on students' test performance gains with the Metropolitan Achievement Test. A modified Solomon Four-Group design was used to evaluate the test performance of 170 first grade students who received multiple, single, or no presentations of the instructional test-taking unit. The results indicated that mean grade equivalent gains were enhanced through practice with the instructional test-taking unit. Additionally, students who received multiple presentations of the instructional test-taking unit produced greater gains than those students who received a single presentation.