How to Raise Test Scores

It’s not Rocket Science

Teach for the Test, Not to the Test

Teach life skills If it’s not worth teaching, it’s not worth

testingThere is nothing on the test that should

not be in the curriculumCreate bridges between students

natural intelligences and learning styles.

Expect the Best; Accept No Less

Each learner is unique.Approach learning through different

pathways.Expect everyone to achieve.

Structure With Cooperative LearningResearch has found that cooperative

learning is the number one strategy for increased student achievement.

Students need to work frequently in small groups to improve their ability to be part of a team effort

Teach test-taking Strategies Explicitly

Test-taking skills are a metacognitive strategy that empowers students.

Teachers teach students how to be good learners as well as good test-takers.

Stress Prelearning Strategies

Learners use what they know to help them understand something new.

Chunk the Material for Deep Understanding

Teach students to look for similarities, common groupings.

Attach meaning to a subject by linking it to something familiar.

Organize with GraphicsDisplaying things graphically, students

must organize large amounts of knowledge.

Makes students think visually.

Reflect Through Mediation

Use questions to probe for what students do not understand

Think aloud activities

Express Idea with Mnemonic Devices and Visual Cues

Remembering lists, e.g., statesRemembering data, e.g., formulasRemembering rules, e.g., i before e, etc.

Seek Student Choices in Learning SituationsTeachers can establish broad

parameters and still give students choices.

When students are interested in knowing something, they are much more likely to learn it.