It’s an understatement to say that students take many tests throughout their academic careers. From state-specific standardized exams to those infamous college-readiness tests like the SAT and ACT, students are expected to test multiple times a year—that’s why students of every grade should be familiar with test-taking strategies.
We’re diving into reliable and easy-to-use testing tips that’ll help you navigate through whatever exam’s set in front of you, helping you spot right answers and save time on your test!
Basic Test-Taking Strategies
There are many simple testing strategies that are easy ways to set yourself up for success during the exam you’re taking. Especially if you’re a younger student (or the parent/teacher of one)—these easy-to-remember strategies for Elementary students and older will keep you on-track as you work through a long test.
1. Understand the Instructions
This may seem obvious, but having a solid understanding of what you’re expected to do on your exam will help you work through the test correctly and confidently.
Don’t automatically assume that test directions are like others you’ve taken in the past! Taking the exam in a way that isn’t consistent with the instructions could result in incomplete questions—or even a canceled test.
Make sure that you understand the test directions and ask questions if you’re confused! Research the test’s format in advance, read through the instructions when the test is in front of you, and pay close attention to any verbal directions given by the proctor. For instance, you may only be allowed to work on one section at a time, or the time you have to complete the exam is different than you’d thought before.
2. Underline Key Terms
As you work through the exam, underline or circle all the key words you come across. Each question will contain certain terms that will help you identify what it’s asking and how to solve it. Using tactics like underlining words that stand out or hint at what the question is looking for will help you focus on the problem, draw on your memory of that topic, and work through it.
3. Visualize your Study Environment
Every student has been there—they come across a question about a topic they know they’ve studied, but their mind draws a blank.
When you struggle to solve a problem that you remember studying, take a minute to visualize the environment you studied in. Close your eyes, imagine you’re at your desk (maybe even listening to your study playlist), and pretend you’re working on a practice problem after reviewing lessons about that topic. Drawing on your memories of studying helps your brain recall more details from that experience, and can help you remember details about the topic.
4. Use Your Time Wisely
You have a limited amount of time to answer the questions presented to you for any test. Make sure to keep an eye on the clock and avoid burning too much time on any one question—that’s why skipping longer questions and coming back to them later is a great test taking strategy (we’ll discuss more later). At the same time, don’t rush—focus on questions and avoid distraction, but don’t feel like you have to zoom through the test.
If you have leftover time, be sure to use it wisely. Double-check that you answered all the questions—do not leave any blank answers. Make educated guesses when you can; even guessing randomly gives you a 25% chance of getting the answer right, better than the 0% chance when you leave the question blank.
Once you make sure each question is answered, go back through the problems and check your work. You can rework math problems, focusing on the ones you’re least confident in, and change your answers if you’re sure they’re incorrect.
Multiple Choice Test-Taking Strategies
While many exams integrate short answer questions or essays to test students’ topic knowledge without the potential of guessing, the most common question format is multiple-choice.
Like we mentioned above: since there are (usually) four answer choices for each question, you have a 25% chance of getting each multiple choice question right! There are several strategies you can use to supplement your knowledge and help you deduce those correct answers or make strong, educated guesses.
1. Answer Easy Questions First
Your test-taking time is precious, and you don’t want to waste too much of it on any one question. This is especially true for questions towards the beginning of the test, since many standardized tests organize their questions from easy to hard. Similarly, most tests weight all questions the same, so you get the same credit for answering an easy question correctly that you do for answering a much harder question correctly. Because of this, focusing on simple, easy questions (that often appear earlier in the test) is a good strategy.
If some questions look completely foreign to you or start to take longer than expected to solve, make a note and skip them. Then, once you complete all the easier ones, return to those that you skipped. This way, you can spend more time on complex problems after having completed most of the exam.
2. Cross Out Obviously Wrong Answers
Many of the wrong answers throughout a multiple-choice test are meant to look like they could be the right answer, but there will be some incorrect answers that are glaringly obvious.
Use the process of elimination to rule out answers that are obviously incorrect. Whether you immediately see through the deception in an answer choice or start to work out the problem and see that it’s an impossible solution, cross it out. Process of elimination helps you narrow down your options—this gives you fewer answers to consider as you determine the right one and increases your chances of making a correct educated guess.
On the topic of looking at wrong answers—reading through the wrong answer choices on a question can even clue you in on choosing the correct one! This is why it’s so important to read through all the answer choices for every multiple-choice question, even if you think you know the answer immediately.
3. Use Educated Guessing Strategies
Taking the time to solve a test question is obviously the most reliable way of finding the right answer, but there are situations where you’ll need to make an educated guess. Whether you’re running short on time, know you’ve already spent too long trying to decipher a problem, or at your wit’s end trying to figure it out—educated guessing is the right move!
These simple strategies will help you deduce a likely answer choice using logic:
Frequency of Occurrence
When a question looks for multiple ideas in the answers, look for items that are repeated in more than one of the answer choices.
For example:
The following languages are spoken in Cyprus:
A. Macedonian and Greek
B. Turkish and French
C. Spanish and Lebanese
D. Greek and Turkish
D is correct. Greek and Turkish each appear twice throughout the answer choices, while the other options, Macedonian, French, Spanish, and Lebanese each only appear once.
Eliminating Extremes
When the answers are numerical options with great variation, it’s likely that the correct answer lies somewhere in the middle. Eliminate the answer choices that are highest and lowest in value.
For example:
Scientists determined that the first humans evolved how many years ago?
A. 20 million years ago
B. 7 million years ago
C. 3 million years ago
D. Half a million years ago
Choose between B and C, eliminating the largest and smallest values.
Similar and Opposite Pairs
Sometimes, there will be two answer choices that are very similar or nearly opposites. If you see this phenomenon among answer choices, the correct choice is likely one of them.
For example:
Perturb most nearly means…
A. to analyze
B. to disturb
C. to enter
D. to reassure
Choose between B and D, which are nearly opposites.
Fill in the blank in this idiom: “Let the ____ fall where they may.”
A. chops
B. bills
C. chips
D. cakes
Choose between A and C—they sound very similar.
Umbrella Option Strategy
Some questions may have one answer choice that encompasses the other answers; it usually means that all the choices are partially correct and, therefore, the “umbrella option” is correct.
For example:
Which of the following can reduce test-taking anxiety?
A. Deep breathing
B. Muscle relaxation techniques
C. Visualization exercises
D. Practicing relaxation techniques
Choose D—”relaxation techniques” encompasses all the other answers.
English & Math Standardized Test-Taking Strategies
Middle or high school students regularly take standardized tests in reading and math, so it’s essential to have tried-and-true testing strategies on hand ahead of those important exams. From tips on saving time reading lengthy passages to advice for narrowing down answer choices, we’re diving into the test-taking strategies that every student should know on English and math tests.
Testing Strategies for ELA Exams
The name of the game on reading and English tests is comprehending texts efficiently. It’s easy to lose focus and get distracted as you read passages, especially when their subject matter is not particularly interesting. Students find it easy to lose focus on ELA tests, catching themselves daydreaming or just reading the words on the test packet without comprehending them.
Losing focus for even five or ten minutes on a passage is a loss of critical test-taking time. So, the challenge of these ELA exams is to engage with your full focus while conserving your time—which these strategies will help you do!
1. Read the Questions First
On exams like the ISEE, ACT, and those yearly state-administered standardized tests, reading sections typically task students with reading several passages. Each passage is grouped with a set of corresponding, multiple-choice questions. The Digital SAT differs slightly—each reading comprehension SAT question pairs with a short, mini-passage that is only a few sentences long. Whether a passage has one question or many, we recommend that you read them before you read the passage.
Since each question asks you to comprehend what you’ve read, reading the questions ahead of the passage will tell you what you’re looking for. You’ll approach the passage primed with the knowledge of what ELA aspects you’re being tested on so that you can pay special attention to them.
This is a huge time-saving strategy. You may be asked about a character’s development or the use of a particular metaphor—knowing this ahead of time will help you pay attention to that character or figurative language as you read, saving you the time of re-reading later on. Knowing what to look for will also help you avoid a future re-read by helping you read with intention and avoid faltering concentration.
2. Underline or Circle Important Details
Make note of important details throughout your exam, especially on the ELA/reading section!
As you read questions, underline/circle key terms for what you’ll be looking for. (Like names of people and places, literary tools, or line numbers, for example.) Then, as you read through a passage, do the same for details that relate to the questions. If you’re someone who processes ideas well by writing, make notes by the passage that mark plot points or summarize paragraphs.
Marking the passage based on your knowledge of the questions will help you mentally process and easily reference it! This will also help you maintain focus and, thus, manage your time.
3. Anticipate the Correct Answer—Before Reading the Choices
Our one caveat to ELA strategy tip #1: avoid reading the answer choices before the questions. This is because wrong answers are written to lead you astray, involving other aspects of the passage that sound relevant but actually aren’t.
When you finish reading a passage and move onto answering its question(s), consider how you’d answer it if it was free-response. Once you have your answer, then read all of the answer choices. If your mental answer was correct, one of the choices will be similar and you can bubble that answer then move on! If none of the choices match, you can then work through the question using other strategies we discuss throughout this article.
4. Watch Out for Qualifiers and Absolutes
You’ll often come across answer choices that contain modifiers, which are keywords that can actually hint at the correct answer choice. While these keywords are used on tests of any subject, they’re most common on ELA exams. There are two types of modifiers that you’ll come across: ones that are absolutes, and ones that are qualifiers that fall between extremes.
Absolutes alter a statement to show that it happens 100% of the time or 0% of the time. Some examples are: will, every, never, always, impossible, certainly, none, and all.
Qualifiers that fall between extremes and convey that something could happen or sometimes happens are usually true. Some examples are: sometimes, frequently, seldom, often, many, rarely, few, some, generally, possibly, many, might, likely, and unlikely.
Generally, answers that contain absolutes are less likely to be correct; it’s much harder for something to always be true or to never be true than it is for it to sometimes be true or occasionally be true. Oftentimes, three of the four answer choices will contain absolutes and one will contain a qualifier—in that case, the one with the qualifier is likely the correct answer. When only one or two answer choices have absolutes, those are safe bets to eliminate as you deduce the right answer.
Test Taking Strategies for Math Tests
Math exams don’t come with a text to reference like reading tests do. You’ll be pulling from only your own knowledge, so it’s especially important to work carefully and double-check your work. These math test-taking strategies will help you stay on-track as you work through math questions, helping you choose the right answers and finish in time.
1. Make a “Brain Dump” First Thing
The questions on standardized math exams often pull from years of math instruction, and you’ll likely have dozens of formulas and rules floating in your mind as a result of studying. Many math tests also come with reference sheets, but they won’t include all the formulas you’ll need. That’s why we suggest that you make a “brain dump” as soon as you can start on a math standardized test.
When time starts on your test, write down the key formulas you remember on the margins of the packet or on a small section of your scratch sheet. There are so many formulas you’ll need to utilize throughout the test, especially if it’s a college admissions test like the ACT or SAT. By writing down those formulas, you’ll be able to easily reference them as you work through the exam.
Tip: To make your “brain dump” as helpful as possible, create your own formula sheet as you study for your test and try to memorize it in the days ahead!
2. Rephrase Questions in Your Own Words
Sometimes, a test will phrase math problems differently than your teachers or homework assignments do. Other times, the way a question is presented may seem misleading, adding additional information that is irrelevant to the problem you’re tasked to solve.
If a question is ever presented in a way that’s unusual or confusing to you, try to rewrite it in your own words to aid your understanding. You can also mentally explain equations and formulas in words, which can help you think through the concepts that are being tested and explore how to find the solution. Remember to circle or underline keywords that indicate what the question is looking for!
3. Try Each Possible Answer
As we advised you to do on ELA tests, you should attempt to solve the problem before looking through the possible choices. If you struggle to solve the problem, then try to plug-in the answer choices into the problem. Work math problems backwards with each answer to see if they make sense!
Combined with the process of elimination, this is also an excellent strategy for situations where you’re low on time and don’t have time to work through every problem.
4. Make Estimations
This final math test-taking strategy is another excellent tip for those times where you feel rushed and don’t have as much time left as you’d like.
When you glance at a question’s answer choices and see that there is a large amount of variation between values, use estimation to get close to the right answer. For example, if you’re asked to solve 78 x 13, try 80 x 12 instead. That’s an easy solve: 8 x 12, then add a 0 on the end. Then, just find the answer choice closest to (but lower than) 960.
This strategy doesn’t work too well when the answer choices are closer in range. If that’s the case and you have limited time, do the estimation anyway to eliminate the furthest values—then use other multiple choice testing strategies to narrow down the best educated guess.
The Best Test-Taking Strategy: Studying in Advance
Getting familiar with test-taking strategies is a great way to improve your testing abilities! Whether you’re taking the ACT, SAT, ISEE, another standardized test, or even in-class unit exams, we hope these tips and tricks help you deduce the right answers and save you precious test time. That being said, no test taking strategy will help you more than studying in advance will!
If you want to score well on standardized tests, the tried-and-true method is a repeated cycle of taking practice tests and using the results to relearn topic weaknesses. Taking practice tests ahead of a test (and retaking the exam after your first test day) has been proven to result in higher scoring because you’re repeatedly exposed to the test material and format.
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