13 Evidence-Based Test Taking Strategies to Maximize Your Students’ Exam Success

Between 10 – 40% of all students experience some level of test anxiety. This rises to 70% in females, especially in math and science. While these rates vary, depending on factors such as gender, race and socio-economic status, test taking strategies can better prepare students and relieve stress.

School leaders and teachers must ensure students are equipped with the curriculum knowledge and test taking strategies they need to achieve highly in school.

This guide explores effective test taking skills students can use before, during and after test day to ensure they perform to the best of their ability, improve outcomes and succeed academically.

What are test taking strategies?

Test-taking strategies are taught and learned procedures that maximize one’s performance and confidence on assessments. These test prep strategies are beneficial to all children, especially starting in third grade, when students begin taking state assessments.

Understanding these methods is just as important as knowing the content being assessed. In addition to understanding the knowledge, students need to demonstrate their understanding too.

Why do students need to develop test taking strategies?

Students can achieve higher test scores by being well-prepared and well-versed in how to take tests, so it is important to be ready! These strategies range from academic to emotional to behavioral.

Effective test taking strategies can lead to:

1. Increased academic performance.

All students are expected to demonstrate knowledge and skills through assessments. Having a better understanding of the exam process improves academic scores.

2. Reduced test anxiety

When test anxiety arises before or during a test, performance can decrease, even if a student is knowledgeable about the material on the test.

Learning coping mechanisms for testing procedures can lead to improved outcomes because they can help students feel more comfortable and confident about tackling the assessment.

3. Improved critical thinking and problem-solving skills

Learning how to interpret test questions and think critically about content in different ways improves the ability to analyze, interpret, and justify one’s thinking.

Preparing for the Test

Alexander Graham Bell noted, “Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.”  Preparing students for success is an important teaching component. Teachers and school leaders must help students grasp the lesson content and prepare them to demonstrate their understanding. 

School leaders need to understand the content area skills assessed at each grade level and support teachers with time and schedule demands to allow maximum time for instruction, with as few interruptions as possible. 

Teachers should sit the related assessment before teaching a unit, chapter, or lesson. It will greatly improve the focus of each lesson if the teacher: 

• Is clear on the language used in the assessment;

• Knows which skills are tested;

• Is familiar with how students are expected to display their knowledge. 

When teachers cannot take the test themselves, such as with state testing, they can often find released test items from previous years or sample questions that test companies put out to give students an idea of what types of questions they will find on the test.

The best way to teach test preparation skills is to make them part of the everyday classroom routine. Instructing students on effective study strategies can lead to lifelong learning habits and strong test-taking skills. In turn, this can lead to higher achievement on assessments.

13 test taking strategies

Before the test

There are many ways teachers can prepare learners for tests before they sit them. Here are some pre-test taking strategies to incorporate into everyday learning.

1. Cultivate good study habits

Help students create a study schedule. Announce assessments with enough time to allow students to create a study schedule. Assist them in learning how to do this by incorporating it into homework assignments and classroom routines. End each lesson with a summary of what was learned. Begin each new lesson with a quick review of previous material.

Encourage learners to avoid last-minute cramming by reminding them to review notes and materials a little each day instead of waiting until the day before and needing to cram everything at once.

2. Dedicate classroom study spaces

Set up areas in the classroom in a way that is conducive to studying and minimizes distractions. Allow students to be comfortable yet alert and focused.

Discuss with students how to find the best area at home to study, free from distractions.

3. Gather materials the night before

Whether this is the school’s or the student’s responsibility, having all the necessary materials ready the evening before helps increase confidence and decreases stress.

During classroom discussions, have students consider their current practices for organizing their materials and offer ideas for improvement. Keep families informed of classroom goals around organizing and preparedness so they can assist at home.

4. Use active learning techniques

Active learning techniques increase student engagement, which increases achievement. Some active learning techniques to improve test technique include:

• As a lesson closure, ask students to list three concepts they learned, then exchange lists with a classmate.

• Ask students to create five questions they would expect to see on a test on the material covered that day. Encourage variety in the types of questions they write.

• Allow students to mark their own quizzes and practice tests; afterwards, assign “Test Corrections” where students redo test items they got incorrect along with an explanation of their errors.

The more involved students are with the assessment process, the more confident and comfortable they will feel when it’s time to take the test themselves.

5. Regular review

Consistent review helps deepen and build a conceptual understanding, moving beyond rote memorization to comprehension and application.

Review does not have to only happen during lessons. For example, if students are learning measurement concepts, ask them how many feet they think the walk to lunch was, and then measure later to check for accuracy.

6. Exposure to the test format

Knowing what to expect can make the test feel more approachable. Familiarize students with the:

• Test structure;

• Answer sheet;

• Question types;

• Time management.

Encourage students to leave a hard or time-consuming question and come back to it later if possible. Spending most of the time on one question leads to poor time management and decreased emotional energy which can lead to decreased performance.

Sometimes it is beneficial to answer questions in a different order than in which they are presented. Answering the quick, simpler questions first may improve students’ confidence and comfort level, leaving them more time and mental energy to tackle the longer, more challenging questions.

7. Take practice tests

To build confidence and time management, and help identify learning gaps students should sit practice tests.

If items are multiple choice, look at the distractor questions to identify students’ misconceptions. For older students, ask them to look at the incorrect answer choices and give reasons why the author included those wrong answers.

Good assessments have reasonable incorrect answer choices, and familiarizing students with this aspect of testing can help them discover common mistakes that are made.

Third Space Learning’s math experts have created practice state assessments for Common Core Math Standards and state-aligned standards.

Each test mimics the structure and format of state-specific assessments from 3rd-8th grade. All questions help identify learning gaps and student misconceptions with one right answer and carefully designed distracor answers.

8. Interventions

For struggling students, interventions such as one-on-one tutoring may be beneficial in the lead up to big tests such as state assessments, ACT and the SATs.

Since 2013, Third Space Learning has provided one-on-one math interventions to help schools close the math achievement gap.

Each student works with a dedicated tutor to identify and address specific learning gaps. Schools can either provide their own test data or follow one of our expertly designed learning pathways, personalized to students through ongoing assessment and adaptive teaching.

Schools can choose the length and frequency of sessions to best suit their schedules and as lessons are online, they can take place at school or at home.

During the test

When teachers incorporate test-taking strategies into regular classroom activities, they can help students become familiar with techniques such as:

• Time management;

• Process of elimination;

• Educated guessing.

Encouraging students to practice these strategies during classroom assessments can build their confidence and reduce test anxiety. Additionally, providing feedback and conducting review sessions can help students refine students’ skills and prepare better for future exams.

Here are some methods students can use during assessments to help them gain as many marks as possible.

1. Read the test carefully

Be sure students are familiar with all test question types and expected responses. Sometimes multiple choice questions have more than one possible answer. Some essay responses require a certain layout to them. Being more familiar with the layout of a test lends itself to building confidence and being able to relax.

Encourage students to review the entire test and plan their time accordingly. Constructing an essay response will take more time than answering true/false questions. Students may prefer to complete the quick questions first to get them out of the way.

Understanding and responding effectively to essay questions is crucial. Teach students strategies for identifying the key words in essay prompts and emphasize the importance of thorough preparation and organization in addressing these questions to maximize performance.

Teach students how to identify answer choices that are wrong to improve their chances of getting the correct answer – for example, look out for words like “always” and “never”. Have a rough idea of what kind of number is correct in a math item.

Encourage educated guessing. Even if a student does not answer every part of a question correctly, they may get partial credit.

2. Work efficiently

Remind students to answer the questions they know first. If possible, read through the entire test and start with the simplest questions. This will help with time management and ease any anxiety that might arise during the test.

Advise students to avoid leaving any answer blank and to make educated guesses if they are unsure, as omitting an answer might harm their overall score.

Ensure students understand what each question is asking. Misinterpreting test items leads to incorrect answers and increased stress.

Students should keep answers concise and only answer the question asked. They do not need to offer additional information that is not being asked. This will allow for extra time on questions that may require more detail.

Encourage students to use visualization techniques to help them remember information and associate it with mental images.

Toward the end of the test, students should review answers to ensure they are accurate and complete. Instruct students to complete the entire test and then go back to review and edit. Sometimes, revisiting a response helps students clarify their thoughts.

3. Stay organized and focused

Allocate time accordingly. You can practice this with students before the test so they can do it independently when needed. Teach students how to decide which questions to tackle first and remind them to dedicate more time to challenging questions if needed.

Remind students to focus on one question at a time to prevent them from becoming overwhelmed. For some students, “masking” is very helpful. This entails covering up any questions not currently being answered in order to help focus on the current task and not allow eyes to wander to later questions, which could break focus.

Another technique to remain focused is to eliminate options in multiple-choice questions and make an educated guess when unsure.

For example, on a math question, students may know the answer cannot be negative or it must be a decimal or has to be greater than 100 before they even solve the problem. Instruct them to cross those options off before solving in order to lessen the possibility of overwhelm and overthinking.

After the test 

After the test, allow time for students to reflect on their experience and analyze their performance. Free writing is a great way to accomplish this. Have students write about parts that seemed easiest and most challenging, including the types of questions they encountered.

Using a previous test experience to prepare for the next one can help improve test-taking skills; encourage students to re-read their thoughts before the next assessment.

Here are some tried and tested methods to improve for the next test day post-assessment.

1. Check work at the end of the test

Always remind students to check their answers at the end of an assessment to ensure they are accurate and complete. Have students check that they have read the question correctly and answered all parts of a question.

Students should double-check work to ensure no questions have been missed. Have students pay particular attention to directions given in questions; for example, if a writing prompt asks students to provide three reasons to support their thinking, have them check to make sure they have actually provided three separate reasons.

2. Review sessions

Plan review sessions to help students learn from mistakes and improve performance.

You could identify areas of improvement for the class and individuals. Consider:

• How can material be presented differently?

• Are there areas that need more time for instruction, or need to be taught in a different sequence?

• Are there certain question types that are more challenging for students?

If so, find ways to incorporate these types into everyday lessons.

Finally, encourage students to do something fun and relaxing after the test. Allow decompression time for students to take a break from cognitive challenges.

Managing Test Anxiety

Test-taking anxiety is a common experience for many students and you’ll likely have students in your class experience this.

However, several strategies can help reduce anxiety, relieve stress and help students perform better on tests. Here are some well-being tips to help reduce test-taking anxiety.

Well-being test taking strategies

Teach students calming techniques and encourage them to use them during testing in order to stay focused, do their best, and deal with any test anxiety that arises. This may include deep breaths and breathing exercises, visualizations and short meditations to calm nerves.

Use positive self-talk to boost confidence and encourage a growth mindset. Encourage students to view mistakes as opportunities to learn and understand where they need to focus their study sessions to improve.

Recognizing and combating negative thinking through positive affirmations and rituals can foster a positive mindset and improve overall performance.

Taking regular breaks to help manage stress and anxiety can help students’ mindset. When studying at home, getting up to stretch or taking a short walk when possible is a good idea.

Promote positive thinking and encourage students to write about negative thoughts. Before the test, allow students time to discuss their concerns about the test and offer each other support. Knowing that others feel the same way can go a long way in easing anxieties.

Finally, remind students to get a good night’s sleep the night before the test and eat a healthy breakfast to ensure they are well-rested, alert and focused.

Students who feel unprepared for the test are unlikely to be able to wind down enough to do this, so using the strategies presented here can help a student achieve a good, solid night of sleep.

How Third Space Learning supports test taking strategies

Online one-on-one math tutoring provides a safe environment for students to take risks with their learning and review. Students feel comfortable in a low-stakes space to make errors and ask questions they may not otherwise do in a larger group or whole class.

As well as covering state-specific math curriculum, Third Space Learning’s tutors encourage students to use effective math strategies and test taking strategies in each session. This helps to familiarize learners with the techniques required to answer questions in a testing environment.

A final note on test-taking

Test-taking skills are an important aspect of education. Students need guidance in not only the content that will be assessed but also the best way to demonstrate mastery of content.

The same material, when asked in different ways, can have very different expected responses. Tests naturally cause some degree of apprehension, which can make it very difficult to perform optimally.

Learning how to tackle assessments and reduce stress is beneficial for all students to achieve their highest potential.

References

National Library of Medicine, Test anxiety and a high-stakes standardized reading comprehension test: A behavioral genetics perspective, McDonald, 2010; Segool et al., 2013; von der Embse et al., 2013

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