Teaching Test-Taking Skills to Behaviorally Disordered Students

Abstract

Researchers recently have suggested that behaviorally disordered students exhibit deficits in test-taking skills, the ability to use test cues to maximize test scores. These deficits may account partially for the low achievement scores commonly associated with this population. The present investigation was intended to determine whether behaviorally disordered students could be trained to improve test-taking skills relevant to content area tests. First, 34 behaviorally disordered adolescents were administered Slakter, Koehler, and Hampton's (1969) test of test-taking skills, matched for grade and pretest score, and assigned at random to experimental and control groups. Experimental group students were provided with training in specific test-taking skills relevant to content area, teacher-made tests, over a 5-day period while control students received their regularly scheduled instruction. After the training period, a posttest was administered. A two-way (group by test) analysis of variance indicated that experimental condition students scored significantly and substantially (nearly 50%) higher than untrained control students. Implications for research and training are discussed.