Testing Strategies

Test-Taking Strategies

Test-taking strategies are essential for students who suffer from test anxiety but help all students get mentally prepared for any type of high stakes test.

Here are few general guidelines to share with students:

1. Always arrive early to and take a moment to relax and reduce your anxiety.

2. Listen attentively to instructions.

3. Read the test directions very carefully and watch for details.

4. Start with the easiest section or questions to build your confidence.

5. Maintain a positive attitude. Don't let more difficult questions raise your anxiety and steal your valuable time. Move on and find success with other questions.

6. Do not second-guess yourself. The answer which comes to mind first is often correct. Nervously reviewing questions and changing answers can do more harm than good. (Research shows that students with test anxiety do this often)

7. Plan to finish early and have time to review over your answer choices. Make sure you have answered all the questions.

8. Eliminate unlikely answers first.