An Examination of Test-Wiseness In the Cognitive Test Domain

Sarnacki, Randolph E.

doi:10.3102/00346543049002252

Cited by 114 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Since the seminal article by Millman, Bishop, and Lt .1 in 1965 on test-wiseness, or test-taking skills, interest has grown in the construct ,..) f test-wiseness as a possible source of measurement error (5). Although some specific groups and populations have been said to be low in "test-wiseness" (9), the issue of whether or not students classified as learning disabled exhibit the same test-taking skills as nondisabled peers has only recently been investigated (10).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Analysis of Children's Strategy Use on Reading Achievement Tests

Scruggs¹,

Bennion²,

Lifson³

1985

The Elementary School Journal

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Analysis of Children's Strategy Use on Reading Achievement Tests

Scruggs¹,

Bennion²,

Lifson³

1985

The Elementary School Journal

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“…However, independently of teaching to the test there is a need for teachers to consider teaching students how to take a test. The need to apply appropriate test-taking strategies, what might be referred to as test-wiseness (Sarnacki, 1979), ensures that students are able to effectively demonstrate their knowledge of the material being tested. Test-wiseness has been defined in the literature "as a test-taker's capacity to utilize characteristics and formats of the test to receive a high score" (Peng, Hong & Mason, 2014, p. 368).…”

Section: Background Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of a short test-wiseness intervention on standardised numeracy assessment scores: A cautionary tale about using NAPLAN growth data to evaluate primary schools

Russo¹

2019

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

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Building on the rich tradition of 'teacher as researcher' in mathematics education, I describe a study undertaken whilst working as a mathematics specialist in an Australian primary school. The focus of the study was on examining whether explicitly teaching students test-taking strategies ('test-wiseness') improved their performance on a standardised numeracy assessment; specifically, a practice version of the Year 3 National Assessment Program -Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). The study was unusual for teacher-research in that it adopted an experimental design. Thirty-eight Year 2 students (7 and 8 year olds) were randomly allocated to either an intervention condition (n=19) focused on developing test wiseness, or a 'business as usual' control condition (n=19). It was found that exposure to test-taking strategies improved student numeracy performance, with the intervention group significantly out-performing the control group. Implications of the findings are discussed, with a particular focus on what they mean in an environment where schools are increasingly held to account through the use of 'value-add' metrics.

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“…If children become better prepared through practice, CaMLA may want to more strongly suggest that children take at least one sample test before a real YLTE test. Doing so may help the children become testwise, that is, able to apply appropriate and effective test-taking strategies relating to the test format (Sarnaki, 1979). Testwiseness through test preparation may help lower test-taking anxiety through basic test-format familiarization (Winke & Lim, in press).…”

Section: Bronze Part 4 Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Cognitive Validity of Child English Language Tests: What Young Language Learners and Their Native‐Speaking Peers Can Reveal

et al. 2017

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This study investigated the cognitive validity of two child English language tests. Some teachers maintain that these types of tests may be cognitively invalid because native‐English‐speaking children would not do well on them (Winke, 2011). So the researchers had native speakers and learners of English aged 7 to 9 take sample versions of two standardized English reading and writing tests: the Young Learners Tests of English, Bronze and Silver, administered by Cambridge Michigan Language Assessments. They videotaped the children taking the tests, had them draw pictures of how they felt during testing, and interviewed them. The tests reliably discriminated learners from native speakers. However, 3 of 25 items on the Bronze test and 5 of 40 on the Silver test proved more difficult for native speakers than for language learners. The researchers interviewed the children to uncover why; incorrect responses stemmed from lack of assessment literacy or age‐related cognitive limitations, not deficits in English. The researchers discuss whether this is a problem and conclude that standardized language tests for children, even those already psychometrically reliable and valid, can be improved upon by interviewing child test takers. They stress that parallel information from same‐age, native‐English‐speaking peers is informative in revealing construct‐irrelevant variance.

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An Examination of Test-Wiseness In the Cognitive Test Domain

Cited by 114 publications

References 35 publications

An Analysis of Children's Strategy Use on Reading Achievement Tests

An Analysis of Children's Strategy Use on Reading Achievement Tests

The impact of a short test-wiseness intervention on standardised numeracy assessment scores: A cautionary tale about using NAPLAN growth data to evaluate primary schools

The Cognitive Validity of Child English Language Tests: What Young Language Learners and Their Native‐Speaking Peers Can Reveal

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