Test-Specific Thinking

In Test-Specific Thinking, the authors provide recommended practices, methods, and means for educators to implement structural schemas into teaching, helping students better prepare for tests and formulate stronger responses to certain question frames. Armed with a better understanding of how tests are designed, teachers will increase their students’ chances of success with higher achievement scores and greater confidence when taking standardized exams.

K–12 teachers and school leaders can use this book to:


Examine recurrent structural patterns common in English and mathematics assessment questions
Break down sample test questions to identify the skills or response a certain frame seeks
Incorporate test item structures into classroom teaching to better prepare students as test takers
Develop and design assessments that familiarize students with the frames they will encounter on external exams
Boost student confidence and increase performance on standardized tests

Contents:

Introduction: Revealing an Inconvenient Truth

Chapter 1: Understanding Test-Specific Thinking

Chapter 2: Connecting ELA Item Frames to Academic Content

Chapter 3: Using ELA Item Frames in Classroom Instruction

Chapter 4: Connecting Mathematics Item Frames to Academic Content

Chapter 5: Using Mathematics Item Frames in Classroom Instruction

Chapter 6: Supporting and Integrating the Use of Item Frames

Chapter 7: Leading Item-Frame Usage at the School and District Levels

Epilogue: Pulling Back the Curtain

References and Resources

Index