In order to satisfy state-testing mandates as set forth by No Child Left Behind, students in Mississippi who wish to graduate from a state-accredited high school are required to complete a subject area exam in Algebra I, Biology I, English II, and United States History
A good way to improve state-testing scores or increasing standardized test scores (ACT, SAT) is to allow students to collaborate in groups and have them mimic test questions that they will likely see on their state test. In order to make this a successful learning experience, I always provide my students with a copy of a practice state test. This allows students to see
the type of questions contained in the exam, and it provides students with something concrete to model. It is important to remind students to create test questions that are on the same difficulty level as the practice test.
If students can write test questions, they are more apt to have a better understanding of the material. Creating test questions challenges students to engage in higher-order thinking to duplicate not only the question, but they must also learn to create usable and effective distracters.
The benefits from creating test questions, answers, and distracters are numerous. First, students learn how distracters work. Students will generally see that two distracters are wrong and that leaves two answers that could be possibilities.
In other words, students will see if they can eliminate those two distracters, that are wrong, they understand that their odds of answering questions correctly increases. Remind students that answering a multiple choice test follows the same principle when one is playing the lottery—you always want to increase your odds. With regard to the creating the distracters, students learn test-taking strategies that are only going to help them when they complete their state test.
In addition to increasing standardized test scores, teachers benefit.
If students create sample test questions, teachers have practice tests that are suitable for use in the classroom, which are already student-approved as they created the material on which they can earn their
grades. In turn, the more practice exams a teacher has, the less time a teacher has to spend developing and creating practice tests. The more practice a student gets answer sample tests, the better his or her score should be when testing day arrives. This is one of those situations in which everyone benefits.
.