We began this study with the problems which both aptitude and achievement tests present to the elementary school child whose aim is beyond "school until the law lets me quit" or an easy general course providing no college entrance credits. Dealing with fundamentals from the importance of words and the way a's and n's are written to the skills of learning and the reasons for learning, material has been provided for the growth of the mental stature of the child. Having applied himself he stands straighter and moves toward the test and examination room with a quiet air of assurance rather than in a state of frenzied confusion. Foundation, understanding, and approach seem to have reduced the tests in size until they are no longer insurmountable barriers. And all this is as it should be, for the purpose of tests is to reward and not to punish.

As mentioned earlier, the idea of tests and questions should be started in the very early years of reading. The purpose of tests and their nature should be reviewed and emphasized constantly from the fifth grade on. The proper methods of review should be studied until they are habit. Before regular tests and examinations are studied, there are some things which can be observed concerning aptitude and achievement tests such as appear in chapter one.

There are a number of questions which the child needs to have answered. What do these do? What is the difference between aptitude and achievement? Am I expected to finish all the questions? How can I prepare for these tests? What are the most important things to remember when I am in the testing room?

Both the school and the home can help allay the fear which often is expressed in questions.

What do these tests do? They are designed to tell something of the ability to read, to understand what is read, and to do problems in arithmetic. Aptitude tests are not graded; the student does not get a 90 or a 75. They are scored; that is, one test is compared with other tests taken by people in the same grade and age group. The score that is given determines how good the student is at these things in comparison with other boys and girls. The comparisons are usually expressed in percentiles. If a child is in the 73rd percentile in reading comprehension, it means that, per hundred, he is better than 72 people at his group level, and not as good as 27 of his age and grade level. Some aptitude tests are also scored by grade level. That is, the arithmetic score might be 9.2 P.S.M., which means that ability in arithmetic is slightly above ninth grade level as measured by the public school median.

What is the difference between aptitude and achievement? Aptitude measures ability for doing certain things. The aptitudes which are measured at elementary school level are usually reading comprehension (how well one understands what one reads), English usage (word knowledge, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, writing), and arithmetic (ability to use the fundamental operations to solve problems, and skill in recognizing number relationships). Achievement tests go beyond aptitude and find out what has been learned, how much information has been accumulated from the study of these subjects, and also how well the student can organize that material into correct answers.

Is the student expected to finish all the questions? The tests include material for a large range age and grade level—from sixth to tenth or more. The child is not expected to finish all the questions. If the tests are being taken at eighth grade level, the scoring devices know exactly how much of the test is required. The concern should be for doing as many questions as possible, carefully and correctly, in the allotted time.

How can the student prepare for these tests, and what are the important things to remember when he is in the testing room? The preparation for these tests starts when the child starts to school. There is no possible preparation during the days just prior to the tests. The abilities and achievements for which the student will be tested are those which have developed and been acquired over eight years of learning. All that can be done is to use time wisely and work hard in school and at home. The child must learn all that is possible from each class, whether it is in science, arithmetic, social studies, for they will all contribute to general testing ability and help develop skills in learning. The student should go to the testing room refreshed and unworried. Being afraid will only confuse, make for nervousness and lessen the chances for a good score. All instructions given by the monitor should be followed closely. All directions should be read twice and the key words noted (those which tell exactly what to do). When the directions are clear, one question should be answered at a time. Question 2 should not be read or glanced at while the student is still putting down the answer for question 1. Given a little careful direction, the mind with sufficient information accumulated will do a creditable job.

Perhaps no part of learning contributes so much to needless self-torture as tests and examinations. Almost all the difficulties arise from not understanding the purpose of, the nature of, and the methods of approach for "these sadistically built obstacle courses." Doubtless all these have been explained many times by thoughtful teachers, but thoughtful parents can also contribute much to both understanding and self-confidence.

Perhaps if the real purposes for tests and examinations are taught early enough at home, the child will escape the schoolyard and sidewalk attitudes: "the mean teacher who wants to punish," "the questions aren't fair," "they don't teach you anything." There are reasons which make more sense: (1) Tests provide the student with a greater opportunity to show the extent of his learning than any other form of recitation. (2) Tests and examinations are of great value to the student in that they reveal the areas in which he needs help, and the teacher after the manner of a doctor who has examined a patient can prescribe intelligently. (3) Examinations provide the student practice in dealing with large blocks of material based on the accumulation of many weeks' work. (4) The test and examination is almost necessary as a primary motivative force for learning. Very few people would ever really learn a subject thoroughly if they were sure they would not be held accountable. (5) Tests and examinations force the student into using some of the best methods and skills of learning: to organize and use wisely both time and material during review, and to think clearly, summarize, interpret, and recall correctly during the examination.

Unless there is help at home, supporting the purposes above which the teacher has probably offered many times at school, there is likely to grow up a public philosophy against tests and examinations. Instead of a cooperative effort for learning, there exists a feeling that tests are a battleground where teacher and student try to outwit each other. They are a burden of anxiety to look forward to, an ordeal and trial of life to go through, and a source of great sorrow to look back upon. This need not be the general attitude, for tests and examinations rest upon a much firmer footing. If a student has developed good study habits, there should be an attitude of responsibility toward examinations that would reflect the sense of pride necessary for success in any work. After all, the test or examination gives the student a chance to show how much he knows, and how skillfully he can communicate it in writing to the teacher.

The point of view from which a student approaches tests and examinations has no small part to play in failure or success. The point of view which usually results in failure is that of fear. Fear destroys people in tests and examinations as fear destroys people in life. The student who is afraid cannot think clearly. He makes careless mistakes, and carelessness is the chief cause of failure, except, of course, wanton neglect of study. Students fail to read questions correctly, they miss the meaning of key words in the question, they read part of the question, an idea comes to mind, and they start to answer—never knowing that the last part of the question changed the nature of the answer so much that they missed it completely. The patterns of carelessness are constant. Students make a list when they are asked to explain; they give incidents rather than the causes for the incidents that the question has asked for; they compare when they are asked to contrast, and they write long detailed results when the question asked for one chief result only. Year after year the same mistakes are made, and in the hallways after examinations the same "famous last words" are repeated: "I knew that but I thought," ... "I read the question wrong," . . . "No, that couldn't be the fifth question; then I read only the first part."

The second point of view from which a student approaches tests and examinations is to look upon them as an opportunity and a challenge—an opportunity to show the teacher the quality of his learning, and a challenge to put it in the best possible form for the teacher to read. It is hard for this student to fail; the examination is not something he is subjected to, but something that, in his mind, he is already master of. He assures himself by careful preparation, enters the examination room with confidence rather than in fear, is free to think clearly and write correctly, and the results are what he has expected all along—success.

Examinations are divided generally into two types: (1) the essay or long answer examination, and (2) the objective or short answer examination. The essay type examination provides the greater opportunity for the student. It gives him a chance to show his ability to organize his ideas and express them clearly and orderly on paper. The essay examination gives the student greater range for showing the true quality of his learning, a chance to handle large volumes of material, for essay questions usually suggest broad topics. The essay examination gives the student a greater opportunity to show the completeness of his preparation. However, it seems fair to point out that, although most teachers prefer this type of test and examination, conditions in public schools make it almost impossible to use it. The teacher with 30 or 35 students per class, teaching five classes a day, would need more than a forty-hour week to properly grade the 150 or 175 papers. Consequently, for the same reason that many students reach college without having ever had to write a theme, so many never receive the benefit of the superior type test and examination.

The objective type examination concerns itself with questions that are answered by choosing, checking, filling blanks, and marking right or wrong. The questions on an objective examination are usually classified as multiple-choice, recall, matching, completion, and true-false. The objective type examination is partly the result of the crowded conditions in school, and in many cases are graded solely by machines, and they are also part of the program, for which we all carry some blame, to make everything about education "easy for the child." The objective examination tests mainly for memory and detailed information. It has questionable value, and is considered by many sound-thinking persons to be little more than a not-too-intellectual guessing game.

Reviewing is not the mad cramming and desperate last minute effort to pile up information in frenzied disorder which students boast about having done for so many hours without rest or sleep. Review is part of a systematic pattern of study and should be easily recognized as being made up of three important steps: (1) There should be a well-organized notebook, even from fourth grade level up, with basic vocabulary for the subject, important rules, definitions, problems, etc., and at sixth or seventh grade level and above, it should contain a complete outline of the material studied. (2) The second element of review should be the continuing study. Review should start at the beginning of the subject. When the second assignment is studied it should be tied in with the first by a few minutes of review, and so on through the days until an understandable unit of material exists rather than many fragments of material with no more intelligent designation than Wednesday's work or Friday's assignment. (3) The next step in preparing for tests and examinations is the well-organized period of study covering the days just before the examination. This is the final organization, interpretation, and recollection of the material of the course. It constitutes an important and constructive part of the whole process of learning, and cannot be omitted without serious loss in both experience and results.

Review can be exciting, satisfying, interesting, and profitable, or it can be dull, boring, and fruitless. Organization in reviewing will center chiefly around the notebook. Perhaps the most important single element in the organization of material is to put into proper place and perspective that which the teacher has emphasized as important. The interpretation of a subject means primarily the reducing of the material to its essential parts. For example, mathematics would be reduced to rules, definitions, problems, formulas, etc. History would be reduced to biography, chronology, social reform, important events, etc. The following suggestions can make review exciting and profitable.

1. Do not confuse reviewing with the much practiced waste of time and effort which is called cramming. Cramming is characterized by frenzied disorder and an attempt to store up great quantities of unorganized subject matter for short term use only. The results are usually confusion carried over into the exam room and unsatisfactory results from the exam itself.
   


2. Review can be made interesting and the material remembered more easily by approaching it from a new point of view. If we have studied our grammar only because "we have to," try reviewing it as if you were an immigrant just arrived in a new country, anxious to learn the language in order to earn a living. New points of view can be found for all your studies, and finding them can be very exciting.


3. Speak to your teacher about the general nature of the examination, and review accordingly. Essay exams will require a more unified, inclusive organization of subject matter. Whereas, if the examination is to be objective, you will concentrate more on detail.


4. Review the exact meanings of key words used by your teacher. Doubtless you can recall some favorites, which are used often to introduce questions: explain, evaluate, justify, state, relate, enumerate, illustrate, interpret, define, diagram, describe, compare, contrast, etc. If your teacher has used these, be sure you know what they ask for as beginning words for questions.


5. Review by establishing order and coherence between parts of a subject. Be sure that one part leads naturally into the next. A well-planned outline can be a great aid in producing a bird's-eye view for the mind's eye later when you have to visualize your answer.


6. Regardless of the type of examination you expect, it is generally better to principally study main topics during the period of immediate review and hope that details will come back from the subconscious mind to attach themselves to the proper topic, somewhat after the manner of small parts of metal being drawn to a magnet.


7. Review by condensing what you have learned. Put paragraphs into single phrases and chapters into single sentences. The ability to put much thought into a few words is the ability which you will probably need most for tests and examinations as long as you are in school and your greatest time-saver after school is over. Summarizing a term's work is the ideal practice for developing this ability.


8. Review by using questions intelligently. After all, questions will make up the test, and the person who has exercised with a high degree of classroom efficiency will be able to remember much which is important and be able to determine what many of the actual examination questions will be.
   

Good review is the stuff from which good examinations are made, and the method of review will generally determine the actions in the examination room. Although all written papers are significant because they are in a sense final judgments, the student who writes a good test or examination keeps many things in mind during the operation: (1) He remembers the importance of neatness, good order, correct spelling, and the basic fundamentals of grammatical usage and punctuation. (2) He reads all directions twice, and carefully notes significant words in the directions. (3) He allots his time wisely so as not to spend time struggling with something he doesn't know until there is no time left to answer questions he knows. (4) He outlines his answers to essay questions, perhaps only orally, but his answers are direct and to the point. (5) The wise student goes carefully over his examination paper before he turns it in, checking for mistakes that might reveal carelessness in neatness, spelling, punctuation, or subject matter. The going over of subject matter should be done with great restriction. Frequently, students begin to doubt answers and make hurried and frantic revisions. If not completely sure a mistake has been made, rely on the first answer. However, look for significant omissions, wrong words, etc. Think how completely wrong an answer can be if the word "not" is omitted.

The student who does these things rarely ever has reason to look back upon examinations in sorrow. And the parent who gives whatever common sense aid that is possible to the child will likewise avoid the fatalistic backward glance of regret. Children can "grow in wisdom and wax strong" and become big people for little tests.

Home Helps For Tests And Examinations

1. The home can create an atmosphere for a better approach to tests and examinations by answering questions which, though simple in themselves, add up to important reasons as far as the child is concerned.


2. Have your child learn, and take time to reason with him about, the five basic purposes for tests and examinations.


3. Help your child understand the difference in results from a cooperative effort between teacher and pupil and those doubtful results of a contest entered into grudgingly.


4. Help the child to understand the difference between responsibility and burden. If examinations can be once explained in this light, the proper point of view will become permanent. Fear is a burden; responsibility is a challenge. Examinations should be a challenge.


5. Each pupil should study his own patterns of carelessness as well as the general patterns. A sense of alertness for trouble makes avoiding it possible.


6. Students should know the types of tests and examinations, the kinds of questions, and the type which affords the student a greater opportunity to show his accomplishments.


7. The three important elements of review should be learned and put into use.


8. The ten suggestions for reviewing should be given the title:  Ten  Commandments for Reviewing, and they should be typed and put on the child's desk or bulletin board so as to be seen daily.


9. Teach your child to observe sensible training rules during the period prior to tests. These would include sleep, exercise, state of mind, etc.


10. Have the child memorize the five things to be remembered and carried out in the examination room.
    

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