Research shows that successful performance relies on three fundamental factors: knowledge of the content; familiarity with the exam’s structure, conditions and tasks; and ability to apply critical thinking. Kaplan’s new white paper, “Effective Test Readiness: What the Research Says,” outlines six key research findings that guide the design of programs that support these fundamental factors.
The research shows that effective test readiness programs do the following:
- Prioritize the content students need to know for exam success
- Understand and meet individual student learning needs
- Provide repeated practice under pressure in test-like conditions
- Appropriately integrate text, visuals, animations, narration and behavioral activities to support cognitive processing
- Harness the power of working memory for optimal learning and development of critical thinking skills
- Develop key cognitive strategies that students can apply to the classroom and beyond and provide students with strategies that match the demands of the test
