About Thinking Skills For Testing Success

Summary

Publications of the Effective Thinking Series are in more than 3000 schools in 43 states. Teachers and counselors requested material in the tradition of Success is a Thinking Skill and Thinking Skills for Anger Control to develop thinking skills for testing. The author responded with Thinking Skills for Testing Success(TSTS). The curriculum is positive. Students learn by process.

TSTS has 4 units - Study Skills, Math Confidence, Test-Taking Skills, & Motivation.

TSTS engage students immediately. They use the new thinking skills to deal with content that they already know. The students identify strengths. They select solutions, compose self-talk, and affirm positive relationships. The students learn that they are in control for success. They make plans of action with strengths to use study skills, math confidence, test-taking skills, and motivation.

TSTS is published in three manuals.

The Exercise Manual consists of 69 exercises for short discussions or independent study.
The Activities Manual has 60 full-period activity sessions that utilize the content of the exercises. Instructions detail WHAT TO DO, HOW TO DO IT, WHAT TO SAY.
The Teachers Manual has overviews of the units and discussions of the applications in TSTS.

From The Author

Thinking Skills for Testing Success (TSTS) is a support system of academic achievement for low performing students.

TSTS is designed with a low elementary reading level. The thinking skills content is adaptable according to the answers of the student questions. For example, in the Math Confidence Unit is exercise questions require students to explain how they use math outside of school. Regardless of classroom experiences, the students realize they use math successfully in practical applications.

TSTS recognizes that many students think in terms of images. The images voiced in questions and answers construct an environment of success. A comparison is "Don't spill the milk" and "Hold the glass with both hands."

TSTS has four units - Study Skills, Math Confidence, Test-taking Skills, and Motivation. Each unit concludes with a plan of action for students to apply what they learn.

TSTS is organized. A self-evaluation questionnaire begins each unit. Exercises for discussions are based on the topics of the questionnaire. Full-period activity sessions use the content of the exercises. TSTS is a creative tool. Exercises and activities can be used independently.

TSTS has consistent goals. Students use self-evaluation skills. They (1) identify strengths and apply them to other areas. Students (2) define solutions. They (3) employ positive self-talk. Students (4) affirm positive relationships. They (5) establish self-control for success. Students (6) utilize content for success. They (7) set goals and (a) think ahead. They (b) think of problems before they happen [obstacles]. They (c) think creatively [solutions]. Students (d) consider consequences [results]. They (e) record success [progress to date].

TSTS questions and activities require a constructive process of thought. The students recognize that teachers expect success. They respond accordingly.

Be encouraging!
Mary Jo Armstrong, Author

Why did the author write Thinking Skills for Testing Success (TSTS) ?

School districts needed to prepare students for standardized testing. Every school was involved. To improve average test scores for school ratings, Keating requested a book for the widespread market. Studies indicated that test-taking skills improved test scores. The author studied the research. She was intrigued by similarities of the research for other books. In how many areas did disadvantaged students improve with new thinking skills? Did the areas have a component in common. Mary Jo extended her strategies to teach thinking skills in Thinking Skills for Testing Success.

What did Thinking Skills for Testing Success (TSTS) accomplish?

TSTS materials supplemented academic studies with test-taking instruction. TSTS engaged students immediately. They used new thinking skills to deal with content that they already knew and new skills that they learned. The students identified strengths. They selected solutions, composed self-talk, and affirmed positive relationships. The students learned that they are in control for success. They made plans of action to use study skills, math confidence, test-taking skills, and motivation.

Why did students need Thinking Skills for Testing Success (TSTS) ?

Many disadvantaged students with delayed cognitive development believed they were helpless to improve test scores. They attributed results to chance, luck, or fate. Changes of beliefs gave students self-control of success and thus, incentives to study and to test well.

How did research influence Thinking Skills for Testing Success (TSTS)?

Research notes that influenced study follow:

When students feel success is possible, they are likely to exert greater effort, persist for a longer period of time, and attribute a greater proportion of success to the effort exerted than is someone who does not expect success. Corral, N., Antia, S. D. (1997). Self-talk: strategies for success in math. Teaching Exceptional Children 29, 42-45.
"Test-wise" students score higher on tests than other students with equal ability. They maximize their efforts with test-taking skills. Millman, J., Bishop, C.H., & Ebel, R. (1965). Analysis of test-wiseness. Educational and Psychological Measurement 25, 707-726.
Students with test-wise abilities lower their level of test anxiety. They operate with a sense of control for testing results which they attribute to their own ability. Fyans, L. J. & Others (1980). Achievement Related Motives of Educationally Disadvantaged Students. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (64th, Boston, MA).
Students with a poor school history may differ from classmates in expectations of success. Approximately 30% of both normal and at-risk students showed depressed performance when they thought they were taking a test. Stevens, R. (1980). At Risk for School Failure.
Minority group members, members of culturally different groups, special education students, and students at every educational level benefit from instruction in test-taking strategies. Jones, J. & VanLeirsburg, P. (1992). Teaching test-wiseness. Reading Psychology 13, 99-103.
The goal of all techniques is to give students feelings of competence, belonging, usefulness, potency, and optimism. Sagor, R. (1993). At-Risk Students: Reaching and Teaching Them.
Strengths that migrant students may possess includes maturity, responsibility, optimism, self-advocacy, resiliency, resourcefulness, cooperation, endurance, and a sense of humor. A focus on positives (1) builds self-esteem; (2) builds on student's success, and improves motivation; (3) raises students' expectations. Salerno, A. (1989). Characteristics of Secondary Migrant Youth.
Students with learning disabilities tend to attribute success to outside forces while they credit self with the responsibility for failure. Feedback that attributes success to self combined with task strategies, can lead students to persist longer, acquire realistic attributions, and make greater academic achievement gains. Dohrn, E. & Bryan, T. (1994). Teaching attribution instruction, Exceptional Children 6, 61-63.
As students progress through school, how they see their own competence and control changes markedly. Young children attribute success to hard work, whereas older students may attribute success to ability, luck or other people -all forces that are uncontrollable in their minds… Less successful students feel powerless to control their own success in school and may feel victimized by tests that confirm their low performance. Paris, S.G., Lawton, T. A., Turner, J. C. & Roth, J. L. (1991). A developmental perspective on standardized achievement testing. Educational Researcher 20, 12-20.
Defining tasks in terms of specific, short-term goals can assist students to associate effort with success. Lumsden, L. S. (1994). Student motivation to learn. ERIC Digest, 92.
The most effective strategy helps low-achieving students believe that failure is due to lack of effort rather than to lack of ability. At Risk, Low-Achieving Students: Characteristics and Instructional Implications in Equity and Excellence; v25 n1 p25-29 Fall 1991

What are competing or related works to Thinking Skills for Testing Success (TSTS)?

Principals did not mention other material for test-taking skills.

The author used the books below for her study.

Joseph Heston wrote How to Take a Test. Science Research Associates, Inc. published the booklet in 1975.
Susan Johnson wrote Taking the Anxiety out of Tests: A Step-by-Step Guide. New Harbinger Publications, Inc. published the book in 1997.
Thomas E. Scruggs and Margo A. Mastropieri wrote Teaching Test-Taking Skills: Helping Students Show What They Know. Michael Pressley included the volume in a series of Cognitive Strategy Instruction. Bookline Books copyrighted the publication in 1992.

What is the nature of Content in Thinking Skills for Testing Success (TSTS)?

TSTS uses a “broad brush” approach to improve thinking skills for testing success

What is the age level of students who use TSTS?

TSTS was designed with a low elementary reading level. The thinking skills content adapts through senior high ages according to the answers of the student questions.

Describe the students that benefit from TSTS.

TSTS deals with low-performing students. Research maintains that unsuccessful and successful students think differently about success and failure in school. Students who fail frequently believe that academic results are out of their control. Test scores for them are a matter of chance, luck and fate. When students learn to connect effort and results, they gain a sense of self-control for success. Studies show that they persist longer and make greater academic progress.

What are the goals in TSTS?

TSTS goals are consistent in each unit.

Students use self-evaluation skills.
They identify strengths and apply them to other areas.
Students define solutions.
They employ positive self-talk.
Students affirm positive relationships.
They establish self control for success.
Students use content for success.
They write goals.
- Students think ahead.
- They think of problems before they happen [obstacles].
- They think creatively [solutions].
- Students connect effort and consequences [results].
- They record success [progress to date].

Do TSTS students gain expectations of success?

TSTS questions and activities require constructive answers. The students soon realize that teachers expect success. They respond accordingly.

How was TSTS distributed?

Forty-three schools in five states used TSTS. They are divided as follows:

Eleven high schools in GA, OK and TX.
Twelve middle schools in CA, OK and TX
Three junior high schools in TX
Three intermediate schools in TX
One private school in TX
Twelve special education departments in OK and TX
One cooperative in OK

What is the length of TSTS?

TSTS has three volumes. The books are compiled in D-ring binders with four tabs each.

The TSTS Exercise Manual has 341 impressions on 184 pages for 69 exercises. The paper is cardstock.
TSTS Activities Manual has 338 impressions on 176 pages for 60 activity sessions.
The TSTS Teacher Manual has 60 impressions on 35 pages.