SPONSORING OFFICE:
Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services

Abstract:
Test-taking deficiencies represent a major hurdle for students with learning disabilities who are now confronted with new barriers to academic success resulting from the recent introduction of standards-based testing in many States. Despite their average or above-average intellectual ability, many of these students may be prevented from obtaining high school diplomas because of their poor test-taking skills. Nevertheless, there is a paucity of programs for addressing the lifelong struggle of these students. Our Phase I project was designed to fill this void through the development of a novel instructional program to teach test-preparation and test-taking strategies, the Strategies for Test Success (STRATS) program. These strategies were successfully taught to middle school students who subsequently improved in the study strategies that they used before taking tests and in their ability to analyze test questions systematically during the test taking process. The design of a CD-ROM prototype revealed the many benefits of a computerized format for individualizing and optimizing test-taking instruction. Phase II will expand the diagnostic portion of the program, theTESTS, refine the STRATS test-taking strategies, and convert the strategy lessons to a hybrid CD-ROM with web access.

Summary of Anticipated Results and Implications:
Improvements in test-taking strategies can help students to perform at the level of their potential and to attain greater academic success which, in turn, will prevent the high frustration levels that so often lead to school dropout, delinquency, and unsuccessful employment histories in this population. A CD-ROM with web access will allow students to learn and practice test-taking strategies within a motivating, multi-dimensional, structured format. This is a critical component of test success which cannot be easily addressed in the context of small-group or even individual instruction. Students will work with computer-based notecards, graphic organizers, and multisensory strategies to help them to study more effectively. Although this software targets students with learning disabilities and attention deficit disorders, these strategies are beneficial for most students.

The primary markets for this test-taking software include schools, homes, and professional practices. Within the U.S.A., there are over 100,000 schools with 51.4 million students in late elementary, middle, and early high school. Approximately half the US population of 263 million people own personal computers and this number is rapidly growing with the increasing popularity of the Internet and the world wide web. As more students become computer-literate and schools become increasingly dependent on Internet-based information, the potential market for this test-taking software will rapidly expand. In fact, by the fall of 1998, 89% of public schools were connected to the Internet.

With the recent introduction of new standards-based testing in most states nationwide, parents and teachers are already searching for new approaches and materials which they can use to help students with learning and attention problems to succeed. Because CD-ROMs are accessible and highly motivating, there will be a strong interest in purchasing these materials for teaching test-taking strategies. Our recent market research indicates a dearth of test preparation software with the few currently available materials addressed to SAT preparation. With its specific focus on strategies for test-taking, the CD-ROM and manual which we develop during Phase II will therefore be the first of its kind.

Our CD-ROM will be produced through the Institute for Learning and Development in collaboration with a media production company whose programmers have developed highly interactive CD-ROMs and web sites and have won numerous awards for their educational media work with children's museums and PBS. Dissemination and advertising will be expedited through a well-respected international publisher which has published and distributed the books, teacher manuals, and tests which we have authored and edited. Dissemination will also occur through the many parent and professional conferences we organize and speak at annually, and the numerous in-service teacher training courses we provide.

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