A New Look at Standardized Test Preparation
The authors do a great job of sharing strategies on how to locate higher-level thinking test items in classroom instruction and to promote rich and engaging discussions. One of the strategi... See More
The authors do a great job of sharing strategies on how to locate higher-level thinking test items in classroom instruction and to promote rich and engaging discussions. One of the strategies included identifying and classifying the types of questions by cognitive domain. The domains TIMMS use are knowing, applying and reasoning.
Once you have identified the cognitive domain, the authors offer strategies for using the tasks. One strategy recommended is the use of exit tickets. The real advantage to using released items as exit tickets is to familiarize students with the format of the high stakes test they will be required to take. I particularly liked how they suggested sorting the tickets into four groups. The reasoning was sound and would allow for understanding of student learning.
The next strategy involved using prompts that address common misconceptions. Given in a multiple choice format, students have to select an answer then justify their response and explain their reasoning. My favorite part of this article is this, “To create a prompt, choose an applying question and add details to transform the
question stem into a story. Then assign a student name to each answer choice and ask your students to choose which student they agree with and why.”
The final strategy is that of Evidence Circles. I had never heard of these before. The basic idea is to have students participate in a structured discussion around a question that reveals student thinking and connections made from the lesson and the real world.