How do study skills improve standardized test scores?
Educators are under enormous pressure to get students to perform well on standardized tests. Since standardized tests assess students’ mastery of state benchmarks, it is well known that the best way to improve scores is to provide clear instruction of those benchmarks.
As a result, teachers and administrators spend a great deal of time “mapping” their curriculum, carefully aligning their instruction to match state expectations. Yet the world’s strongest curriculum map does nothing to ensure that students learn that content effectively.
In other words, you can teach all the right content, but that doesn’t guarantee that students “get” it. Or, that they will “keep” it.
Imagine that the road to Benchmark Mastery is a highway. The students enter the freeway as the teacher presents Benchmark to the class. They have a series of reading assignments, lectures, homework, and quizzes to complete throughout their journey.
But, at each mile marker, there are obstacles that can interfere with your progress towards Benchmark Mastery. Some students do get past these obstacles, but at each interval, several are forced to take the nearest exit ramp. Very few students will actually make it to the final destination.
WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?
The teacher had done his part. He followed his curriculum map, covered the benchmark, and provided plenty of instruction, practice, and assessment along the way.
The problem is that students don’t know HOW to learn! Take a closer look at some of these roadblocks to see how they throw students off course:
Mile Marker 1: Reading Task
Off ramp: students cannot understand the information in the text. The technical structure and advanced vocabulary of a textbook will derail 80% of students, right from the start!
Mile Marker 2: Reading Class
Off Ramp: Students don’t know how to take notes effectively. They struggle to understand the “big picture,” therefore they don’t know how to identify the key points, let alone create an effective study guide.
Mile Marker 3: Homework
Exit Ramp: Students don’t do homework or do it poorly. Even “good students” don’t know how to do homework properly. They do homework just to “get it done.” They do not engage effectively in the task to learn from it. Meanwhile, the “struggling students” are frustrated that the homework is taking too long. They often decide that it is not worth their frustration.
Mile Marker 4: Chapter Quiz
Exit Ramp: Students memorize information for the test, but forget it the next day. They only know one method to study: cramming!
Destination: Landmark Domain
Some students will avoid all exit ramps and reach Benchmark Mastery in short order. The problem is that the standardized test is three months away…
ENTER: STUDY SKILLS
Students are never explicitly taught how to study or learn effectively. Our educational system expects them to simply “get it.” However, students can apply strategies to homework and study, just as they do to sports or video games. Someone just needs to show them what to do!
Imagine if students knew how to read textbooks effectively, take great notes, and complete homework efficiently. Imagine if they knew how to study so they were LEARNING, not just memorizing and cramming?
So the situation would look like this:
Mile Marker 1: Reading Task
Since students know simple time-saving strategies for reading a textbook, they do the reading. The most important thing is that they UNDERSTAND!
Mile Marker 2: Reading Class
Students have reviewed the textbook and understand the “big picture” so they can identify the key points. They know shortcuts for taking notes and writing down important information. Your notes are now an effective study guide.
Mile Marker 3: Homework
Students know strategies to put their brains in “high gear.” They can now complete the task faster AND learn from the task at the same time.
Mile Marker 4: Chapter Quiz
Students are ready! They have been learning information every step of the way and have no need to cram. They know how to use their textbook for review, have created effective study guides from their notes, and have learned from mistakes on homework assignments.
Destination: Landmark Domain
Since students were equipped to LEARN the content (rather than memorize), they have retained the information for the long term. They can recall information quickly. Now they are ready for those standardized tests!