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Taking a test is a skill all on its own, and it’s one you can teach in class alongside your subject matter. In an ideal world, standardized tests and end-of-term exams would give us accurate pictures of how much students were actually learning. But as every teacher knows, factors like test anxiety, poor test preparation, and unfamiliarity with a testing format can negatively affect a student’s score, hiding what they know and keeping them from being successful.

Students can use these test-taking strategies before the test and during the test to help them master multiple-choice exams, essay tests, and any other type of assessment coming their way.

1. Master test-taking terms in vocabulary lessons

Academic terms like “analyze” and “illustrate” seem like second nature to teachers and strong students, but to struggling test-takers, they may as well be in a different language. Focus on these test terms as much as you focus on your subject matter vocabulary.

• Analyze
• Compare
• Contrast
• Describe
• Elaborate
• Explain
• Illustrate
• Evaluate
• Relate
• Summarize

You can even work these terms and their definitions into your daily schedule. Use them regularly in your own instruction, create games for students to contrast their meanings, or have them define academic terms in warm-up activities or exit tickets. This technique would work well for English learners or reluctant readers who don’t engage in higher-level writing.

High School Academic Testing Vocabulary STAAR Word of the Day ELA Small Groups
By Custom Classroom by Angela
Subjects: ELA Test Prep, Vocabulary 

This set of 190 research-based ELA vocabulary cards is crafted with busy Texas teachers in mind. It’s packed with the key vocabulary and question stems your students will encounter on their STAAR Reading test.

2. Study important subject matter concepts in creative ways

This high school test strategy seems obvious, but studying concepts that are likely to appear on an upcoming assessment could help students feel more prepared. Whether it’s important mathematical formulas, grammar and spelling rules, scientific facts, or historical dates, providing students with the fundamentals of their subject is a great way to help them remember those ideas from the school year and fill in learning gaps that you may have missed.

Study guides don’t have to be boring, either! Play review games for high school or let students work in groups to create their own “cheat sheets” (even if they’re not allowed to use them on test day). Write songs that recite subject-matter facts, make corny jokes that they’ll always remember, and have students create skits that cement these ideas into their minds long before the exam hits their desk.

Capture the Flag – Review Game for Any Subject or Content!
By 208 LitChicks
Subjects: ELA, All Subjects

This review game gets kids up, moving, and engaged, all while having them interact with their content. It includes a detailed slideshow on the game setup, rules, and winning terms, a game board, and printable flags/game pieces.

3. Take practice tests in the same style as the real test

Using practice tests in class is a go-to test-taking strategy for high schoolers for a few reasons. First and most obviously, they help students become familiar with the type of test they’ll face in the coming days or weeks, letting them “practice as they play.” Practice tests also help students (and you) identify possible gaps in understanding and common mistakes, both in subject matter and in the test form itself, which you can address before the stakes get higher later on.

Another significant benefit of practice tests lies in how they affect students’ perceptions of their own learning. Studies show that test anxiety can significantly affect self-esteem and self-efficacy, and when they do well on practice tests, students go into the real test with stronger confidence and lower anxiety. 

You can create your own practice tests in the same style as an upcoming assessment (such as multiple-choice tests, short answer questions, DBQs, etc.) or find full-length practice tests at College Board or other sources. Focus on making practice tests that address different learning styles, allowing everyone in class to access the material equally.

4. Prepare your body and mind beforehand

Sometimes a low test score simply reflects a morning without breakfast or a bad night of sleep. Reinforce that, when students take care of their bodies, especially before a test day, they’ll feel refreshed and inspired to show what they actually know, rather than crashing in the middle of their writing assignment or reading passage.

Have students start keeping a health journal in the weeks before a big test, and encourage them to track their sleep, eating habits, and exercise. Make a list of beneficial breakfast foods that don’t have too much sugar, and if possible, provide some of those foods to your students to eat before the test begins. These healthy habits aren’t just good test-taking strategies — they’re excellent life skills for high school students as well.

Test Anxiety Lesson Plan & PowerPoint for Teens in Middle & High School
By School Counseling Essentials

This low-prep, ready-to-go lesson plan helps students learn the definition of test anxiety, explore the symptoms and causes, and practice ways to manage their anxiety before & during a test.

5. Skim the questions before reading a passage

By the time students get through lengthy reading passages on a test, they’re ready for a break (not reading more questions). Teach them to read the questions before they even start the reading itself, so they know what to read for, and they’re not too fatigued to comprehend the questions themselves. This style works well for reluctant readers and for eager test-takers who tend to move too quickly through an exam.

You can reinforce this skill by giving students a set of questions before they receive the reading. Model how to make inferences about what they’re about to read just by reading the questions, or have groups or pairs come up with their own ideas. Make a list of concepts to look out for when the reading does begin, such as vocabulary to watch out for or literacy concepts they should notice. Then pass out the reading and see how well they do!

High School Reading Comprehension Passages & Questions Test Prep Paired Texts
By Kristin Menke – Integrated ELA Test Prep
Subjects: ELA Test Prep, Informational Text
Standards: CCSS RL.9-10.1, 10.2, 10.3

This Reading Test Prep Lesson BUNDLE helps students prepare for state standardized reading comprehension exams and assessments by focusing on five different standards. It contains five days of easy-to-teach activities and test prep questions and answers based on the CCSS, with one set of paired passages and detailed lessons.

6. Answer the easier questions first

One hard question can stump students, stopping any forward momentum on a test and resulting in them running out of time to answer the rest of the questions. Help them jump over those roadblocks by encouraging them to answer the easier questions first and to skip questions that make them pause.

Before they are able to try this strategy, however, high schoolers need to know what a “hard” question is. Have them reflect on their own exams or quizzes to determine which concepts or types of questions can be tricky, as well as which types of questions are harder. 

For example, if math students have a hard time with geometry questions, have them skip those in favor of arithmetic and algebra questions. (Just make sure they go back and answer them before time runs out!) Students who benefit from this strategy include struggling readers or English learners who need more time to read each question.

Test Taking Tips and Strategies
By Making Meaning with Melissa

This Google Slides presentation provides valuable tips and strategies to help students succeed on standardized tests. Included is a paperless notetaker that students can type directly into the slides, or it can be printed for students to handwrite their notes.

7. Brainstorm before writing an essay

Most test-taking strategies for high school students focus on multiple-choice questions, but that’s not the only type of test they’ll have to take. Writing a short or long-form essay on an exam can be stressful for students who believe that they need to write the entire essay straight from their brain, making their first draft into their final draft. This issue affects both advanced writers who don’t plan out their essays and struggling writers who don’t know where to begin.

That’s where note-taking comes in handy. Model the brainstorming process when students receive a writing prompt in class, and show students how to break a prompt apart to find out what it’s really asking. Remind them that they can map out their essay before writing it, either on paper or in a separate writing field on their device, and show them how to quickly plot out their writing assignment while saving enough time for the writing itself.

Argumentative Essay Writing Prompts – Text Based Topics Ready Test Prep Rubric
By SNAPPY DEN Academy
Subjects: ELA
Standards: CCSS CCRA.W.1

This comprehensive resource provides educators with engaging activities, including organized frameworks and rubrics, to help students craft persuasive, evidence-rich essays. With 15 text-based prompts, structured organizers, and CCSS-aligned rubrics, you’ll have everything you need to build confident student writers.

Test skills and knowledge, not patience and stress

The strongest test-taking strategies for high school students reduce text anxiety and help students feel confident in demonstrating what they’ve learned. Try introducing one, some, or all of these techniques to your students and see which ones resonate. You can also review additional high school test-taking strategy resources to address particular groups of students, or to approach test day in a whole new way.