Why Teaching to the Test Doesn't Work (and what to do instead)

05/08/23 • 16 min

Ep. 49
We know that 'teaching to the test' is not a good thing.
It's sometimes likened to 'giving a man a fish'.
A quick fix, with little to no long term benefit.
In this episode we explore more about why this is and what to do instead to increase the likelihood of success in exams, tests and assessments.
In this episode you will learn:
- what exactly 'teaching to the test' looks like.
- why it doesn't produce any long term benefits (beyond getting a mark on a report card).
- how it's different to 'TRAINING FOR the test' and why 'training for' is a more successful way to play the game of academic assessment (and win!).
FEATURED ON THE SHOW:

Episode 3: What Exams are REALLY Testing
The 10WGT: 10 Week Grade Transformation Program
Get my Free Parent Guide: 3 Huge Mistakes (Even Smart!) Students Make in Exams and Assignments - and how to fix them immediately so your teen confidently achieves their best ever grades.

Episode 3: What Exams are REALLY Testing
The 10WGT: 10 Week Grade Transformation Program
Get my Free Parent Guide: 3 Huge Mistakes (Even Smart!) Students Make in Exams and Assignments - and how to fix them immediately so your teen confidently achieves their best ever grades.

Previous Episode

The 4 Phases of Mastery

Ep. 48
Is your teen cycling on the long, hard path to reach their study goals? (Because they don't know any other way.)
What if they were handed the keys to a car that means they can get to places they never realised they could reach?
Those are Phases one and two.
The next is to learn to drive the car. That's Phase 3.
And then they have an option to become a master of 'driving'.
To take to the racetrack.
To make everything fast yet accurate.
To achieve controlled precision.
To be confident and in control, no matter what course or race they're faced with.
The fourth phase of mastery - and the reality of this in their study - is having practiced, proven systems for success, so they tackle any task they're set confidently, efficiently, accurately and do it all 'automatically' throughout their classwork, homework, assignments and exams.

FEATURED ON THE SHOW:

The 10WGT: 10 Week Grade Transformation Program
Next Level Coaching: Open 1-5th May, 2023 (Enrolment open to 10WGT graduates only)
Get my Free Parent Guide: 3 Huge Mistakes (Even Smart!) Students Make in Exams and Assignments - and how to fix them immediately so your teen confidently achieves their best ever grades.

Next Episode

6 Elements of Exam Technique

Ep. 50
Exam technique is what turns your teen's knowledge into marks.
From marking tens of thousands of exam papers, I've distilled the overall skill of exam technique into 6 elements:
Q - Quality of written communication
U - Using resources provided explicitly
E - Examples and case studies
S - Structure
T - Time
C - Command words
In this episode you'll discover why they’re important and how each of them can increase your teen’s results with their existing level of subject knowledge.
FEATURED ON THE SHOW:

Exam Technique: Tips and Tricks from a York University lecturer(you'll see a LOT of overlap here with what I teach and preach!)
The 10WGT: 10 Week Grade Transformation Program
Get my Free Parent Guide: 3 Huge Mistakes (Even Smart!) Students Make in Exams and Assignments - and how to fix them immediately so your teen confidently achieves their best ever grades.

Parents of Hardworking Teens - Why Teaching to the Test Doesn't Work (and what to do instead)

Transcript

You’re listening to the Parents of Hardworking Teens Podcast, episode 49 - teaching to the test versus training for the test and how to win at the game of academic assessment.
Hello VIPs! I hope your week is going really well so far and that life is good for you and your teens. And if it isn’t, I hope things are perhaps picking up for you for this next quarter of the year. Because I know that for some of you, from your listener emails and from talking to some of you who have your teen