WWC Summary of Evidence for this Intervention
ACT/SAT Test Preparation and Coaching Programs
Test preparation programs—sometimes referred to as test coaching programs—have been implemented with the goal of increasing student scores on college entrance tests. They generally (a) familiarize students with the format of the test; (b) introduce general test-taking strategies (e.g., get a good night’s sleep); (c) introduce specific testtaking strategies (e.g., whether the test penalizes incorrect answers, and what this means for whether or not one should guess an answer if it is not known); and (d) specific drills (e.g., practice factoring polynomial expressions). The programs can be delivered in person or online, and in whole class settings, in small groups, and individually.
October 2016
Outcome domain
|
Effectiveness rating
|
Studies meeting standards
|
Grades examined
|
Students
|
Improvement index
|
General academic achievement (high school)
|
|
6 studies meet standards
|
10-12 |
65,603
|
|
|
|
Domingue, B., & Briggs, D. C. (2009)
|
10-12 |
706 |
|
|
|
Filizola, E. (2008)
|
10-11 |
24 |
|
|
|
Holmes, C. Thomas; Keffer, Ronald L. (1995)
|
10-12 |
70 |
|
|
|
McClain, T. B. (1999)
|
12 |
40 |
|
|
|
McMann, P. K. (1994)
|
10-11 |
196 |
|
|
|
Scholes, Roberta J.; Lain, M. Margaret. (1997)
|
11-12 |
64,567 |
|
A group of closely related outcomes.
The number of studies that met WWC design standards and provide evidence of effectiveness. Selecting an item below will display all studies that met WWC design studies in the domain. Selecting a study citation will take you to more information on that study and its findings.
For more, please see the WWC Glossary entry for study rating.
Grades of the students examined in the studies that met WWC design standards, which may not reflect the full range of grades for which the intervention may be used.
The number of students included in the studies that met WWC design standards.
The sample size for the studies that met WWC design standards.
An indicator of the effect of the intervention, the improvement index can be interpreted as the expected change in percentile rank for an average comparison group student if that student had received the intervention.
For more, please see the WWC Glossary entry for improvement index.
The indicator represents the highest level of similarity found between your students and each of the high-quality studies of the intervention. Three filled in ovals indicates that at least one study that met standards was conducted on students very similar to yours. Clicking on the indicator for a study will provide information on the similarity for each of the characteristics you selected.