The Standardized Mind
How Entrance Exams Work and How to Beat Them
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The book examines how testing companies like Educational Testing Service design exams and score them. It explores the history of standardized testing in education, from ancient imperial examinations to modern practice prep. Readers learn about the for-profit ACT organization's business model and how it influences test development.
Whether you're a student preparing for college entrance exams or a parent seeking understanding of how these tests work, this straightforward guide offers practical strategies that remain effective regardless of changing test content.
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Overview
The SAT is a standardized test used for U.S. college admissions, first given in 1926 under the name Scholastic Aptitude Test, with scores ranging from 200 to 800 for each of its two parts—Verbal and Mathematical. Originally not tied to high school curriculum, changes were made starting in 2016 to align more closely with Common Core standards, according to College Board president David Coleman. The test is owned and run by the College Board and administered by Educational Testing Service. It has been offered on computer since March 2023 internationally and March 2024 in the U.S., becoming adaptive and shortened from three hours to two hours and fourteen minutes. While many students prepare using books, classes, or tutoring, expensive prep courses don't significantly improve scores, nor do elite schools. Optional subject tests called SAT Subject Tests were discontinued after June 2021. The SAT is also used in research and by some employers.
Function
The SAT is a test taken mostly by high school juniors and seniors, designed by the College Board to measure skills like literacy, numeracy, and writing needed for college success. It's meant to assess problem-solving abilities and is used alongside high school grades to predict first-year college performance. The test follows a bell curve distribution, using tricky multiple-choice questions and time limits to create this pattern. Because U.S. schools vary widely in funding and curriculum, the SAT helps put individual records into a national context. Originally more popular on the coasts, it's now taken across the country, though as of 2022, over 1400 colleges had gone test-optional. The exam takes about two hours and fourteen minutes, costs $60, and scores range from 400 to 1600, combining math and reading-writing sections. Results are usually released within two to four weeks, and students can cancel scores up to a week after taking the test.
Structure
The SAT is divided into reading/writing and math sections, each with two equal modules, taking 2 hours 14 minutes total. Each section scores 200-800, with total scores ranging 400-1600. Subsection scores include "Craft and Structure" or "Algebra." Guessing doesn't penalize scores. The essay option ended in June 2021, as College Board said other test parts adequately show writing skills and pandemic conditions accelerated this change. The essay was scored separately by two readers giving one to four points in reading, analysis, and writing categories, though College Board doesn't combine these into a single 24-point score.
Reading and Writing
The SAT’s reading and writing section has two parts, each lasting 32 minutes and containing 27 questions. Each part features short passages or pairs of passages, between 25 and 150 words long, followed by one multiple-choice question. The section tests vocabulary, sentence structure and usage, and the ability to interpret tables and graphs.
Mathematics
The SAT math section has two 35-minute parts with 22 questions covering algebra, advanced high school math, problem solving and data analysis, and geometry and trigonometry. About 75% are multiple-choice with four options, while 25% are student-produced response questions where you type in numerical answers, sometimes with more than one correct solution. Calculators are allowed throughout; a Desmos-based calculator is built into the test software, and students may also use an approved physical calculator. Research showed that those who used calculators on roughly one-third to one-half of questions tended to score higher than those who used them more or less frequently. However, this difference was likely due to more capable students using calculators differently rather than calculator use itself making a difference. There is some evidence that regularly using a calculator in school outside of testing situations helps improve performance on the SAT math section compared to those who don't use calculators in class.
Style of questions
The SAT is mostly made up of multiple-choice questions, with four options each, except for a quarter of the math section where you have to write in your own answer instead of choosing from options. These are called student-produced responses, or SPRs. Not every question on the test counts the same—getting harder questions right earns you more points. There are also secret questions mixed in that don’t count toward your score; these are trials for future tests, used by the College Board to try out new formats. Answering them won’t hurt or help your final score.
Frequency
The SAT is given eight times a year now, in August, September, October, November, December, March, May, and June. Originally, international students had just four test dates: October, December, March, and May. In 2020, because of global testing disruptions, an extra September exam was added, and August became available to international test-takers too. The test is usually held on the first Saturday of the month for most administrations, except for the March and April SAT School Day tests, which are offered during those months. In 2025, over two million high school graduates took the test. Students can sign up online at the College Board website or by mail at least three weeks before the exam date.
Fees
In 2024, the SAT costs sixty-eight dollars, with extra fees if you're testing outside the United States. The College Board offers fee waivers for students with low incomes. There are also charges for registering late, taking a test on standby day, changing your registration, getting scores by phone, and sending additional score reports—beyond the four free ones included with the exam.
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Overview
ACT, Inc. is an American for-profit company best known for the ACT, a test meant to measure high school students’ readiness for college. Originally a nonprofit organization, it was purchased by private equity firm Nexus Capital in April 2024, sparking concerns about transparency. The company was later acquired by the Educational Testing Service in June 2026. For the class of 2019, over half of all high school graduates took the ACT, with more than 1.78 million students across 17 states participating. The organization also offers programs like ACT Academy, ACT Aspire, and WorkKeys. Founded in Iowa City in 1959, ACT has more than 1,000 employees and is currently led by CEO Steve Tapp, who took over in 2025. Previous leaders include Janet Godwin, Marten Roorda, Jon Whitmore, Richard L. Ferguson, and Oluf Davidsen.
History
In 1959, Everett Franklin Lindquist, a University of Iowa professor who had earned his Ph.D. there in 1927, co-founded the ACT with Ted McCarrel, the university’s registrar. Lindquist had already been developing academic tests for years—starting with the Iowa Academic Meet in 1929, then the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills in 1935, and later the Iowa Tests of Educational Development in 1942. He also helped create the GED. At a 1958 ETS conference, Lindquist argued that entrance exams should measure readiness for college work, not innate ability. That year, he and McCarrel led the development of the first ACT test, given to 75,406 students on November 7, 1959. In April 2024, ACT was purchased by Nexus Capital Management.
Products and services
In 2012, the ACT overtook the SAT to become the most widely taken college readiness assessment in the U.S., with 52 percent of the 2019 high school graduating class—more than 1.78 million students—taking it. The test measures general educational development and readiness for first-year college-level work, and in that year, 37 percent of students met College Readiness Benchmarks in at least three of four subject areas: English, math, reading, and science. Scores are reported on a scale from one to 36, with an average composite score of 20.7 for 2019 graduates. Though virtually all four-year colleges accept the ACT, they typically use it alongside GPA, class rank, and extracurriculars. The ACT was first offered in digital format in 2014, and every three to five years it conducts a National Curriculum Survey that helps shape its College and Career Readiness Standards. These benchmarks are based on the level of achievement needed for a 50 percent chance of earning at least a B in corresponding college courses like English composition or biology. Beyond admissions, many states use the ACT to assess school performance, requiring nearly all high school students to take it regardless of whether they plan to go to college. In 2019, a number of states including Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, and others tested virtually all students in their graduating classes.
Exam fees and fee waivers
The ACT test costs fifty-five dollars for the version without writing, and seventy dollars if you include the writing section. There are extra charges if you need to change your registration date, test center, or sign up late, or if you want to take the test on short notice. Students in their eleventh or twelfth grade who are U.S. citizens or testing in the U.S., its territories, or Puerto Rico can get fee waivers if they meet certain economic requirements. In the 2018–2019 school year, nearly half a million students received these waivers, allowing them to take the test for free.
Research
Every year, ACT puts out its Condition of College and Career Readiness report, tracking how well U.S. high school graduates are doing in preparation for college. The organization also shares more detailed studies with groups such as the United Negro College Fund, the National Indian Education Association, the Asian and Pacific Islander Scholarship Fund, and Excelencia in Education. These reports look at academic success within specific demographic communities.
Policy, advocacy, and government relations
In 2020, as the pandemic disrupted education, ACT and the SAT were both waived, with states given permission by the Department of Education to skip them. The Washington Post reported that “States are learning they can live without them” during that time. Many colleges and universities dropped the requirement for SAT or ACT scores for the 2020–2021 school year, with some continuing to do so through 2022. ACT has also put out policy platforms focused on K–12 education, post-secondary education, and workforce development, along with more specific policy documents.
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Overview
Standardized testing in education measures how well students are learning and how effective teaching is. These tests are used to make important decisions about students’ futures. While any test where everyone answers the same questions and gets graded the same way counts as a standardized test, people usually talk about externally created exams given at the end of school years or at the end of high school. In some countries, doing well on a national exam is required to get a diploma or be accepted into university.
Annual standardized tests at school
Standardized testing measures student achievement and predicts future potential, sparking widespread debate. Supporters argue tests provide feedback for teachers and students, ensure fairness through uniform rules, hold schools accountable, improve performance, and aid selection or prediction. Critics contend test scores don't reliably predict success, may be inflated, and reflect cultural or economic bias. They also claim tests are psychologically damaging and don't truly show intelligence. Cathy Davidson, in her book Now You See It, calls standardized testing an "assembly line model" that labels kids as failures if they don't fit a narrow mold, while criticizing how these tests narrow curriculum and encourage cheating. Countries in TIMMS are measured by focus, coherence, and rigor—how many topics are covered, whether curriculum follows logical sequence, and how deeply students learn. The Common Core Standards aim to improve state standards by focusing more deeply on fewer subjects per grade.
Time and money
Standardized tests are used across the U.S. to measure student and school performance from kindergarten through 12th grade, with most students taking around ten tests each year. These assessments take up about 2.3% of class time—roughly four school days annually. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act, reauthorized in 2002 by President George W. Bush, required annual math and reading tests for students in third through eighth grade, with results shared publicly in the form of report cards. Administering these tests costs the U.S. about $1.7 billion yearly, and only three companies—Harcourt Educational Measurement, CTB McGraw-Hill, and Riverside Publishing—design 96% of state-level exams.
Educational decisions
The National Academy of Sciences says major educational choices shouldn’t rely just on one test score. When schools use minimum cut-scores for things like entering or graduating, they’re not really using a single standard, because test results are usually paired with other requirements like credits earned, prerequisite classes, and attendance. Test scores often seem like the only measure because they're hard to ignore, even though other qualifications are often taken for granted. One example where this rule doesn’t apply is the GED test, which gives people credit for their skills without requiring traditional academic paths. Some teachers argue that a single standardized test only shows what a student knows right now, not how much they've grown over the course of a school year.
Effects on disadvantaged students
Monty Neill, director of the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, says students who speak English as a second language, have disabilities, or come from low-income families are disproportionately hurt by standardized tests, often denied diplomas unfairly. In the late 1970s, a lawsuit argued that Black students hadn’t had fair access to the test content because they’d gone to segregated schools. Linda M. McNeil, co-director of the Center for Education at Rice University and author of Contradictions of School Reform, writes that test-based reform harms learning and deepens racial and class divisions. Jonathan Kozol, in The Shame of the Nation, describes how students in underfunded schools suffer from “cognitive decapitation,” losing knowledge of time and history because arts and social studies are cut to focus on tested subjects.
Standardized tests for high school graduation
The Indian CBSE Class 10 AISSE and Class 12 AISSCE Exam are among the largest standardized tests in the world. Every year, around four to five million students take these exams, known commonly as the "Board Exam." That number is much higher than the amount of people who take the US SAT exam, and it's comparable to the scale of the Chinese Gaokao Examination.
Standardized tests in university admissions
Standardized tests like the SAT, Gaokao, and Joint Entrance Examination are used by universities alongside grades, essays, and recommendations to evaluate applicants. Nathan Kuncel, a higher education scholar, says these tests help admissions officers sort through large numbers of applications, though high or low scores don't guarantee admission. Research shows test scores predict first-year grades and long-term outcomes like graduation rates and professional exam performance. The GRE and LSAT have shown limited ability to forecast success, yet reading, writing, and math skills are linked to job performance and life achievements. Studies indicate that even when controlling for socioeconomic class, students with higher test scores tend to do better in college. Critics argue that wealthier students benefit more from test prep coaching, while others say these tests reduce diversity, though some research shows testing-optional schools haven't increased diversity as much as expected. In 2020, a report found that the SAT is not discriminatory and helps maintain educational standards, especially as grade inflation rises. Data from UC schools show that test scores are better predictors of first-year GPA than high school grades, and that they help identify students from underrepresented groups who are more likely to succeed.
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Overview
The Educational Testing Service, or ETS, was founded in 1947 and is now the largest private testing organization in the world. It's based in Lawrence Township, New Jersey, though it also uses a Princeton address. ETS creates many of the tests students take to get into U.S. colleges and grad schools, like the GRE and Praxis exams. It also administers the TOEFL and TOEIC internationally. The organization operates in over 180 countries and at more than 9,000 locations worldwide. In the U.S. alone, ETS gives out 50 million exams every year. These tests are used not just for college admission but also for K–12 accountability in states like California, Texas, Tennessee, and Virginia.
History
In 1947, a nonprofit group called the Educational Testing Service, or ETS, came into being. It was created by three other nonprofits: the American Council on Education, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and The College Entrance Examination Board. ETS took over testing work from these groups, which weren’t set up to run assessments. Among the programs ETS inherited were the Cooperative Test Service, the National Teachers Examination, the GRE, and the SAT, which the College Board handed over but didn’t own. By 2024, ETS was laying off employees, offering buyouts to U.S. workers with more than two years of service. Then in June 2026, ETS bought ACT, Inc., the makers of the ACT test.
Current status
ETS, headquartered outside Princeton, New Jersey, runs test operations from offices in several U.S. cities and abroad through for-profit subsidiaries like ETS Global BV, which oversees international work including locations in Amsterdam, London, Seoul, Paris, Amman, Warsaw, Beijing, Delhi, and Kingston, Ontario. The company administers tests for the College Board, including the SAT, PSAT/NMSQT, and Advanced Placement exams, and has managed the National Assessment of Educational Progress since 1983. ETS also offers its own tests like the GRE, TOEFL, TOEIC, and Praxis Series. In England and Wales, ETS Europe took over marking National Curriculum assessments from Edexcel in 2008 but faced major issues, leading to a contract termination in August 2008 with financial penalties. The same role was later returned to Edexcel, which has also struggled with quality problems and widespread school boycotts of the tests. In 2009, ETS partnered with Interfolio, Inc. to launch the My Credentials Vault Service.
Criticism
The Educational Testing Service (ETS) has faced criticism for acting like a profitable business despite its tax-exempt nonprofit status. New York law now requires ETS to release test questions and answer sheets due to public outcry. ETS Europe was criticized in the UK after 2008 national tests went awry—papers were lost, unmarked, or sent to wrong schools. A parliamentary report blamed ETS Global BV for poor planning and testing. In 1983, students at James A. Garfield High School in Los Angeles scored unusually high on the Advanced Placement Exam, prompting ETS to demand a second test. Critics like Americans for Educational Testing Reform argue that ETS violates its nonprofit status through executive pay and lobbying. The BBC reported in 2014 that the Home Office suspended ETS English tests after fraud was uncovered. Additionally, ETS has been linked to the eugenics movement through Carl Brigham, a Princeton professor who helped develop the Scholastic Aptitude Test.
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Overview
Test preparation, or test prep, is a way for students to get better at taking standardized tests. These are the kinds of exams you might take to get into college, like the SAT or ACT, or to get into business school, law school, medical school, or graduate programs. There are also tests for gifted education programs. People use tutoring, classes, books, and online tools to help them do better on these exams. The goal is simple: raise your score so you have a better chance of getting in where you want to go.
Resource providers
Most companies and educators that offer test preparation services provide both traditional materials like books and printed resources, as well as online tools you can access on devices such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops. The same goes for test makers, publishers of self-help and instructional content, and creators of educational hardware and software. They all offer a mix of in-person and digital learning options to help people prepare.
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The imperial examination system in China, known as 科舉, was used for over 1,300 years to select bureaucrats based on merit rather than birth, starting with the Sui dynasty and becoming regular under the Tang. It reached its height during the Song and Ming dynasties, featuring a three-tiered exam process from local to provincial to court levels. The system favored Confucian texts and produced a class of scholar-officials, limiting hereditary power while creating a gentry elite. By the 19th century, only about one in a hundred applicants passed, with some wealthy families buying entry. Critics blamed the system for stifling science, and it was eventually abolished in 1905 by figures like Yuan Shikai and Zhang Zhidong. Its influence spread beyond China, inspiring civil service tests in Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and later Britain and the U.S.
General history
Tests of skill like archery date back to the Zhou dynasty, but the Confucian exam system took shape during Emperor Wu of Han's reign in the Han dynasty. Examinations existed earlier, but didn't lead to official government posts; appointments were based on status, morals, and ability. The formal imperial examination system began in 605 under the short-lived Sui dynasty. The Tang dynasty expanded it slightly, then Wu Zetian greatly increased its scope, including a military exam that never mattered much. During the Song dynasty, emperors grew the system to counter military elites, boosting degree recipients four to five times what they were in the Tang. Though exams became central, other methods like direct appointments and promotions still existed. The jinshi exam wasn't yearly—its average annual numbers are statistical artifacts. The system was tied to imperial records, with the date of receiving a jinshi degree often being the only known biographical detail for many famous figures. A pause occurred at the start of the Yuan dynasty in the 13th century, but exams returned with regional quotas favoring Mongols. Under the Ming and Qing dynasties, the system shaped narrow intellectual life and strengthened imperial power. It lasted until 1905, when it was abolished during late Qing reforms. Modern civil service exams also evolved from this system.
Han dynasty
In the early Han dynasty, high-ranking aristocrats controlled government entry, with 2,000-dan officials recommending relatives as attendants. In 165 BC, Emperor Wen began testing candidates, though early exams focused on skills rather than Confucian texts. By 136 BC, under Emperor Wu, the Taixue was established through Dong Zhongshu and Gongsun Hong's efforts, requiring mastery of Confucian classics. Initially one canonical text was needed, later expanding to five. The system grew from 50 to 1,000 students over time. Top graduates became Court gentlemen; others served probationary local posts. By 132 AD, all Xiaolian candidates—recommended by local officials—were tested. Yet the system favored families with education access, since books were expensive and literacy rare. The recommendation process allowed powerful officials to place loyal relatives in power, leading to elite monopolization by the end of the Han period.
Three Kingdoms
The first standardized system of hiring government workers in Chinese history appeared during the Three Kingdoms period in the Kingdom of Wei, called the nine-rank system. Under this method, each job was given a rank from one to nine, and imperial officials judged the talent of candidates recommended by local leaders. The process was supposed to consider moral character, ability, and contributions to the Cao Wei regime, but in reality, family background mattered greatly. A candidate's father's service grade affected their own chances. Local zhongzheng officials rated families in nine categories, with only those ranked fifth or higher eligible for office. This system contradicted meritocracy, instead reinforcing aristocratic control. For nearly three hundred years, it supported an elite education system at the Imperial Academy, where noble sons received training for government roles. The Jiupin guanren fa was closely tied to this practice and only faded by the second half of the sixth century.
Sui dynasty (581–618)
In 587, the Sui dynasty began requiring each prefecture to nominate three scholars a year, and by 599, senior officials were tasked with making nominations across several categories. The Sui introduced exams for "classicists" and "cultivated talents," but it was in 607 that Emperor Yang established the "presented scholar" (jinshike) category, seen by many as the true start of the imperial examination system. Though the Sui didn’t fully shift how officials were chosen, they expanded central control over appointments and instituted annual evaluations. Officials had to be transferred regularly, and inheritance of status still occurred. Nobles were given stipends and staff instead of hereditary titles, with rankings based on pedigree like "high expectations," "pure," and "impure."
Tang dynasty (618–907)
Under the Tang dynasty and during Empress Wu's Zhou interregnum, civil service exams expanded beyond simple policy questions and interviews. Though oral interviews were meant to be fair, they favored candidates from elite families in Chang'an and Luoyang, leaving those who spoke non-elite dialects at a disadvantage. The Tang government organized six main exam categories through the Ministry of Rites: cultivated talents, classicists, presented scholars, legal experts, writing experts, and arithmetic experts. Emperor Xuanzong added Daoism and apprenticeship tracks. The jinshi degree, for presented scholars, became the most prestigious and eventually required for top positions. Exams happened in the first lunar month, with results reviewed by the grand chancellor and sometimes the Secretariat-Chancellery, and could be repeated by the emperor. Final lists were published in the second lunar month. Classicists had to complete phrases from texts, passing five out of ten questions; a 30-year-old was considered old for that exam but young for jinshi. The jinshi exam tested not just Confucian classics but history, document writing, poetry, and more. Only a few passed, giving them high social status. Other exams qualified candidates only for specific roles. Passing didn't guarantee a job—candidates also had to pass a quality review by the Ministry of Rites before wearing official robes.
Wu Zhou dynasty
Wu Zetian's rise to power changed the imperial examination system forever. As the first and only female emperor, she needed new support beyond the traditional Li family elite. She reformed the exams to reward talent over birth, creating palace and military tracks. In 655, she awarded the jìnshì degree to 44 candidates, and over seven years, more than 58 per year were graduated on average. She honored these new officials, boosting academic success prestige and opening doors for people from less privileged regions. By 681, a Confucian text-based test was introduced. Officials like Zhang Yue, Li Jiao, and Shen Quanqi were recruited through this system. In 702, examinees' names were hidden to prevent bias. This shift made exams central to political power, replacing inherited status with merit, reshaping the bureaucracy for centuries.
Tang restoration
After the Tang restoration between 730 and 740, jinshi exams began requiring original poetry—shi and fu—with strict rules, plus mathematics, law, and calligraphy. Success rates were low, with only 1-2 percent passing annually, totaling 6,585 jinshi awarded over the dynasty's course, averaging about twenty-three per year. The system grew under later emperors who valued its political benefits, creating factions among examiners and graduates that shaped Tang politics into the ninth century. Recent research shows that by the late seventh and eighth centuries, family background had already lost its power in appointments, making examination success the main path to high office. The upheavals at the dynasty's end accelerated this shift but didn't cause it. The Tang imperial examination thus marked a true turning point in China's move from aristocracy based on lineage to one based on merit.
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Overview
Study skills are ways of learning that help you take in, keep, and use new information, whether you're preparing for a test or just trying to understand something better. These techniques—like mnemonics, reading strategies, note-taking, and staying focused—are tools you can learn quickly and apply across different subjects. They’re different from skills tied to a specific field, like music or tech, or from traits like intelligence or personality that are already part of who you are. To get the most out of these study methods, it helps to first understand how you usually approach learning so you can spot what might be holding you back.
Historical context
Study skills have always been important for school success and lifelong learning, though they’re often left up to students and their families. By the 1940s, manuals for students were already being published. In the 1950s and 1960s, college instructors in psychology and education wrote guides based on research and working with students directly. Marvin Cohn drew from his experience as a university reading clinic director when he wrote Helping Your Teen-Age Student in 1978. Then in 1986, Dr. Gary Gruber released The Essential Guide to Test Taking for Kids, a two-volume work aimed at elementary and middle school students, which included strategies for tests and schoolwork.
Rehearsal and rote learning
Memorization means committing information to memory, often through repetition. It’s a deliberate process where you repeat things over and over, like reading notes or rewriting them. This kind of learning can involve anything from names and facts to poems and maps. One basic way to learn is simply to read and re-read material. But this method has a flaw: it encourages passive learning, where you don’t really think about what you’re memorizing. Educators like John Dewey believed students should develop critical thinking skills instead—learning to question and evaluate information as they go. That kind of active engagement can happen during lectures or while reading books.
Reading and listening
When studying, use the REAP method—Read, Encode, Annotate, and Ponder—to better understand what you're reading and connect it to the author's ideas. After reading a section, rephrase it in your own words, add notes that show your thinking, and then reflect on it by discussing or exploring related topics. Annotation techniques like precise, organizing, intentional, and probe annotation help make sense of material. Another useful approach is PQRST—Preview, Question, Read, Summary, Test—which helps you focus on what's most likely to appear on exams. Research shows that students who use peer communication improve their study habits, with one study showing a 73% average score increase. Creating personal memory cues boosts recall more than using others' cues. Self-testing, like the 2006 study with eighth graders, improves long-term retention compared to just re-reading. Also, typing notes on a computer can reduce learning because it encourages copying instead of processing information. Lastly, while speed reading can be taught, it often leads to lower comprehension and understanding.
Flashcards
Flashcards are visual tools made from cards that help with learning and revision. Students often make their own, or use more detailed index cards—typically A5 size—where they write short summaries. Because each card is separate, it’s easy to reorder them, pick a few to review, or test yourself randomly. Software versions of flashcards are also available for this purpose.
Summary methods
When you're trying to learn a lot of information, one helpful way is to make summaries—shorter versions of what you've read or studied. These can be outlines with keywords and definitions, often laid out like a tree, showing how ideas connect. Another method uses mind maps or spider diagrams, which help link different parts of a topic visually. These tools keep the logical flow clear, using lines to show how concepts relate. They’re especially useful when planning essays or answering exam questions. By organizing information this way, you can see the big picture while keeping important details at hand.
Visual imagery
Some study methods rely on visual memory, like the method of loci, where you picture information in familiar places, such as around a room. Diagrams are powerful tools that help organize knowledge and make it easier to recall, especially when you create them while learning. These visuals can quickly reinforce what you've studied and even be turned into flashcards for last-minute review, offering a faster way to revisit material than re-reading text.
Examination strategies
When tackling exam questions, students can use the Black-Red-Green method, a technique developed through the Royal Literary Fund, to make sure they address every part of what’s asked. They underline instructions in black—these are clear tasks that must be completed. Red highlights reference points like definitions, theories, or cited authors that are essential to the answer. Green signals subtle clues or hints that can guide how to approach the question or where to focus emphasis. Another widely used strategy is the PEE method—Point, Evidence, and Explain—which helps break down questions so students can give strong, structured answers. Some schools also promote practicing the P.E. BEing method before exams, which supports this kind of focused preparation.
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An international standard is a technical standard created by one or more international standards organizations, and these are available for use around the world. The most well-known of these groups is the International Organization for Standardization, or ISO. Others include the International Telecommunication Union, known as the ITU, and the International Electrotechnical Commission, or IEC. These three organizations joined together to form what’s called the World Standards Cooperation alliance.
Purpose
International standards can be used as they are or adjusted to fit local needs. When countries adopt them, they often create national standards that match the international ones in content, even if there are small differences in how they look or are written. These might include things like using different symbols, measurement units, or decimal markers. Sometimes changes happen because of local laws or industry rules shaped by things like climate, geography, or safety requirements. These standards help remove technical obstacles in global trade that come from each country or group making their own separate rules. The World Trade Organization’s TBT Committee even laid out six guiding principles to help countries develop these shared standards.
Standardization
The need for industry standards grew during the Industrial Revolution as machines required precise interchangeable parts. In 1800, Henry Maudslay built the first practical screw-cutting lathe, enabling screw thread standardization. His work, along with others, led to early industrial standardization with companies adopting their own practices. By 1841, Joseph Whitworth's measurements became Britain's first unofficial national standard, later known as the British Standard Whitworth, widely used elsewhere. Inconsistent standards made trade difficult by the end of the 19th century, so London formed the world's first national standards body, the Engineering Standards Committee, in 1901. After World War I, similar groups followed in Germany, the U.S., and France. A 2019 book by Nicholas Rich and Tegwen Malik offers detailed history of how standards developed, including ISO standard creation and key ones like ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.
International organizations
The International Telecommunication Union, founded in 1865 as the International Telegraph Union, set early standards for communication technology. By the late 19th century, electrical measurement lacked consistency, prompting R. E. B. Crompton to push for international standards. At the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, he presented a paper on standardization that led to the formation of the International Electrotechnical Commission in 1906. The IEC held its first meeting in London with 14 countries represented, and Lord Kelvin became its first president. Later, in 1926, the International Federation of the National Standardizing Associations was formed. After being suspended during World War II, it rejoined with the United Nations Standards Coordinating Committee to create the International Organization for Standardization in 1947.
Global standards
Global standards, sometimes called industry or private standards, are created with a worldwide audience in mind. These aren’t developed through international organizations or consensus processes like those that create official international standards. Instead, private groups like NGOs and for-profit companies design them, often without public input or transparency. One example is MG Environmental Consulting, which offers services to help businesses follow environmental management systems and meet relevant standards.
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