ASWB Test Taking Strategies

General Strategies
The most important thing you can do is to ignore your fears and jump into the test immediately.  Do not be overwhelmed by any strange-sounding terms.  You have to jump into the test like jumping into a pool—all at once is the easiest way.
Make Predictions. As you read and understand the question, try to guess what the answer will be.  Remember that several of the answer choices are wrong, and once you begin reading them, your mind will immediately become cluttered with answer choices designed to throw you off.  Your mind is typically the most focused immediately after you have read the question and digested its contents.  If you can, try to predict what the correct answer will be.  You may be surprised at what you can predict.
Quickly scan the choices and see if your prediction is in the listed answer choices.  If it is, then you can be quite confident that you have the right answer.  It still won't hurt to check the other answer choices, but most of the time, you've got it!

Answer the Question
It may seem obvious to only pick answer choices that answer the question, but the test writers can create some excellent answer choices that are wrong.  Don't pick an answer just because it sounds right, or you believe it to be true.  It MUST answer the question.  Once you've made your selection, always go back and check it against the question and make sure that you didn't misread the question and that the answer choice does answer the question posed.

Benchmark
After you read the first answer choice, decide if you think it sounds correct or not.  If it doesn't, move on to the next answer choice.  If it does, mentally mark that answer choice.  This doesn't mean that you've definitely selected it as your answer choice, it just means that it's the best you've seen thus far.  Go ahead and read the next choice.  If the next choice is worse than the one you've already selected, keep going to the next answer choice.  If the next choice is better than the choice you've already selected, mentally mark the new answer choice as your best guess.
The first answer choice that you select becomes your standard.  Every other answer choice must be benchmarked against that standard.  That choice is correct until proven otherwise by another answer choice beating it out.  Once you've decided that no other answer choice seems as good, do one final check to ensure that your answer choice answers the question posed.

Valid Information
Don't discount any of the information provided in the question.  Every piece of information may be necessary to determine the correct answer.  None of the information in the question is there to throw you off (while the answer choices will certainly have information to throw you off).  If two seemingly unrelated topics are discussed, don't ignore either.  You can be confident there is a relationship, or it wouldn't be included in the question, and you are probably going to have to determine what is that relationship to find the answer.

Avoid 'Fact Traps'
Don't get distracted by a choice that is factually true.  Your search is for the answer that answers the question.  Stay focused and don't fall for an answer that is true but irrelevant. Always go back to the question and make sure you're choosing an answer that actually answers the question and is not just a true statement.  An answer can be factually correct, but it MUST answer the question asked.  Additionally, two answers can both be seemingly correct, so be sure to read all of the answer choices, and make sure that you get the one that BEST answers the question.

Milk the Question
Some of the questions may throw you completely off.  They might deal with a subject you have not been exposed to, or one that you haven't reviewed in years.  While your lack of knowledge about the subject will be a hindrance, the question itself can give you many clues that will help you find the correct answer.  Read the question carefully and look for clues.  Watch particularly for adjectives and nouns describing difficult terms or words that you don't recognize.  Regardless of whether you completely understand a word or not, replacing it with a synonym, either provided or one you more familiar with, may help you to understand what the questions are asking.   Rather than wracking your mind about specific detailed information concerning a difficult term or word, try to use mental substitutes that are easier to understand.

The Trap of Familiarity
Don't just choose a word because you recognize it.  On difficult questions, you may not recognize a number of words in the answer choices.  The test writers don't put 'make-believe' words on the test, so don't think that just because you only recognize all the words in one answer choice that that answer choice must be correct.  If you only recognize words in one answer choice, then focus on that one.  Is it correct?  Try your best to determine if it is correct.  If it is, that's great. If not, eliminate it.  Each word and answer choice you eliminate increases your chances of getting the question correct, even if you then have to guess among the unfamiliar choices.

Eliminate Answers
Eliminate choices as soon as you realize they are wrong.  But be careful!  Make sure you consider all of the possible answer choices.  Just because one appears right, doesn't mean that the next one won't be even better!  The test writers will usually put more than one good answer choice for every question, so read all of them.  Don't worry if you are stuck between two that seem right.  By getting down to just two remaining possible choices, your odds are now 50/50.  Rather than wasting too much time, play the odds.  You are guessing, but guessing wisely because you've been able to knock out some of the answer choices that you know are wrong.  If you are eliminating choices and realize that the last answer choice you are left with is also obviously wrong, don't panic.  Start over and consider each choice again.  There may easily be something that you missed the first time and will realize on the second pass.

Tough Questions
If you are stumped on a problem or it appears too hard or too difficult, don't waste time.  Move on!  Remember though, if you can quickly check for obviously incorrect answer choices, your chances of guessing correctly are greatly improved.  Before you completely give up, at least try to knock out a couple of possible answers.  Eliminate what you can and then guess at the remaining answer choices before moving on.

Brainstorm
If you get stuck on a difficult question, spend a few seconds quickly brainstorming.  Run through the complete list of possible answer choices.  Look at each choice and ask yourself, "Could this answer the question satisfactorily?"  Go through each answer choice and consider it independently of the others.  By systematically going through all possibilities, you may find something that you would otherwise overlook.  Remember though that when you get stuck, it's important to try to keep moving.

Read Carefully
Understand the problem.  Read the question and answer choices carefully.  Don't miss the question because you misread the terms.  You have plenty of time to read each question thoroughly and make sure you understand what is being asked.  Yet a happy medium must be attained, so don't waste too much time.  You must read carefully, but efficiently.

Face Value
When in doubt, use common sense.  Always accept the situation in the problem at face value.  Don't read too much into it.  These problems will not require you to make huge leaps of logic.  The test writers aren't trying to throw you off with a cheap trick.  If you have to go beyond creativity and make a leap of logic in order to have an answer choice answer the question, then you should look at the other answer choices.  Don't overcomplicate the problem by creating theoretical relationships or explanations that will warp time or space.  These are normal problems rooted in reality.  It's just that the applicable relationship or explanation may not be readily apparent and you have to figure things out. Use your common sense to interpret anything that isn't clear.

Prefixes
If you're having trouble with a word in the question or answer choices, try dissecting it.  Take advantage of every clue that the word might include.  Prefixes and suffixes can be a huge help.  Usually they allow you to determine a basic meaning.  Pre- means before, post- means after, pro - is positive, de- is negative.  From these prefixes and suffixes, you can get an idea of the general meaning of the word and try to put it into context.  Beware though of any traps.  Just because con- is the opposite of pro-, doesn't necessarily mean congress is the opposite of progress!

Hedge Phrases
Watch out for critical hedge phrases, led off with words such as 'likely,' 'may,' 'can,' 'sometimes,' 'often,' 'almost,' 'mostly,' 'usually,' 'generally,' 'rarely,' and 'sometimes.'  Question writers insert these hedge phrases to cover every possibility.  Often an answer choice will be wrong simply because it leaves no room for exception.  Unless the situation calls for them, avoid answer choices that have definitive words like 'exactly,' and 'always.'

Switchback Words
Stay alert for 'switchbacks.'  These are the words and phrases frequently used to alert you to shifts in thought.  The most common switchback word is 'but.'  Others include 'although,' 'however,' 'nevertheless,' 'on the other hand,' 'even though,' 'while,' 'in spite of,' 'despite,' and 'regardless of.'

New Information
Correct answer choices will rarely have completely new information included.  Answer choices typically are straightforward reflections of the material asked about and will directly relate to the question.  If a new piece of information is included in an answer choice that doesn't even seem to relate to the topic being asked about, then that answer choice is likely incorrect.   All of the information needed to answer the question is usually provided for you in the question.  You should not have to make guesses that are unsupported or choose answer choices that require unknown information that cannot be reasoned from what is given.

Time Management
On technical questions, don't get lost on the technical terms.  Don't spend too much time on any one question.  If you don't know what a term means, then odds are you aren't going to get much further since you don't have a dictionary.  You should be able to immediately recognize whether or not you know a term.  If you don't, work with the other clues that you have—the other answer choices and terms provided—but don't waste too much time trying to figure out a difficult term that you don't know.

Contextual Clues
Look for contextual clues.  An answer can be right but not the correct answer.  The contextual clues will help you find the answer that is most right and is correct.  Understand the context in which a phrase or statement is made.  This will help you make important distinctions.

Don't Panic
Panicking will not answer any questions for you; therefore, it isn't helpful.  When you first see the question, if your mind goes blank, take a deep breath.   Force yourself to mechanically go through the steps of solving the problem using the strategies you've learned.

Pace Yourself
Don't get clock fever.  It's easy to be overwhelmed when you're looking at a page full of questions, your mind is full of random thoughts and feeling confused, and the clock is ticking down faster than you would like.  Calm down and maintain the pace that you have set for yourself.  As long as you are on track by monitoring your pace, you are guaranteed to have enough time for yourself.  When you get to the last few minutes of the test, it may seem like you won't have enough time left, but if you only have as many questions as you should have left at that point, then you're right on track!

Answer Selection
The best way to pick an answer choice is to eliminate all of those that are wrong, until only one is left and confirm that is the correct answer.  Sometimes though, an answer choice may immediately look right.  Be careful!  Take a second to make sure that the other choices are not equally obvious.  Don't make a hasty mistake.   There are only two times that you should stop before checking other answers.  First is when you are positive that the answer choice you have selected is correct.  Second is when time is almost out and you have to make a quick guess!

Check Your Work
Since you will probably not know every term listed and the answer to every question, it is important that you get credit for the ones that you do know.  Don't miss any questions through careless mistakes.  If at all possible, try to take a second to look back over your answer selection and make sure you've selected the correct answer choice and haven't made a costly careless mistake (such as marking an answer choice that you didn't mean to mark).  The time it takes for this quick double check should more than pay for itself in caught mistakes.

Beware of Directly Quoted Answers
Sometimes an answer choice will repeat word for word a portion of the question or reference section.  However, beware of such exact duplication.  It may be a trap!  More than likely, the correct choice will paraphrase or summarize a point, rather than being exactly the same wording.

Slang
Scientific sounding answers are better than slang ones.  An answer choice that begins 'To compare the outcomes…' is much more likely to be correct than one that begins 'Because some people insisted…'

Extreme Statements
Avoid wild answers that throw out highly controversial ideas that are proclaimed as established fact.  An answer choice that states the 'process should used in certain situations, if…' is much more likely to be correct than one that states the 'process should be discontinued completely.'   The first is a calm rational statement and doesn't even make a definitive, uncompromising stance, using a hedge word 'if' to provide wiggle room, whereas the second choice is a radical idea and far more extreme.

Answer Choice Families
When you have two or more answer choices that are direct opposites or parallels, one of them is usually the correct answer.  For instance, if one answer choice states 'x increases' and another answer choice states 'x decreases' or 'y increases,' then those two or three answer choices are very similar in construction and fall into the same family of answer choices.  A family of answer choices consists of two or three answer choices, very similar in construction, but often with directly opposite meanings.   Usually the correct answer choice will be in that family of answer choices.  The 'odd man out' or answer choice that doesn't seem to fit the parallel construction of the other answer choices is more likely to be incorrect.