If you teaching aims for tests like AP, ACT, or SAT, you know that improving multiple-choice performance is about much more than giving students more practice questions. Students need to learn how to slow down, return to the text, examine the question, eliminate tempting answers, and defend their interpretations. And even though it’s easier, simply handing back a graded test rarely accomplishes any of that. I’ve found a better way to turn multiple-choice assessment review into actual close-reading practice. This simple, low-prep routine gets students talking through their answers, reconsidering their thinking, and practicing the close-reading strategies they need to become stronger AP Lit, Lang, or SAT/ACT multiple-choice test takers.
The Problem with Handing Back Tests
One of my biggest frustrations in years of teaching has been how to get students to study their assessments and avoid mistakes in the future. No matter how high the stakes are, it seems that I would return my tests and students would glance at the score, moan or cheer, and then throw them out.
Like many teachers, I wished my students would look at the mistakes they made in order to avoid making them again, but I also saw their point. Why belabor the activity when the points were already in the gradebook?
Teachers know, of course, is that a multiple-choice test can be much more than a grade. It can be an opportunity for students to practice the very skills they need to become better readers and better test takers: rereading a passage, examining the wording of a question, eliminating distractors, and explaining why one answer is stronger than another.
A Simple Change to Assessment Review
A few years ago, I switched up an assessment. My students took their tests and the next day they were prepared to see their scores. Instead, I passed the tests back to them–unscored.
I put a 15-minute timer on the screen and put them into pairs. Their instructions were simple: discuss your answers and change them if you wish.
As I suspected, students used every minute intentionally. Since students didn’t know if their original answer was already right, this led to deep discussion when they had answers that differed. Some caught mistakes they made, while others began intense debates over how a question was interpreted.
The key change, I found, was that the test was still ungraded. With this practice, students weren’t simply correcting their answers. They were practicing the thinking that led them to those answers in the first place.
They could decide to stay or change their answer, but the question always remained–what if my answer was already right?
Taking It to AP Lit Multiple Choice
I found so much success with this practice in Honors English 10 that I began using it with AP Lit Personal Progress Checks. Now, I’ll never do it another way.
When we take a PPC in class, my AP Lit students take it individually on AP Classroom. But before they hit “submit,” they grab a partner and move into the hallway. There, they have 10-15 minutes to talk about their answers and change them (if they wish).
I usually spend my time in the hallway and listen to their conversations. (They’re very entertaining!) Sometimes, they discover that they misread a question. Other times a partner points out a detail in the passage they missed. Sometimes they realize that the answer they chose is technically true but doesn’t actually answer the question being asked. And sometimes they convince their partner that their original answer was right. This is important too!
Students need to learn that multiple-choice questions aren’t simply about finding an answer that sounds right. They are about determining which answer is most defensible based on the text and the question.
After everyone submits, we discuss what questions tripped us up and strategies for getting tricky questions correct. I’ve found this to be one of the most valuable ways to increase multiple-choice close-reading and comprehension skills.
Why I Think It Works
There are a few things I especially love about this routine.
- Students have to defend their thinking. Instead of simply seeing that they missed Question 12, they have to explain why they chose their original answer. That makes them more aware of the reasoning behind their choices.
- It makes distractors worth discussing. Students begin to recognize that AP Lit multiple-choice questions often include answers that sound reasonable. The challenge is figuring out why one answer is better than the others.
- It forces students to reread the text. When two students disagree, they can’t simply say, “I think I’m right.” They need to find something in the passage that supports their interpretation.
- It makes changing an answer a thoughtful process rather than a guessing game. Students aren’t changing an answer because their partner told them to. Ideally, they’re changing it because they’ve heard another interpretation, returned to the text, and reconsidered their own thinking.
Those are exactly the habits I want my AP Lit students to develop before they sit down for the AP exam.
Some Notes of Caution
Although I give many tests over the course of the year (I do teach five preps!), I only use this strategy for text-based thematic tests in Honors English and Personal Progress Checks in AP Lit. I would not advise this for subject-specific tests. If the test requires a student to study material, such as a novel or genre, too many students could leech their partner’s knowledge and pass it off as their own. But since these tests assess not what you know but how you interpret a question, they’re perfect for this assignment.
I would also consider assigning the partners or small groups the first time you do this. I’ve seen low-scoring students work to scoop up the highest earners in the class, then default to changing all their scores just to match theirs. Try to match ability levels in your partners so it’s a true discussion of interpretation.
Less Grading for Me, More Thinking for Them
Since Personal Progress Checks are no longer just completion grades, I’ll probably switch this to being an in-class activity to keep answers secure (and students honest). But I know this is going to be part of how I teach multiple-choice questions for quite a while.
Aside from the increased close-reading practice, I love that it takes the burden of “grading” off of me. Instead, students can self-score and learn from their mistakes easily. If there’s an answer they disagree with, I’ll get involved, explaining the correct answer as best as I can. But for the most part, it’s incredibly hands-off.
Students are doing the work. They’re practicing close reading. They’re talking through multiple-choice questions. And I’m not spending another afternoon grading a test they’ve already taken.
More Multiple Choice Strategies
For more multiple choice strategies and preparation activities, check out these blog posts:
Leave a Reply