ABSTRACT
One of the most debilitating beliefs related to high-stakes standardized exams is that some people are simply good test-takers by nature: they are born with it. This chapter confronts this belief by focusing on three in-depth cases of students who passed their licensure exams after multiple failed attempts. The chapter illustrates the changes in preparation approach that students made between failing and passing the exam. Students made changes to how they studied by using “an inch wide and a mile deep” approach and accessing expertise from other people in their test preparation network. They also utilized a range of unconventional and test wiseness strategies while retaking the exam and strategized for optimal test space and time. By illustrating the changes that students make between failing and passing their teacher licensure exam, this chapter confronts the idea that people cannot learn to do well on standardized tests in general, and licensure exams specifically.
