Review the content knowledge students must refer to on the exam. For instance, the science portion requires students to understand the components and functions of cells, and the social studies section requires students to understand various economic systems.
Give the student a practice test in each area to determine what concepts need further study. School districts, teachers and the Ohio Department of Education have such materials.
Teach multiple-choice question strategies. Students should read the entire question before formulating an answer, come up with an answer before looking at the responses and stick to that answer unless they find a compelling reason to change it.
Discuss vocabulary for short-answer and extended-response questions. Students must explain, evaluate, compare, predict, summarize, support and trace ideas in the various sections. In order to follow the directions, they need to focus on and comprehend the differences among these terms.
Practice time management. Each test allows two-and-a-half hours for completion, which should be ample time for most students. Students should answer the easiest questions first. After finishing, they should use any remaining time to review responses.
Obtain information about scoring for each section, termed a "blueprint" in the OGT, and discuss it with the student. For example, for the writing prompt, the "writing applications" score is worth twice the "writing conventions," meaning that following the prompt closely and fully supporting the answer is more important than punctuation.
Direct students to get a good night's sleep the night before the exams and eat breakfast the morning of the tests.
Talk about relaxation techniques. Test anxiety can adversely affect a score. Deep breathing exercises relax the muscles and increase blood flow to the brain.