Test Success!: How to Be Calm, Confident and Focused on Any Test

by Ben Bernstein

A comprehensive training guide on how to improve test scores, these lessons avoid memorization and answering strategies and instead address the test-taker individually to determine what he or she needs personally to perform well at test time. Based on 40 years of teaching experience and 30 years of clinical psychology experience, this book distills the best practices used by elite athletes, artists, and top business performers to create a system that can be applied to any test, including the SAT, ACT, LSAT, MCAT, GRE, licensing exams, finals, and even driving tests. The system trains users to be calm, confident, and focused: the durable and dependable “three legged stool” for successful performance. Also included are special chapters for parents and teachers to learn how to be helpful to their children and students as well as online access to additional test prep material for further study.

202 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2009

About the author

A nationally known teacher and psychologist specializing as a performance coach.

Works with individuals in high performance, high stress occupations: athletes, actors, lawyers, surgeons, business executives. Developed a model for training people keep performance at an optimal level by reducing stress. The model is applied in Dr. B's book "Test Success! How to Be Calm, Confident and Focused on Any Test," and is being used by test-takers internationally.

A speaker and workshop leader at conferences worldwide. Strong background in theater and in music. A director at the Juilliard School, the Sundance Institute, and in psychiatric hospitals in the US and Australia. Founder of The Singer's Gym, a professional Bay area workshop for opera singers.
Award winning composer.

Reviews

[Piragash Maran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book with very good techniques. It really help me with my college exams. Every students must read this book before they seat for their examination. This author explains that not only our brain is working during the test, it's the ultimate teamwork from our body, mind, soul. Highly recommended for students.

[Trudy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Considering the short attention spans of my teenage sons, I was elated that this book engaged their interest and they absorbed and used the skills from the content. The bright blue cover with large bolded font TEST SUCCESS screamed the objective they were trying to accomplish towards college goals and they immediately thumbed through to find some quick secrets. They initially focused in on the bolded call-outs within the text and margins and got the key points. The interior of the book is dotted with entertaining illustrations and shaded boxes containing discernible bullets of critical ideas that helped hold their attention enough to develop interest in reading the book. There are 9 tools to learn to help improve test scores and a model of 3 basic elements with many ideas throughout the book how to emulate those elements to achieve better test scores. I believe my sons learned better test taking skills by reading the book. I think this book should be in every high school counselor’s office, in their stack of resources for students studying for the SAT and in their school libraries.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 411 by Maria:

This book is beneficial to anyone in school. Whether you are in Middle or High School, College or have gone back to school as an adult, the cut right to it information is easy to follow.

Mr. Bernstein's section on Dealing with Distraction is worth the amount of the book. Distraction was my biggest culprit in school and the three tools Mr. Bernstein mentions Stop, Look At What You Are Doing, Listen and Fulfill are easy lessons to follow and will have you sitting up taller in your chair because your confidence level will get a much needed boost and your butt the kick in the pants it needs to really achieve what it is you want out of yourself.

Be the best you can be and with books like these you can't lose

[Kasandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is wonderful, and so far, I have seen some proof that it works: in the hardest class I have ever taken in my life to date, I read the book after not scoring very well on the first test. My second test score improved by 10 points, and I actually spent LESS time studying. I took a lot of notes from this book and recommend it as a keeper for anyone with test anxiety, or those who just want to learn how to do better on tests in general. Very good guided imagery.

[Jonathan Kiaei · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book itself is a great reference guide and confidence builder. The reason that I give it a 4/5 is because of unnecessary repetition and dullness at times.