Establishing Rapport with Examinees

I just wanted to take a minute to explain how important it is to establish rapport when administering a test. In other words, you need to obtain the confidence and cooperation of an examinee or the results may not accurately reflect the examinee's true abilities.

Many students may wonder why they have to take a test or in many cases "another test" and how this test will affect their future. Be ready for this question and even if the question isn't asked provide reassurance and support to ease any apprehensive feelings. During the examination, an examinee may have feelings of stress and it is always permissable to provide sympathetic reassurances such as praising their efforts or making understanding comments (never imply or state if their response was correct or incorrect).

An examiner should ALWAYS help an examinee maintain a sense of self-esteem and self-acceptance.

Here are some suggestions for establishing and maintaining rapport:

1. Greet the examinee by their first name
2. Tell the examinee your name
3. Provide a brief description of the purpose of the test
4. Be confident and respectful to the examinee
5. Help the examinee feel at ease thoughout the process
6. Encourage an examinee for their effort rather than praise them for the results
7. Convey the message that you are sincerely interested in their success
8. Be supportive in the event of failure

This is in no way an all inclusive list, but these eight items should be considered the basics when establishing rapport and there is nothing more valuable than experience when establishing rapport and administering a test.