Ordinarily I'm reluctant to write about studies that have not yet been peer reviewed. But I'm going to make an exception this time because of the need to try to help parents and their children cope with the pressure surrounding high-stakes standardized tests. I have reference now to an investigation of the factors that affect student performance on the Basic Competency Test for Junior High School Students in Taiwan ("Why Can Some Kids Handle Pressure While Others Fall Apart?" The New York Times Magazine, Feb. 10).

This is not a run-of-the-mill standardized test. The results determine which high school students in Taiwan are admitted to. More than 200,000 ninth-graders take the two-day long test, which is known for its extreme difficulty. Only 39 percent of test takers make the cut for an academic high school. The rest are directed to vocational high schools or private schools. Cram schools are attended almost every night, as students try to get a leg up on the exam.

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