2. High Stakes, High Anxiety:
Stakes
Testing and Student Stress
Jay Parkes, Ph.D.
Educational Psychology
Program
www.unm.edu/~parkes

3. My main resource
Cizek, G. J. & Burg, S.
S. (2006). Addressing
test anxiety in a high-
stakes environment.
Thousand Oaks, CA:
Corwin P
C i Press.

4. Are students stressed by testing?
Between 25% and 30% of American students suffer
effects of debilitating stress i evaluative situations
ff t f d bilit ti t in l ti it ti
(Hill, 1984).
Between 34% and 41% of third-through-sixth-grade
children are affected by test anxiety (Turner, Beidel,
hild ff t d b t t i t (T B id l
Hughes, & Turner, 1993).
Test anxiety . . . is a common, treatable condition that
may lower student performance in up to 10% of the
school-aged population (Erford & Moore-Thomas,
2004).
Approximately 20% of students in upper elementary
school are hindered in demonstrating their ability
because of test anxiety (Goonan, 2004).
These bullets are from Cizek & Burg (2006) p. 28

5. Are students stressed by testing?
“Current estimates of the percentage of
Current
students in a classroom affected by test
anxiety range from a low of about 1% to a
high of over 40%. (Cizek & Burg, 2006,
p.29).”
Most studies are prior to NCLB.
Many studies don’t differentiate large-scale
testing f
i from classroom assessment.
l

6. What is Test Anxiety?
“. . . the set of phenomenological,
.
physiological, and behavioral responses that
accompany concern about possible negative
consequences or failure on an exam or similar
evaluative situation (p. 27)” (Zeidner, 1998)

7. Mild Effects of Test Anxiety
Physiological
y g
Rapid breathing
Sweating
Rapid heart rate
Behavioral
Fidgeting, squirming
Pencil-tapping
Emotional & Psychological
Verbal expression of
concern
Resistance to attending
school

8. Moderate Effects of Test Anxiety
Crying Illness
Toileting accidents High Blood Pressure
Eating disturbance Acting Out
Sleep disturbance Cheating
Poorer test Negative attitudes towards
performance self, school,
self school subjects

9. Extreme Effects of Test Anxiety
Can be comorbid with Overanxious Disorder
and/or Social Phobia.
Suicide

11. “We live in a test-conscious, test-giving
We test conscious, test giving
culture in which the lives of people are in part
determined by their test performance.”
Quote f
Q t from 1959

12. “One of the suicides was definitely due to
One
worry over an approaching examination and
the other presumably was. These incidents
show that students are taking their
examination more and more seriously, and
that th
th t the emotional reactions b f
ti l ti before
examinations is an important problem.”
Quote from 1938

13. Who is test anxious?
Females > Males
African-American > White (difference
disappears by high school)
pp y g )
Hispanics > Whites
Low Ability > Moderate Ability > High Ability
At Risk > Not at Risk
No data on ELL’s
ELL s
Summarized from Cizek & Burg (2006), Ch. 4

14. Not all stress is bad stress
67% of students who failed the MCAS the first
time said that, as a result, they are working
harder in school.
65% say they pay more attention in class
since failing the MCAS.
These bullets are adapted from from Cizek & Burg (2006) p. 30, citing Mass Insight
Education, 2002.

15. The Yerkes Dodson Law 1908
Yerkes-Dodson

17. Student Tips for Dealing with Test
Anxiety
Before the test
Learn positive self-talk
Avoid “must” self-talk (e.g. “I must do well on this test”).
Study well
Learn test taking techniques
During the test
Practice Relaxation Techniques & positive self-talk
Skim the test (get the lay of the land)
Answer easier questions first; skip harder questions
and come back to them
Pacing and Time Management
Adapted from Cizek & Burg (2006)

18. Parent Tips for Dealing with Test
Anxiety
Parents are a key component!
Think long-term – encourage healthy self-
esteem, self-concept, self-worth
, p,
Model positive self-talk and attributions
DON T
DON’T act short term with tests (e.g. earlier
short-term
bedtime, “pep talks”, special meals). This
HEIGHTENS test anxiety.
Adapted from Cizek & Burg (2006)

19. Teacher Tips: Before the Test
Provide basic information about evaluations.
Be fair and open about testing.
Discuss “worst-case” scenarios carefully
worst-case carefully.
Test Preparation
Familiarize them with conditions and formats
Test-taking Skills
Test Time Management
How to follow directions
Adapted from Cizek & Burg (2006)

20. Teacher Tips: During the Test
The Testing Environment
Adequate space
Well lit
Well-lit
Appropriate Temperature
Distraction free
Accommodate student needs (e.g. left- and
right-handed desks)
Adapted from Cizek & Burg (2006) Table 6.3

21. School Tips for Dealing with Test
Anxiety
De-emphasize the importance of the test results. Test anxiety
was hi h i schools where:
higher in h l h
Teachers were urged to practice test-like activities.
Teachers were reminded of the use of scores by the public.
Students were encouraged to do their best via daily
announcements
Students were reminded of the importance of getting a good
night s rest
night’s rest, eating breakfast, etc
breakfast etc.
DO communicate that testing is important and that students
should do well.
DO NOT communicate the adults stress to the students
adults’ students.
Have counselors and teachers teach relaxation techniques
Adapted from Cizek & Burg (2006)

22. School Tips for Dealing with Test
Anxiety
“All schools for miles and miles around
Must take a special test.
To see who’s learning such and such
To see which school’s the best
school s best.
If our small school does not do well,
Then it will be torn down,
And you will have to go to school
In dreary Flobbertown.”
-- Dr. Seuss, Jack Prelutsky, and
Lane Smith, Hooray for Diffendoofer Day!
Adapted from Cizek & Burg (2006)

23. A Need for Some Perspective
“Tests don t hurt kids; people with tests hurt
Tests don’t
kids.”
Social pressures surrounding testing are
p g g
more damaging than testing itself.
A serious issue . . . but in its context
Evaluation is part of life and we need to teach
our students proactive, positive and
productive ways to address it.

24. References
Cizek, G. J. & Burg, S. S. (2006). Addressing
test anxiety in a high-stakes environment.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Hughes, B. M. (2005). Study, examinations,
and stress: blood pressure assessments in
college students. Educational Review, 57(1),
21 – 36.
Zeidner, M (1998). T
Z id M. (1998) Test anxiety: Th state of
i The f
the art. New York: Plenum Press.

25. Resources
McDonald, A. S. (2001). The prevalence and effects of test
anxiety in school children Educational Psychology 21(1) 89
children. Psychology, 21(1), 89-
101.
Oehlberg, B. E. (2006). Reaching and teaching stressed and
anxious learners in grades 4-8: strategies for relieving distress
and t
d trauma in schools and classrooms. Th
i h l d l Thousand O k CA:
d Oaks, CA
Corwin Press.
The Society for Test Anxiety Research http://www.star-
society.org/
y g
Ysseldyke, J., Nelson, J. R., Christenson, S., Johnson, D. R.,
Dennison, A., Triezenberg, H., Sharpe, M., & Hawes, M. (2004).
What we know and need to know about the consequences of
high stakes
high-stakes testing for students with disabilities Exceptional
disabilities.
Children, 71(1), 75-94.