Testing anxiety is a fear of failing that you feel before or while taking an important test such as the STAAR. Testing anxiety can really have a negative effect on your performance on a test. No matter how good a student does in school, testing anxiety can affect their performance on the STAAR Test in a negative way. It just is not fair that these students fail a test as important as a STAAR Test because of something they do not have control over. You cannot exempt these select few of students from the test because then that would not be fair for the rest of the students.…
Some tests can be really hard to take. I know most of the information on the test, but I am too afraid that the questions would be different on the test than what I would be practicing. I pass the tests that I am most worried about. I get very proud and confident of myself when I pass them . I say “well that was nothing to worry about.”…
Testing students in subjects such as science and social studies is not fair to all students. Since 25%-40% of students get test anxiety, even if they study and know their stuff, they still blank out, freeze up, zone out, or feel so nervous that they cannot write the test. Students who are highly test-anxious score about 12% less than other students who don’t get test anxiety. Equally students don’t always have time to study and memorize everything before a test. Not only…
Humans are prone to the lovely adventures of emotional rollercoasters, and they are more likely to experience these “life crises” when they are in their teen years because they are experiencing changes in their hormones. Anxiety is one of these lovely treasures. Columbia University states, “Many students also develop test anxiety which hinders performance,” (Pros and Cons). If students are preoccupied with dealing with their anxiety, they have no motivation to study for their test, or do their best on the test that they have to take. Every parent tells their child to be the best that they can be, but they are struggling to handle their anxiety.…
Jessica Mosley 3rd period LA III 2-25-16 Opposing Standardized Testing When students are about to take a standardized test, are they going to be stressed about it? According to Teacher College at Columbia University in New York City, American students may be the most tested students in the world, taking more than 100 million standardized test every year. Even good students who are well prepared can be derailed by the general air of anxiety surrounding a test.” “I immediately started sweating and I got cramps in my stomach.…
It can be concluded and agreed upon the fact that test anxiety is associated with “lower academic performance and that a linear relationship exists between anxiety and examination performance” (Reteguiz). Anxiety is has a greater impact than stress does. According to dictionary.com, anxiety is “distress or uneasiness of mind caused by fear of danger or misfortune,” and it is not necessarily wrong (dictionary.com). Anxiety is “an unpleasant emotional state or condition with perceived feelings of tension, apprehension, nervousness, and worry” (Reteguiz). The side effects of situation-specific anxiety, such as standardized testing induced anxiety, include “increased blood pressure, rapid heart rate with palpitations and tachycardia, sweating, dryness of the mouth, nausea, dizziness, hyperventilation, restlessness,…
In one of the forms of the tests there is even instructions on what to do if a student throws up on a test booklet. Studies have also shown that because of these tests students have had greater psychiatric issues. Standardized testing has began to affect students in many different aspects of their daily lives because of the amount of stress it puts on them. The stress that is placed on students can lead to increased infections, tiredness, worry, and irregular sleep habits. Many students who take these tests have began to compare their scores with their classmates.…
A student’s health is an important factor in how they will do on the test, and prior illnesses, as well as ones gained from the stress of testing, are able to affect a student’s performance. Standardized testing is imperative to a successful future, and the stress this gives students can contribute to harmful practices, often at the expense of their own health. Studying so hard that sleep is lost and meals are skipped decreases one’s ability to think properly, affecting their chances to show what they are truly capable of. The same result can occur from previous illnesses that one has yet to recover from. Similarly, mental illnesses provide major obstacles for some students.…
Colleges generally look for standardized test scores during the admission process. The standardized test, such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test and the American College Testing, was intended to be used as a tool that would determine a student’s brilliance and predict how well the student will perform in college. However, the standardized test is not a good indicator of how smart a student is, because every student has different skills and abilities. There are many intelligent and hard-working students, but the standardize test does not match their learning ability, making it difficult for these students to obtain high scores and apply for colleges. Some students are not good test takers and can become nervous.…
A number does not define a person. A page full of filled-in bubbles does not distinguish them from anyone else. Their long essay response does not make them more superior than the rest. Standardized testing has put labels on everyone who has taken the exams. The results from the tests are merely a number and a number does not say anything about a student.…
While this might seem a more idle threat than that of mental health problems, it is still part of a larger problem, and a bigger picture. Students attend school, or are intended to attend school, for the betterment of themselves –and by extension, their community. With large tests starting with younger and younger grades, it’s no wonder many students have high test anxiety. As Bloom states about testing anxiety “While other forms of fear tended to decrease with age, text anxiety typically increased as pupils progressed through school”, in other words, while a child scared of snakes may love them by the time they’re adults, a child scared of tests –and failing tests—may, and likely will, continue to be terrified of them through adulthood. Not should this fear raise a cause for concern, but the fact that many students do not remember the significance of historical events, or know different ideologies, because they only remembered the answer for a test they have long since taken, should also be something addressed.…
Numerous studies suggest that the NCLB achievement assessments have resulted in heightened anxiety levels among students in addition to lowered motivation and increased stress rates. Test anxiety among school-aged children exists among 10%-30% of the students, with approximately 10% experiencing clinically significant anxiety levels (Segool). The anxiety stems from the pressure from teachers and administrators to perform well and because students are labeled according to their scores. In Letters to a Young Teacher, Kozol points out that there is nothing beneficial from high-stakes testing by “[pasting] a retroactive label of ‘success’ or ‘failure’ on a child” (Kozol). Testing does not provide an accurate depiction of a child’s ability to succeed due to the various external and internal factors influencing their test-taking ability.…
The negative impact of test-anxiety in educational systems are becoming increasingly more apparent and a more comprehensive understanding and solutions to this condition are greatly…
As a learner I have experienced failure, significant setbacks and challenges. One in particular is my enormous fear for tests. This fear considerably impacted my middle school and high school education, but it did not hinder my love for learning. I always did well on class assignments, projects, and homework, but tests were my down fall. The immense anxiety I felt reflected on the test grade, therefore bringing down my overall class average.…
According to Kennedy, “It is completely normal and even common for individuals to experience anxiety, particularly during stressful periods, such as before a test or important date” (19). Anxiety disorder can come from anything as big and as little as a test or a special date. One of the best examples of this is post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. PTSD is an anxiety disorder that occurs after an extremely traumatic event. The stress is so strong and so powerful, that the person's anxiety levels change from that moment onward.…