Most of the conversations surrounding standardized testing consist of test averages and state rules. Students actually taking the exam are often left out and not addressed. Standardized testing became the norm across public schools with the passing of George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act in 2002. The policy was set up to establish an accountability system for all states regarding failing educational systems and the children they were impacting. The mechanism that aimed to do this was funding. Standardized testing in subject areas would have to be at a certain level of proficiency for public schools or that school could risk federal funding for the upcoming year. Instead of helping students learn, this switched academic goals to ‘teaching
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These responses serve as a warning from our system to slow down and calm down. Students are under pressure to perform from teachers, parents and legally, the state they reside in. This continual anxiety surrounding testing mounts higher as test day becomes closer and closer not only results in physically tired and overworked students. This can lead to irregular sleeping patterns, cold sweats, migraines and fatigue. Little academic writing focuses on the harm of normalizing stressful situations for students in schools regarding testing. Any thing that scares you into performing leads to resentment and anxiety over the act. The negative association between the two components, is never addressed and in turn, becomes a habit of nerves and jittery mannerism whenever the situation occurs again. The neglect of this effect on students undermines mental health awareness and hurts students in future interactions with educational …show more content…
High pressure situations with no conversation or ways to cope leads students to develop anxiety issues and destructive behaviors. Many students that take standardized testing and feel the fear of failing to be real view themselves and their potential as less than their peers. Because the are no longer confident in their ability to perform, they instead decide to disassociate from testing and even other more helpful educational spaces like lessons or projects. Anxiety issues are proliferated by this mindset because students know the stakes are high but still cannot see any possible way to match up to the expectations made for them. At young age, standardized testing regardless of the results, shows students that success is a rigid ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and that cannot be obtained in a healthy way.
In conclusion, Standardized testing and the negative effects it has on students not being addressed on a national level is alarming. No longer is this a simple failure of the educational system in the US but also, a representation of how much we undermine mental health and wellness. Students are being conditioned to believe their well being must come second if they want to be respected and successful in their academic
These responses serve as a warning from our system to slow down and calm down. Students are under pressure to perform from teachers, parents and legally, the state they reside in. This continual anxiety surrounding testing mounts higher as test day becomes closer and closer not only results in physically tired and overworked students. This can lead to irregular sleeping patterns, cold sweats, migraines and fatigue. Little academic writing focuses on the harm of normalizing stressful situations for students in schools regarding testing. Any thing that scares you into performing leads to resentment and anxiety over the act. The negative association between the two components, is never addressed and in turn, becomes a habit of nerves and jittery mannerism whenever the situation occurs again. The neglect of this effect on students undermines mental health awareness and hurts students in future interactions with educational …show more content…
High pressure situations with no conversation or ways to cope leads students to develop anxiety issues and destructive behaviors. Many students that take standardized testing and feel the fear of failing to be real view themselves and their potential as less than their peers. Because the are no longer confident in their ability to perform, they instead decide to disassociate from testing and even other more helpful educational spaces like lessons or projects. Anxiety issues are proliferated by this mindset because students know the stakes are high but still cannot see any possible way to match up to the expectations made for them. At young age, standardized testing regardless of the results, shows students that success is a rigid ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and that cannot be obtained in a healthy way.
In conclusion, Standardized testing and the negative effects it has on students not being addressed on a national level is alarming. No longer is this a simple failure of the educational system in the US but also, a representation of how much we undermine mental health and wellness. Students are being conditioned to believe their well being must come second if they want to be respected and successful in their academic