Test Anxiety in an era of high stakes testing

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Test Anxiety in an era of high stakes testing

• Brian P. Leung, Ph.D.
• Professor
• School Psychology Program
• Loyola Marymount University

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Test Anxiety

• Some anxiety is normal during testing situations.
• Excessive anxiety is when it affects test
  performancebefore, during, and after testing.
• Previous estimate of TA of 20-30 of
• school aged students is
• now higher.

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Test Anxiety (TA)

• TA is part of evaluation or performance
  anxiety.
• Previous research suggests that TA begins in
  3rd/4th grades, but now its likely to start
  earlier by 2nd grade and continues into high
  school.
• As testing become more and more high stake for
  adults, students with TA will be more affected.
• Without interventions, many students do not
  overcome TA even as adults.
• ButIntervention will make a difference!

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Some Common Reasons for Test Anxiety (even with
preparation)

• Students become anxious at the thought of
• taking a test and convince themselves
• that they will fail (low self-efficacy).
• They panic because the questions on the test
  don't look reasonably close to what was studied
  in class or at home.
• Due to negative test taking experience, a
  negative attitude about testing, or a
  combination.
• Students become more anxious due to anxiety of
  teachers and parents.
• These common reasons are exaggerated in students
  with special needs.

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A word about Self-Efficacy

• Powerful influence on human behavior
• i.e. if you think you are not going to be
  successful OR if you think youll likely fail at
  something, that would affect your engagement and
  effort of an activity.
• Its important to raise students efficacy.
• Its possible because self-efficacy is a
  perception!

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Some Common Reasons for Test Anxiety

• Students become anxious at the thought of
• taking a test and may convince themselves
• that they will fail (low self-efficacy).
• They panic because the questions on the test
  don't look reasonably close to what was studied
  in class or at home.
• Due to negative test taking experience, a
  negative attitude about testing, or a
  combination.
• Students become more anxious due to anxiety of
  teachers and parents.
• These common reasons are exaggerated in students
  with special needs.

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Understanding Test AnxietyCognitive Aspects

• WORRY
• Excessive thinking about upcoming test
• Concerns about consequences of failure
• Worry that own ability as inadequate
• SELF-PREOCCUPATION
• Self talk becomes self-focused instead of task
  oriented
• Has fewer positive self attributes

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Understanding Test AnxietyCognitive Aspects

• COGNITIVE INERFERENCE
• Getting caught up in thoughts that serve no
  purpose and interfere with processing information
  (e.g., spending 60 of mental energy on test, and
  40 on other thoughts)
• Over emphasis on time left on test
• Inability to leave unsolved test items

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Understanding Test AnxietyEmotionality Aspects

• PHYSIOLOGICAL REACTIONS
• Physical responses include
• Increased heart rate
• Sweaty palms
• Shaking
• Needing to urinate
• Cold clammy hands
• Minimal signs can trigger more intense reactions

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TA works at 3 levels

• Study or Preparation level
• TA affects effective efficient use of
  time/strategies and overall processing of
  information
• Test taking level
• TA interferes with retrieval of
• information and usage of available
• mental energy
• After testing level
• Leaves student feeling deflated and uncertain and
  affects future endeavors

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Teacher Contribution to TA

• Over-emphasis on competition
• Significant emphasis placed on ranking of
  students
• Unconscious connection of test results with
  students self-worth
• Public display of test results
• In this era, constant talk about test and its
  impact
• Teachers own anxiety

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Parent Contribution to TA

• (Unrealistic) high expectation
• Low support for positive achievement
• Constant emphasis on high performance
• Comparison of childs performance with others
• Modeling from own anxiety

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Student Contribution to TA

• Being unprepared
• Poor study and test taking skills
• Procrastination and delays in getting ready
• Previous negative experiences build on itself
• Performance Goal orientation

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Gender Differences in Test Anxiety

• Women are said to be more sensitive and more
  self-conscious in evaluative situations
• Women report higher anxiety from elementary
  school to college
• Cross cultural validity for women
• Higher on emotionality versus worry
• Maybe due to Socialization
• Women taught to express and acknowledge their
  feelings
• Men taught to repress or deny anxiety
• Differences in research may be due to a lack of
  openness of men

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Age Differences in Test Anxiety

• Test anxiety rises from early to late elementary
  school stabilizing towards the end of elementary
• Reaches peak point in junior high and then levels
  off through high school (high school students
  reported to be less anxious than junior high)
• Similar patterns cross-culturally
• Possible Reasons
• Increases in demands and pressures
• Greater complexity of learning materials
• Reducing successes
• Cumulative failures
• Increase in accuracy of self reports

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Common Ethnic Differences in Test Anxiety

• Mexican American Students
• due to a heightened fear of disappointing their
  parents and teachers
• African American Students
• More likely to experience repeated academic
  failures
• Negative ethnic stereotypes (low expectations
  from others)
• Asian American Students
• Parental pressure
• High expectations
• Need more cross-cultural research

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Test Anxiety and Learning Disabilities

• Learning disabilities affect 2-10 of the
  school-aged student population.
• Studies have shown that LD students are prone to
• negative self efficacy
• external locus of control
• poor test taking skills
• all three contribute significantly to TA.

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Interventions

• Cognitive Interventions
• Cognitive-Behavioral Modification (self-talk)
• Attentional Training
• Emotionality Interventions
• Relaxation Techniques
• Systematic Desensitization
• Anxiety Management Training

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Skill Focused Interventions

• Study Skills
• Time Management
• Test-Taking Strategies
• Organization of Ideas
• Self-monitoring of knowledge
• Combination Approach work best!

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Tips for Parents (before)

• Help your child prepare for the test ahead of
  time.
• Gather available test preparation material
• Allow child to form study groups
• Practice areas of greatest difficulties.
• Go over past test and review answers
• Praise child for effort and raise positive
  expectations
• Have them practice breathing, relaxation or
  stress reducing techniques before the day of the
  test.
• Encourage child to whisper to self positive
  comments while studying and taking the test.

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Tips for parents (the day of the test)

• See that your child is rested and eats breakfast.
  
• See that your child arrives at school on time and
  is relaxed and try to get there at least 10
  minutes before the test.
• Encourage your child to do the best work
  possible.
• Remind your child of past successes. Ask them to
  think of a tough course in which they struggled
  but eventually succeeded.

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Test Taking Tips for Students

• 1. First, read the directions carefully!!
• Many points have been lost because students
  didn't follow the directions.
• 2. Remember to preview the test to see how much
  time you need to allot for each section.
• 3. Work on the "easiest" parts first. If your
  strength is essay questions, answer those first
  to get the maximum points. Pace yourself to allow
  time for the more difficult parts.

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More Testing Tips

• 4. When answering essay questions, try to make a
  brief outline in the margin before you begin
  writing.
• 5 Organization, clear thinking, and good
  writing is important, but so is neatness. Be sure
  to make your writing legible.
• 6. Save time at the end of the exam to review
  your test and make sure you haven't left out any
  answers or parts of answers.

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Interventions for Teachers

• Providing an opportunity to comment on test items
• Interjecting humor into the test situations
• Modifications of test atmosphere and environment
• Eliminate and anticipate distractions during
  tests
• Familiarize students with test taking skills and
  format
• Be sensitive of different cultural expectations
  and how they can create anxiety
• Teachers need to model relaxed but focused
  approach to testing

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Schoolwide Interventions

• Teachers can do a better job helping their
  students if they get support! This include
• Principal, teachers, and support staff all worked
  together and shared ideas.
• Studying the students to see what type of support
  is most appropriate for whom.
• Teachers received individual support to target
  specific students, as well as entire class.

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more Schoolwide Interventions

• Identified students with high TA received
  individual support
• Individual or group with counselors or
  psychologists
• Nutritional needs were attended to
• All were taught test-taking skills, relaxation
  techniques, and positive self-talk
• Positive reinforcement for students AND parents
  for their pre-test effort and support.

92nd Street School, LAUSD
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Final Comments

• Test Anxiety will not go away, especially
  nowadays!
• Everyone has a part in helping students overcome
  test anxiety. Working together brings the best
  results.
• Combination of cognitive, emotional, and skill
  focused interventions work best.
• In this era of high-stake testing, TA
  intervention could be integrated into the school
  culture.

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References

• Ergene, T., (2003). Effective interventions on
  test anxiety reduction. School Psychology
  International, 24(3), 313-329.
• Stipek, D., (2002). Motivation to Learn.
  Integrating Theory and Practice (4th ed.).Boston
  Allyn Bacon.
• Supon, V., (2004). Implementing strategies to
  assist test-anxious students. Journal of
  Instructional Psychology, 31(4), 292-297
• Some slides were modified from
• Julie Vidal, Presentation as SP intern, El
  Segundo SD.
• Stephanie Domzalski, Debbie Glezer, Diane Huynh,
  Jennifer Walsh. 2nd Year SP Cohort. Presentation
  at 05 CASP convention.