High Stakes Testing = High Stakes Outcomes: Exploring Test Anxiety in K-12 Students Two words in the education world hold way too much power: Standardized tests. Standardized tests are a mainstay in U.S. education and play a critical role in measuring student’s measured success. However, these tests have a prominent blind spot, as they fail to capture the “soft skills” that reflect a student’s ability to develop good study habits, take academic risks, and persist through various challenges. Tests are essential to measure growth and record data. However, arguably, soft skills are the place where the potential is translated into real achievement.
Standardized tests take a few hours to complete. This is a tiny fraction of students’ time demonstrating their learning and is not a complete reflection of their knowledge or ability. Yet, these tests hold notoriously high stakes and often determine academic merit.
Have we given too much weight to high-stakes tests? Undoubtedly. The pressure of these tests is not just a matter of academic performance, it’s increasingly becoming a serious health concern for students, raising a red flag for all of us.
In 2024, we’re no strangers to stress. So, the term “cortisol levels” is nothing new to today’s modern adult. However, as high-stakes tests loom, cortisol levels in children rise by an average of 15 percent. For students already experiencing hardships outside of school, cortisol levels spiked even higher by as much as 35 percent. High-stress levels like these will likely derail cognitive processes and distort test scores beyond recognition.
Researchers’ findings are clear: high cortisol levels, whether positive or negative, can significantly impair test performance. This ‘stress bias’ makes tests a less reliable indicator of student learning. The problem is real, and it’s not just about the difficulty in concentration. Testing is a primary focus in today’s public education model, and prolonged exposure to this kind of stress can lead to burnout, disengagement, and academic failure.
High-stakes testing commonly begins in third grade, as young students get their first taste of what is commonly referred to as ‘the state test.’ While these tests are widely used as diagnostic tools to help tailor a student’s academic support and evaluate the performance of teachers and schools, they also often come with many unintended consequences that we cannot afford to ignore.
Teachers and parents across the country have reported that these types of tests lead to higher levels of anxiety and lower levels of confidence in elementary-aged students. It is not uncommon for young students to experience stress, panic, irritability, frustration, boredom, crying, headaches, and loss of sleep while taking and preparing for such tests.
Frequent and high-stakes testing is causing stress, harming children’s self-esteem and interest in learning. Despite this, many teachers focus on teaching without emphasizing these tests to prevent student anxiety. However, teachers’ and students’ performance is judged based on test results, causing many teachers to leave the traditional classroom and a rise in homeschooling and micro-schools. The proof is in the data, which shows the impact of testing–prompting a trend toward alternative education options.
Ultimately, it’s not the tests—it’s the power we give them. Tests are not bad. In fact, they have been around for a long time and can be a valuable tool in measuring student knowledge and retention. By re-evaluating our approach to testing, we can bring about positive change in our education system, offering hope for a better future for our students.
Written By: Meredith Biesinger
Professional Writer/ Education Specialist
Meredith Biesinger is a licensed dyslexia therapist in Mississippi, in addition to being an experienced classroom teacher and K-12 administrator. Meredith also works as a consultant, where she bridges the bridge the gap between K-12 school districts and ed-tech organizations. With a passion for literacy, she is also a professional writer and syndicated author. With a M.Ed in Educational Leadership and a B.S. in English Education and Creative Writing, she has had rich and diverse opportunities to teach students and education professionals in different parts of the country as well as overseas.
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