Does Standardized Testing Cause Test Anxiety?

Juliet, with her pencil in hand, is walking into the classroom reviewing all the information she has been studying diligently for the past month. Nerves bubble in her stomach; this test will determine her future. Standardized testing often determines if one passes a grade, or if the student is “smart enough” to take advanced classes. Tests are administered multiple times a year to evaluate students’ achievements and the performance of their schools. According to Barner and Slate, “U.S. education has steadily progressed toward a more standardized testing and one-size-fits-all approach to prepare students for life after K-12” (qtd. in Scogin et al. 42). This one-size-fits-all mentality sets standards that cannot accurately represent the knowledge

Often, standardized tests are presented in the form of high stakes tests, which are assessments that have a major decision attached to them. It is essential to earn a high score on these assessments to allow the student to move forward in life, and this necessity causes test anxiety. Many students like Juliet, excel in their classes and study for hours before the assessment, but still receives a low scoring grade as a result of their test anxiety. A study conducted by Segool and his colleagues found that standardized tests induce more test anxiety in elementary students than classroom tests do (Wood et al. 235). Another study conducted by Segool and his colleagues in 2013 of students of various ages concluded that, “[o]f all students, 10%-40% experience some level of test anxiety” (qtd. in Wood et al. 234). In some schools almost half of the students have had test anxiety, but the number of students who suffer from test anxiety varies greatly between schools, “depending on factors such as gender, race, and socioeconomic status” (Wood et al. 234). An effect of this test induced anxiety is the increased probability that inaccurate scores are the consequences because of the inaccurate representation of their knowledge. Stress causes the student’s mind to go blank and forget all the information which they have been studying. This forgetful nature, then leads students to fill in random answers and receive a low score on the exam, but this score does not mean that they do not know the material. According to Ergene, “[t]est anxiety is specific to testing situations that impact a student’s performance on the test, thus inhibiting the test score as an accurate representation of academic knowledge and skill” (qtd. in Wood et al. 234). Test anxiety is not a rare issue that affects students’ scores; it is a recurring issue brought on by standardized testing and the