Standardized Test Stress

Food for Thought: Bites of wisdom. Ideas to chew on.

There is little that is more stressful for ambitious students than a standardized test. The mystery and buildup give many ambitious students an inflated amount of anxiety. My little brother, who’s an ambitious student (like me), recently took his first standardized test. In his words, the stress made him “feel like throwing up.” This reminded me of the high worry levels that these tests give to students like my brother. Luckily, this stress can be decreased by using the right strategies.

The mystery of standardized tests makes it especially stressful for ambitious students. In most other examinations, you know what you are going to be quizzed on and the questions that will likely be included. In my standardized test experience, there were no emphasis points or study guides to help me prepare. Adaptive tests in particular make ambitious students worried that they aren’t understanding the base material, creating a false sense of inadequacy.

Additionally, the buildup for standardized tests is huge. Throughout the whole year, my teachers used the standardized test as motivation to work hard. People often don’t realize how harmful this is to ambitious students, as this causes them to over anticipate the difficulty of the test. This, combined with the mystery of these standardized tests, gives the illusion of a more difficult test than what it really is.

Relating to this teacher-induced buildup, my 10-year-old brother gave the insight that “the teachers give us students anxiety because they are stressed themselves. Bad scores would make them lose their job, which makes them exaggerate the importance of the test.” 

So, what does this all mean? Well, ambitious students may need a little bit of extra help due to the nature of these tests. Here are some ideas on how to make standardized testing a little less stressful for you or your student.

• Ambitious students need extra affirmation that they are going to be ok. 

• Additionally, comprehension of how the test works can help calm your or your student’s worries a little (whether the test is adaptive or not, different parts, number of questions, etc). 

• Having a stress reliever, such as gum, has personally helped me out during stressful tests.

• Finding what works for you or your student is another thing that can help. 

These little tips have helped me keep the anxiety down to a dull roar and made me a lot more confident in taking these pesky tests. You got this!