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Test Anxiety in Students

What We Can Do To Help Our Students Manage Test Anxiety

Test Anxiety inStudentsWhat We Can Do To Help Our Students Manage TestAnxiety

Testing, testing ...

It's that time of the school year again -- as Spring and warm weather approach, so does testing season, which can be an incredibly stressful time for our students. From early elementary school kids to our seniors in high school, students of all ages can experience the negative feelings and symptoms that are often associated with test anxiety -- sweaty palms, feeling sick, having headaches, wanting to avoid school, etc.


Since we as teachers and school staff cannot eliminate the amount of testing required for our students, it's our responsibility as educators to help our students manage their test anxiety and develop self-help strategies to overcome many of these symptoms. I hope that some of the ideas listed below are beneficial to your class (and maybe to yourself!) as PSSAs, Keystone Exams, and other standardized tests hit our schools throughout the next few months.


Information throughout this webpage was pulled from the following locations:

Minnesota State University -- Counseling Center

National Association of School Psychologists (website)

The University of Texas at Dallas -- Counseling Center

What Test Anxiety Is (And What It's Not)

Believe it or not, it is normal to feel some degree of anxiety in any situation in which you feel that you are being evaluated. Outside of tests, other situations which commonly cause anxiety include job interviews, sports try-outs, or meeting a new group of people. Some degree of anxiety in most situations actually helps performance; however, when anxiety reaches a level that is very high or very low, performance suffers.


For the most part, test anxiety is a learned behavior -- this is good news! Most things that are learned can also be unlearned, and part of overcoming test anxiety is to "unlearn the anxious feelings" associated with test evaluation.



Anxiety during a test is:

"A feeling of dread or negativity that prevents a person from showing his/her teacher what he/she truly knows on a test"




Anxiety during a test is NOT:

"Not studying and feeling unprepared for a test, thus making the student feel nervous to take the test"



Thus, if a student feels nervous because he/she was up too late and didn't get to look over vocabulary words for a test, he/she is not experiencing test anxiety. Rather, time management and study skills should be reviewed with that student to improve test ability. However, if a student studied for hours for a test and was able to recite material in an informal setting, but he/she blanks during the test and panics, then the following tips for relieving test anxiety may prove beneficial.

Tips for Overcoming Test Anxiety

"Nip it in the Bud"

Anxiety is like a snowball going downhill -- it starts slowly, but will gradually pick up size and speed if not confronted early. It's critical to stop test anxiety before it picks up steam -- to do this, have students develop an "early warning system" to recognize the early signs that they are feeling anxious about something.


Common "early warning signs" are some of the same symptoms described previously -- sweaty palms, feelings of nausea/illness, avoidance of school, exhaustion/tiredness, headaches, etc.


When a student detects that he/she is experiencing "early warning signs," he/she should try the relaxation techniques listed on this webpage.

Behavioral Relaxation Techniques

Behavioral techniques can help students achieve a physiological state of relaxation -- when the body feels relaxed, the mind will follow suit. Regular practice at these techniques will allow students to become more adept at using them when they feel anxious during tests.
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Deep Breathing

This is a simple technique that can be done in the classroom and will not disrupt other students during testing. Take a deep breath from deep in your belly using your nose and hold it for several seconds. Then, slowly exhale from your mouth and feel tension leaving your body with the air you send out.


Silently saying the word "calm" or "relax" (or any calming word of the student's choice) during the exhale can also help the brain begin to relax.

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Progressive Muscle Relaxation

This technique involves "tensing" ("tightening", "squeezing") different muscle groups in your body one-by-one. Muscles will actually relax more when they are tensed first.


Common muscle groups that work well for this technique include eyes, neck, back, shoulders, arms, and legs, but this can be done by the student for whichever muscle groups work best for him/her. Tense one muscle group (e.g., "Make a fist as hard as you can") for about 10 seconds, then relax.

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Imagery

Using Imagery means using your imagination to help you relax. As real as feelings of anxiety seem to us, these feelings are all caused by the brain. So, it makes sense to use the brain to overcome these feelings, too!


There are a few different types of imagery:

  1. Coping Imagery ("Rehearsal" Imagery): This is the type of imagery that is often used by sports psychologists with athletes -- 'picturing' yourself doing well in the situation that causes anxiety can help you overcome those negative thoughts/feelings. Students can visualize themselves sitting at their desk and doing well on the test, and more importantly, feeling good while taking the test. This exercise can also be coupled with deep breathing to improve effectiveness.
  2. Visualization ("Five Senses Imagery"): This type of imagery uses all five senses (or as many as appropriate) during visualization of a place that the student finds relaxing. For example, if he/she thinks that the park is relaxing, have the student visualize what he/she sees at the park (trees, a fountain), hears (birds, kids playing), smells (freshly cut grass), and continue this with all the senses until the student feels relaxed.

Deep Breathing "Triangle" Video:

This is an easy video for teachers and parents to use with their students. Breathe in while the shape is going up, and then breathe out when it gets smaller.


Timing breathing while practicing deep breathing is important because it's easy to go too fast!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Q8D6n-3qw

Cognitive Restructuring Techniques

Changing your self-talk during situations that cause anxiety is essential to overcoming these negative feelings. It's important to develop positive outlooks on these situations in order to make those good thoughts a reality. Here are some ideas for changing negative cognitive beliefs to positive ones.
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Identify Significance of Threat

Anxiety is a normal, biological reaction to a real or perceived threat. If a student is experiencing test anxiety, try to determine why he/she feels this way. For example, a test might be perceived as a threat to his/her self-esteem, or he/she may be worried about his/her relationship with parents if he/she doesn't do well on the test.


Next, try and rationally evaluate if the threat is as real or as serious as the student thinks. Most test-anxious students exaggerate the "threat" posed by a test. Have the student ask him/herself the following questions (as related to perceived threats): Will my parents really disown me? Will this one test, in one course, in one semester really derail my whole future?

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Challenge Core Negative Beliefs

The test anxious student essentially believes "I can't do this... I'm stupid and so I'm going to do horribly on this test and when I do, that will be absolutely terrible and I won't be able to handle it." It is this core belief and the self-defeating thoughts that flow from it (and not the test itself) that raises anxiety, which in turns lowers performance -- which only strengthens the core belief for the next time round, thereby setting up a self-fulfilling prophecy. Thus, this core belief and its associated thoughts must be aggressively challenged for anxiety to go down.


In that core belief you can detect both negativity (I can't do this, I won't be able to handle it) and catastrophizing or blowing things out of proportion (doing poorly on the test is terrible).


Students can challenge negativity by reminding themselves that they do understand the material, are not stupid, can do it, have done well on similar tests in the past, have coped with disappointments in the past, etc.


Students can challenge catastrophizing by reminding themselves that it would not be the end of the world to fail a test, that one test doesn't determine one's whole life, that there's a difference between being a someone-who-failed-something-sometime vs. being a "failure." No one is happy if he/she doesn't do as well on a test as he/she would like, and it's okay to be disappointed -- but don't escalate discontent into despondent desperation.

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Combat Perfectionism

Another core belief some test anxious students have is "I must achieve competence or perfection in all that I do." Perfectionism is, of course, impossible to obtain, and so to demand it of yourself or to equate "success" with "perfect performance" is to guarantee "failure."


Challenge perfectionism by saying "I don't need to be perfect to be okay." I just need to do the best that I can and give this test my best shot under current circumstances.

Video about Challenging Core Beliefs

Below is another video that would be awesome to share with students/children, especially in middle and high school. The strategies described in the video can be done with a regular piece of paper, and can drastically improve thoughts about an event that otherwise may stress a kid out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2zRA5zCA6M

Finally, Make Sure You're Prepared!

Anxiety can also stem from a feeling of "unpreparedness" or uncertainty about a test. Make sure students are well-prepared with test material and information so there is no reason to have anxiety about any "surprises" on the test.


Other methods to improve test readiness:

Before the Test:

  • Discuss content with teacher/classmates
  • Study material over a few days/week, rather than cramming the night before a test
  • Review textbook, notes, and homework problems
  • Quiz yourself -- make "practice tests" out of material, instead of just reading/reciting
  • Stay healthy -- exercise, drink water, and sleep often

During the Test:

  • Read the directions carefully (twice!)
  • If you go blank, skip the question and move on
  • If you're taking an essay test and you go blank, pick a question and start writing. It may 'trigger' an answer in your mind
  • Do NOT panic when you see other students start handing in their papers. There's no reward for being the first one finished!

After the Test:

  • Rationalize any fears that occurred prior to the test that did not actually occur during the test
  • Review how study skills translated to feelings of preparedness for the test -- if they didn't seem effective, talk to your teacher about how you can do better next time
  • Relax! You did it! Do something you enjoy doing to celebrate your efforts (go for a walk, go get ice cream, go see a movie, etc.)

In Summary,

Testing is HARD. No one enjoys feeling evaluated and knowing that these tests are important. However, NO TEST IS WORTH YOUR MENTAL HEALTH!!


Students are more than a test grade, and it's important we let them know this! (Teachers are also more than a class's overall test score, and it's important that you all remember this!)


I recommend practicing relaxation techniques with entire classes of students prior to testing -- the 'Breathing Triangle' video can easily be done in 5-10 minutes with a number of students. Some students have no one else to talk to about these emotions, so acting as an open door and good listener for them can be a great place to start when wondering what to do about students with test anxiety.


Praise effort, not a final score.

Celebrate feelings of calm, rather than a final score.


Wishing you all a testing season full of relaxation, deep breathing, and positive energy,

Megan

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Questions? Contact me!

This information was provided by Appalachia Intermediate Unit 8 School Psychologist, Ms. Megan Rescinito. Please contact her at the phone/email below for more information or for suggestions for future newsletters!

Email: mrescinito@iu08.org
Website: www.iu08.org
Location: 609 Georgian Place, Somerset, PA, USA
Phone: 814-445-9734 (5303)