A panicked glance at the classroom clock, unanswered questions littering the scantron, the fear of failure and the anticipation of disappointment swarming in your mind.
For many students who have taken standardized testing, this is an experience that they are all too familiar with.
The anxiety and stress that is often associated with standardized tests has affected thousands of students, despite the fact that there are alternatives that should be used instead of the outdated method of standardized testing.
In the study “Testing, Stress, and Performance: How Students Respond Physiologically to High-Stakes Testing” researchers found that cortisol, a primary stress hormone, changes in response to high-stakes testing.
The impact that testing has on a student’s overall grade is the greatest factor in the high-stakes nature of testing.
On average, exams or quizzes make up the highest percentage of your grade when it comes to an individual class, causing them to either make or break a student’s grade in a class.
In addition to increased feelings of anxiety and depression, these kinds of high stakes also cause fear of backlash from guardian figures within students.
These kinds of tests can result in issues with sleep as well, with students losing hours of sleep because they are studying for exams and quizzes instead.
There are benefits of this kind of testing, with the most important one being an accurate assessment of the student’s retained knowledge on a subject without outside sources affecting the results.
Yet, this kind of testing leads to intense stress within students alongside having alternatives that could lead to less stress and similar results.
For one, tests being used as an accurate assessment of student learning is flawed, as cheating commonly used by students to circumvent the purpose of a test.
A research study by the International Center for Academic Integrity, out of 70,000 high school students at over 24 high schools in the United States, 64% admitted to cheating on a test.
One solution would be to reduce the disparity between the effect that test scores have on the grade, making it more equal to the rest of factors that make up a student’s overall grade.
School projects, discussion boards, and open note tests are other options that still provide time and resources without restoring to strict test taking.
Open note testing has already increased in use during the pandemic, when at-home tests were nearly impossible to regulate. Many students resorted to using open notes on the tests without permission.
The pandemic had a drastic effect on the subject of standardized testing, with many colleges announcing that they will no longer require SAT and/or ACT test scores.
With the many drawbacks associated with high stakes testing, it is crucial that schools seek the alternative options available.