TESTING, Testing, Testing!!! The words themselves are enough to bring on an anxiety attack. I have several student teachers out in the field at various elementary schools on the island and there is so much stress over the exams. Teachers are afraid that they’ll lose their jobs if their students don’t “perform” up to standards. Students are stressed out from the teachers being upset. It appears to be a vicious circle.
What do the tests actually test? The results are deceptive. One of my students mentioned that she is still traumatized (not really) but hasn’t forgotten the fact that as a fourth grader the exam asked questions about squirrels and acorns. She didn’t have the foggiest idea as to what these things were. How many squirrels and acorns have YOU seen on Saipan? I’ll venture not many. Students are asked to draw on images or words for which they have no background experiences. The results are skewed.
To give the readers a little background on test anxiety. By definition test anxiety is said to be a comparatively stable, unpleasant reaction to testing situations that lowers performance. The latest research tells us that it consists of two components—emotional and cognitive or worry component. The emotional can include various physiological symptoms such as increased pulse rate, dry mouth, and headache, as well as feelings of helplessness, dread and sometimes the experience of “going blank.” The cognitive, or worry component, can involve thoughts such as worrying about failure (worrying what your parents will say, having to retake the class) and possibly being embarrassed about getting a low score. During an exam these test anxious students will tend to be preoccupied with test difficulty and cannot focus on the task at hand.
How is test anxiety triggered? The triggers can be the pressures to succeed imposing time limits, unfamiliar items or formats, etc. Surprise exams can particularly trigger adverse amounts of text anxiety.
When it comes to exams student progress is being gauged by how successful students are in subjects that tap the verbal/linguistic and logical/mathematical talents. These are only two components of the now identified nine intelligences. What about the other styles of learning? The exams don’t take into account the nontraditional intelligences as well, such as, visual/spatial, musical/rhythmic, body/kinesthetic, intrapersonal and interpersonal. As educators we need to ensure the success of ALL of our students.
Other countries traumatize their students too. In one country that I worked students were given an exam at the end of what would be comparable to our twelfth grade. This ONE exam determined what their future career would be. If you scored 90-100 percent you’d go to medical school, 80-89 percent would be engineering, all the way down the line. You could never go up into another category but could go to a school that was below your percentage. Teaching was listed at 60-69 percent. That’s a sad commentary on anyone’s educational system especially considering the fact that teachers teach the physicians and engineers.
Kindergarten student parents would hire tutors for their children. They were locked in their rooms until they “mastered” certain concepts. I heard so many little ones crying and upset during testing time. Mind you, these were classes for 60-70 students in small rooms with no doors, windows or electricity. Teachers were paid $25 a month and the principal could take away money if the teacher was late for work. However, the teachers picked up students after school to tutor to earn needed income.
I can remember modeling and teaching a science lesson to 65 fifth graders. The unit was on astronomy, for which the teacher knew very little so she asked me to teach the class. Anyway, during the lesson, which was in 1996, I mentioned that Pluto wasn’t the farthest planet due to the elliptical path, however, it would change back in 1999. After the lesson the teacher informed me, “Ms. Geri, you can’t tell them that.” I said, “what do you mean?” She informed me that it wasn’t in the science text (mind you the text was way outdated) and the national test was based on the text. I mentioned that you’re holding your children down with misinformation. Science does change. However, this teacher was going to have to “reteach” this one aspect of the lesson the incorrect way for the exam.
My eldest son came home from school one day extremely upset. He was in sixth grade at the time. For love nor money I could not get out of him what had transpired during the school day. Finally he opened up in the evening. He had flunked an exam and he could barely talk about it. It turned out that he’d flunked a color blindness test for heaven’s sake. The whole family agonized, fretted and worried about Jason the entire day until he could “spit it out.” I could barely contain myself from laughing but he was so upset with himself, not knowing that this was an exam for which he had no control over. The teacher had just informed the students that they’d be taking a color blindness test and then announced in class that he’d flunked. I’m sure all of you have memories about either your children or yourself where a test played a pivotal/traumatic role in your life.
NMC students are coming up on final exams. So many are stressed out. The last minute push to complete projects, papers and cram for an exam is causing a monumental Excedrin headache #500. I guess I’m one of those rogue instructors who don’t believe in final exams. To me, why have memorization information stored in short term memory for an exam? I sometimes have the students create their own tests. The final usually consists of listing those things that they will remember by having taken the class, how they might utilize the information in the future, what they liked about the class and how I could improve on the course for the next semester, citing examples and explaining. I feel that by utilizing this form of assessment and evaluation, students are asked to respond to open-ended, interpretive, applied, and higher-order thinking skills versus spitting back data. We all have our own opinions but the latest brain research on the topic will substantiate this supposition.
Since testing is here to stay, what can we do to alleviate the anxiety for our students and ourselves? (1) Discuss test content and procedures before administering the test. (2) Be sure to give clear instructions, and ensure that the students understand the test format and requirements. (3) Be sure to teach students test-taking skills. (4) Utilize a variety of assessments to measure students’ understanding and skills throughout the year. (5) Be sure to give students sufficient time to take the exam. By the way, if a student is certified as being dyslexic by a physician in testing it is mandated that he/she be allowed extra time on SAT/ACT’s. (6) Avoid social comparisons by announcing in class test results. (7) Increase the frequency of quizzes and exams. (8) Utilize criterion-referenced measures to minimize the competitive components of an exam.
Something to ponder. We also use the word test/testing in a variety of ways and for a variety of reasons. Did you ever stop to think that we use the word in cooking? We “test” a cake to see if it is cooked to perfection. Even a cake has to pass the test!
Until next time, si yu’us ma’ase for reading and have a wonderful week.
