scholarly journals Testing, Stress, and Performance: How Students Respond Physiologically to High-Stakes Testing

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Heissel ◽  
Emma Adam ◽  
Jennifer Doleac ◽  
David Figlio ◽  
Jonathan Meer
Keyword(s):  
High Stakes Testing ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
And Performance

scholarly journals Testing, Stress, and Performance: How Students Respond Physiologically to High-Stakes Testing

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-50
Author(s):  
Jennifer A. Heissel ◽  
Emma K. Adam ◽  
Jennifer L. Doleac ◽  
David N. Figlio ◽  
Jonathan Meer
Keyword(s):  
Standardized Testing ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
High Stakes Testing ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Regular School ◽  
The Difference ◽  
And Performance

We examine how students' physiological stress differs between a regular school week and a highstakes testing week, and we raise questions about how to interpret high-stakes test scores. A potential contributor to socioeconomic disparities in academic performance is the difference in the level of stress experienced by students outside of school. Chronic stress – due to neighborhood violence, poverty, or family instability – can affect how individuals' bodies respond to stressors in general, including the stress of standardized testing. This, in turn, can affect whether performance on standardized tests is a valid measure of students' actual ability. We collect data on students' stress responses using cortisol samples provided by low-income students in New Orleans. We measure how their cortisol patterns change during high-stakes testing weeks relative to baseline weeks. We find that high-stakes testing is related to cortisol responses, and those responses are related to test performance. Those who responded most strongly – with either increases or decreases in cortisol – scored 0.40 standard deviations lower than expected on the high-stakes exam.

Executive Functions and Performance on High-Stakes Testing in Children From Urban Schools

2006 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 459-477 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah P. Waber ◽  
Emily B. Gerber ◽  
Viana Y. Turcios ◽  
Erin R. Wagner ◽  
Peter W. Forbes
Keyword(s):  
Executive Functions ◽  
Urban Schools ◽  
High Stakes Testing ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
And Performance

scholarly journals The Political Legacy of School Accountability Systems

1998 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherman Dorn
Keyword(s):  
Standardized Testing ◽  
High Stakes Testing ◽  
School Accountability ◽  
Political Support ◽  
The Political ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Accountability Systems ◽  
High Stakes Tests ◽  
Perverse Incentives ◽  
And Performance

The recent battle reported from Washington about proposed national testing program does not tell the most important political story about high stakes tests. Politically popular school accountability systems in many states already revolve around statistical results of testing with high-stakes environments. The future of high stakes tests thus does not depend on what happens on Capitol Hill. Rather, the existence of tests depends largely on the political culture of published test results. Most critics of high-stakes testing do not talk about that culture, however. They typically focus on the practice legacy of testing, the ways in which testing creates perverse incentives against good teaching. More important may be the political legacy, or how testing defines legitimate discussion about school politics. The consequence of statistical accountability systems will be the narrowing of purpose for schools, impatience with reform, and the continuing erosion of political support for publicly funded schools. Dissent from the high-stakes accountability regime that has developed around standardized testing, including proposals for professionalism and performance assessment, commonly fails to consider these political legacies. Alternatives to standardized testing which do not also connect schooling with the public at large will not be politically viable.

The High Risks of High-Stakes Testing

PsycCRITIQUES ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 51 (20) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce B. Henderson
Keyword(s):  
High Stakes Testing ◽  
High Stakes
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