A common story I hear from parents seeking test prep for their children is that they are excellent students (they get good grades and turn in all of their assignments), but they struggle with tests. This sparked some curiosity on my end to investigate if there is really such a thing as a “good student, bad test taker”. Is it something innate? What is test anxiety? Is it an excuse for poor performance? How can it be addressed? Here is some information I found diving into the topic!
Is it innate?
Scientists have mapped the entire human genome and there is no gene for test taking - so no one is naturally bad at it. However, researchers have shown that if a student believes they are a naturally bad test taker, or for any other reason fears the test, their brain will engage the fight or flight mechanisms the moment they sit down to take the test.
What is test anxiety?
Test anxiety is another form of the fight/flight response. Students who know the test material backwards and forwards still might have difficulty recalling the information if they perceive the test as a threat, or have the fear that they are bad test takers. In both of these cases, it is the primary emotion of fear that causes the student's fight/flight response to engage. This response reduces the student's ability to engage their cortex to recall and effectively use the information they have learned to answer the questions on the test.
A few potential causes of test anxiety include:
A history of poor testing outcomes. If you have done poorly on tests before, either because you didn't study well enough or because you were so anxious, even more anxiety can amount and result in a negative attitude every time you have to take another test.
Being unprepared. If you didn't study or didn't study well enough, this can add to your feeling of anxiety.
Being afraid of failure. If you connect your sense of self-worth to your test scores, the pressure you put on yourself can cause severe test anxiety.
Research shows that parental pressure is also associated with greater worry, test irrelevant thoughts, and stronger bodily symptoms relating to anxiety during a test.
Is it overly used as an excuse for poor performance?
Another argument is that it is frankly an excuse. With the exception of students with learning differences or serious test anxiety, the problem isn’t poor test-taking skills; rather, students simply don’t know how to study for tests. When students learn how to study they can achieve much higher exam scores that accurately reflect their academic potential.
When a person has feelings of low competence about their abilities they are likely to anticipate negative outcomes such as failure, under uncertain conditions. Thus evaluative situations, including tests and exams, are perceived as more threatening by students who have low competencies.
Every student is capable of improving SAT and ACT scores – what’s necessary is learning the material, practicing the strategies, and building experience. A “bad tester” is generally a student who hasn’t learned the material and the strategies. This has nothing to do with innate qualities, and everything to do with adequate preparation.
How to address the situation?
Having an intentional thinking strategy, and changing the narrative of testing itself should help students become more comfortable and increase performance.
For some individuals, poor academic performance is due to skill deficits, which could include problems in encoding (learning), rehearsal (study skills), or retrieval during a test (test-taking strategies). Taking action to improve those areas can be beneficial.
Often downplayed are the needs to eat healthy and get adequate sleep.
Above all things is more preparation. A student may have to give more effort than their peers. This approach is often underestimated and takes honest discipline.
If the ACT is a test that you plan to take and would like to reduce stress and feel better prepared, I encourage you to consider utilizing my study guide. This is an affordable prep option for students that filters out all of the chaos from giant text books, unorganized websites, and teachers into one digestible resource.
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