Parenting Solutions: Test Anxiety

The Answer

Almost 20 percent of tweens and teens experience test anxiety, but with today's high-stakes testing, the condition is being diagnosed in even our youngest students. And make no mistake, test anxiety can be costly to our children academically, socially, and emotionally. Kids with recurrent bouts are more likely to suffer academically, repeat a grade, perform poorly in activities, require new learning, experience poorer self-esteem, and develop school phobia.³² There are no quick fixes to the condition, but there are proven solutions that will help reduce the severity and frequency of those bouts as well as improve test scores. The best news is that parents are a big part of the success equation. Here are a few of the best strategies that work to solve this growing problem.

Before the Test

• Watch how your child responds. Test jitters are normal, but when performance worries are more severe, the problem is called test anxiety. Here are signs to watch for:

Physical signs: has butterflies, cold or clammy hands, headache, nausea, raised heart rate, perspiration, dry mouth; feels faint, hot or cold, or light-headed

Emotional signs: feels helpless and pessimistic, wants to cry, fears failure

Cognitive signs: forgets what she learned, has more trouble than usual concentrating and thinking about test items, is preoccupied with negative thoughts about test performance

• Stay cool and be accepting. Stay cool and keep your talks about that upcoming test casual and relaxed. Your child is more likely to open up and share her test concerns if she feels safe to do so. A big kid worry is, "I hope I don't let my parents down," so reaffirm your unconditional love—regardless of that score. Research shows that a warm, accepting parenting style with realistic expectations helps decrease kids' test anxiety.³³
• Make a plan for success. Start by identifying your child's current study habits. Then think of one or two simple solutions to begin helping her improve her test-taking skills. Here are a few ideas:
  • Write each vocabulary word on a flash card so she can review them at her brother's soccer practice.
  • Hire a tutor if necessary.
  • Check in with the teacher so you know the test schedule and can prepare further in advance. Ask also for her perspective and study skill ideas.
  • Reduce activities and responsibilities if your child seems overstretched.
  • Set up a quieter place to study if she seems overwhelmed. (See also Attention Deficit, p. 466, and Homework, p. 435.)
• Reframe negative thoughts. Anxious kids tend to think negative thoughts about their performance, which can affect test taking. So teach your child to challenge each negative idea by finding evidence that it's not always true. Here are two examples. Child: "I always do badly on tests." You: "Practicing your flash cards boosted your spelling grade on Friday." Child: "I won't remember anything." You: "Eating a good breakfast sure seemed to help improve your memory for your last math test."
• Teach test-taking strategies. There are simple skills that help improve test performance as well as reduce kids' anxiety. Here are few tips you can teach your child:
  • Ask questions. If you are unsure of the question, raise your hand to get clarification.
  • Do a "quick flip through." Get an instant sense of the type of questions and the test length.
  • Answer what you know. Respond right away to the questions you know so that you don't forget.
  • Check answers. Never turn in a test without first checking to make sure you haven't skipped any questions. Always proofread your answers if you have time.
• Don't cram. Test-anxious kids figure they will worry less if they put their studying off and then cram at the last minute. But this approach backfires and instead increases anxiety. She will not only be less likely to know the subject content but also recognize that she's not prepared. So map out a study schedule on a calendar several evenings before the test.
• Set realistic study times. Study lengths and breaks should be relaxed and geared to your child's attention span.³⁴ The following are typical study spans for different ages:

6 to 8 years: 15 minutes

9 and 10 years: 20 minutes

11 and 12 years: 30 minutes

13 years: 30 to 40 minutes

• Do practice tests. The more familiar your child is with the test-taking process, the less anxious she will be. So ask the teacher for a few practice tests or purchase one of these manuals: Dr. Gruber's Essential Guide to Test Taking for Kids: Grades 3, 4, and 5, by Gary Gruber; Standardized Test Practice for 4th Grade, by Charles J. Shields; Get Ready for Standardized Tests: Grade 6, by Shirley Vickery. Then help your child apply the new test-taking strategies she's learned as well as those anxiety reducers you're helping her learn by having her take a few practice tests to boost her confidence.

On the Test Day

• Get enough sleep. Countless studies find a significant correlation between kids' sleep and test performance. Here are just a few results that confirm your kid needs enough Z's.

Tel Aviv University: Fourth and sixth graders who got on average thirty-one minutes less sleep each night performed significantly less well on achievement tests.³⁵

University of Virginia: Elementary students lose an average of seven points on vocabulary tests when they sleep less.³⁶

University of Minnesota: A study of over seven thousand high school students found that "teens who received A's averaged about fifteen more minutes sleep than the B students, who is turn averaged eleven more minutes than the C's and the C's had ten more minutes than the D's."³⁷

• Serve brain food for breakfast. Don't let your child skip breakfast. Studies prove that a breakfast rich in whole-grain cereals along with a lean protein, such as eggs, helps maintain your child's energy and keeps her more alert during tests.³⁸
• Use anxiety reducers. Research shows that using a relaxation strategy can reduce test anxiety. Here are three possibilities to teach your child a few weeks before the big test:

Self-talk. Repeat a relaxing phrase silently. Some examples: "It's only a test." "I don't have to be perfect." "I'll worry later, but I'm going to focus on the test now."

Deep breathing. Take a "three by three": breathe in slowly to a count of three, then exhale slowly to a count of three. Repeat the deep breathing strategy at least three times.

Visualizing a calm scene. Close your eyes and imagine a calm, peaceful place (a park, beach, tree house) that you have experienced and that brings a smile to your face.

Encourage your child to use that strategy during another stressful situation, such as at a sleepover or a family reunion. Model it yourself around your kids, such as when your soufflé isn't rising or the computer won't boot. Or make it a family affair: "Let's practice those deep breaths at bedtime." Practicing in real life will improve the chances that the test-taking strategy will succeed. Besides, the more your child "sees" the strategy working in her life, the more likely she is to use it.

After the Test

• Review test performance. During a relaxed time, help your child evaluate her test performance and results. Here are some questions you might ask:

"Did you feel any different this time?"

"Did the three-by-three breathing [or other strategy] help?"

"What part of the test was the easiest? The most difficult?"

"What things helped that you want to remember to try again?"

The trick is to help your child recognize what works so that she can apply those same strategies again to the next test. You can also determine what still needs correcting or how to form a better test-taking plan.

• Monitor the situation. Although it is normal for kids to be anxious before a test, if anxiety persists, increases, or interferes with your child's school performance or life, then it is time to seek help. Talk with your child's teacher to discuss your child's progress and to ensure that she is in the right academic placement; ask whether the teacher advises a tutor. If anxiety mounts or your child continues to struggle, then please seek the counsel of a mental health professional.

The No Child Left Behind act mandates that your child be tested for reading and math every year in grades 3 through 8 and at least once in high school. (That doesn't include all the spelling tests, math tests, history tests, state tests, and on and on and on.) Regardless of how prepared or capable your child, her overriding concern about her performance reduces her ability to focus and to test her best. Considering the emphasis on high-stakes testing, the pressure kids are under to meet higher standards, and the even more rigorous high school tests coming up, it's crucial to help our kids learn successful test-taking and coping strategies early and to nip test anxiety in the bud.