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The Institute of HeartMath®
and Claremont Graduate University conclude that students’ high levels of
anxiety may jeopardize assessment validity, thereby compromising testing
results
The primary study looked at nearly one
thousand tenth grade students from two California high schools. The schools were
matched as closely as possible on academic performance and key socio demographic
factors. One school was the intervention site where students were taught a
program which included techniques to
stress management and relaxation skills. The other school served as the control
group and used whatever methods they would normally use to prepare students for
challenging tests or activities.
The study examined whether providing students
with the stress management skills would enhance their ability to control the
stress. The researchers also sought to establish whether a reduction in the
levels of test anxiety and other emotions that block performance would result in
a corresponding improvement in academic and test performance.
Pre-intervention results:
The primary study established the magnitude
and consequences of stress and test
anxiety in a large sample of students:
• 61% of all students reported being affected by test anxiety.
• 26% of students reported frequent high levels of test anxiety.
• Twice as many females experienced high levels of test anxiety as compared to
males.
• Students with high levels of test anxiety scored, on average, 15 points
lower on standardized tests in both Mathematics and English-Language Arts than
students with low test anxiety.
Post-intervention results:
After the program was delivered to the
students at the intervention school site, there was strong, consistent evidence
that the intervention had a positive effect on these students when compared with
the students in the control school:
• Of those students at the intervention school who had reported being affected by
test anxiety at the beginning of the study, 75% had reduced levels of test
anxiety by the end of the study.
• In four matched-group comparisons, there was a significant increase in test
performance in the experimental group over the control group, ranging on average
from 10 to 25 points.
• In two of the matched-group comparisons, the significant increase in test
performance was associated with a decrease in test anxiety in the experimental
group.
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