Anxiety is a basic human emotion consisting of fear and uncertainty that typically appears when an individual perceives an event as being a threat to the ego or self-esteem. One of the most threatening events that causes anxiety in students today is testing. When students develop an extreme fear of performing poorly on an examination, they experience test anxiety. Test anxiety is a major factor contributing to a variety of negative outcomes including psychological distress, academic underachievement, academic failure, and insecurity. Many students have the cognitive ability to do well on exams but may not do so because of high levels of test anxiety. Because of the societal emphasis placed on testing, this could potentially limit their educational opportunities. Test-anxious students express anxiety behaviorally by procrastinating and having inefficient study and test-taking skills. Studies contends that test-anxious students have a more difficult time interpreting information and organizing it into larger patterns of meaning. In addition, some students may physically feel tired or exhausted during test administration because they do not have a healthy diet, have poor sleeping habits, and fail to routinely exercise. SUGGESTIONS TO HELP STUDENTS OVERCOME TEST ANXIETY There are a number of suggestions that parents may utilize to help students effectively manage test anxiety. Parents should: * make sure their children attend school regularly. * create and maintain a home environment that will help their children be well rested during regular school days and during the week of testing. * evaluate their children's academic progress over a period of time rather than on one single test score. * talk with their children and encourage them to do their best. * be proactive, contact school officials if they have questions concerning tests results. * encourage their children to maintain a healthy diet and exercise on a regular basis. Students are encouraged to: * consistently develop good sleeping habits, especially during the week of the test, and maintain a healthy diet and exercise regularly. * avoid cramming, develop good study habits and good test taking skills. * wear comfortable clothes during the exam and maintain a comfortable and relaxed body posture during the test. * be aware of time allotted for the test, read directions carefully, and for time management purposes leave questions blank that they are not sure of and attempt to answer them later. * not compare themselves to other students while taking the test. * take deep breaths and attempt to regain composure when anxiety levels are high or when negative thoughts are present. CONCLUSION Test anxiety is something that impacts students from all ethnic backgrounds and levels. Helping students learn to effectively manage such anxiety is a challenging task that requires a genuine team effort. Students, parents, teachers, school counselors, and school administrators must all find ways to be actively involved in reducing test anxiety. We live in a test-taking society and when students are anxious during tests, they are less likely to perform up to their academic potential.
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