I am betting it is safe to say that most of us have experienced test taking anxiety at some point in our lives. Maybe in high school you put in a staggering amount of time studying for a very important exam but were so concerned about doing well that you couldn’t sleep the night before or concentrate properly the day of the test. Maybe you had a stomachache during the exam or felt your pulse racing. Or maybe you sat down for the exam and your mind went blank.
These are all classic instances of test taking anxiety. And as difficult as these situations can be for students in general education, test taking anxiety poses significantly different challenges for students with special needs. For example, when I was teaching, one of my students with ADHD found timed exams to be very difficult. When the test would begin, the idea of the clock ticking increased her anxiety, making it very hard for her to concentrate. Although she knew the material, the anxiety caused mental blocks that led to incomplete answers. The result was scores that didn’t fully reflect her true ability, which affected her confidence and increased her anxiety for future tests. It was an awful cycle.
Knowing some of the problems kids with special needs may experience can lead us to be proactive with solutions that we know work. Here are some strategies that have worked for me over the years with my students.
1. Review the student’s IEP
This may seem obvious, but an IEP provides essential, individualized information for any testing accommodations a student should receive. Some students may require additional time or a smaller group setting. Others may require text-to-speech tools that can read the test aloud to the student, or access to a highlighter to help them focus on key information. It will all be spelled out in the IEP.
Since students grow and change from year to year, their accommodations may change as well. This should be reflected in a student’s IEP and is one of the many reasons it’s so important to have an up-to-date IEP.
2. Involve the student’s family or caregivers
The school-to-home connection is a crucial one for students with special needs. Involving parents and other caregivers to help explain the purpose of testing can go a long way toward ensuring a successful testing experience.
If you test with MAP® Growth™ in your school, know that the Family Report is designed to be the centerpiece of important discussions like this. Parents and caregivers can speak with their kids about what the assessment it and how it fits in with their progress as a student. The following Teach. Learn. Grow. articles can also help you strengthen communication:
- “MAP Growth 101: Everything families need to know”
- “12 common questions parents ask about MAP Growth”
- “Leading up to MAP Growth: 20 tips for families”
3. Preview the testing experience
We know many students with special needs do so well—and feel so comfortable—when they are within their daily routines. But an assessment like MAP Growth is usually given three times a year and can certainly be considered as something that is outside a daily routine.
Previewing the day and the test, so kids know what the experience will be like, can be very helpful. MAP Growth has a great solution for this: kids can take the practice test to get familiar with the format. Reminding students about the schedule change the day before the test can also help them know what to expect.
4. Talk to students about how to use their specific accommodations during each test
Kids may need reminders about accommodations leading up to assessment day. For some students, this may just be a gentle conversation about the tools they have at their disposal to help them do well. For others, it might be a reminder that they can take a break plus demonstrating, “This is how you ask for a break.”
Giving all kids a fair shot
Test taking anxiety is real, but it doesn’t have to be insurmountable. With the right support, our students with special needs get a better chance to demonstrate what they’ve learned.
The solution for my student with ADHD was to give her breaks and extended time that allowed her to refocus. She was ultimately able to show all the hard work she had put into learning the material. What will work best in your classroom?
