High-Stakes Accountability: Student Anxiety and Large-Scale Testing

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between student anxiety about high-stakes testing and their subsequent test performance. The FRIEDBEN Test Anxiety Scale was administered to 1,134 11th-grade students, and data were subsequently collected on their statewide assessment performance. Test anxiety was a significant predictor of test performance when controlling for other expected predictors of test performance, including school performance as measured by grade point average. The composite test anxiety score was negatively related to test performance, although one test anxiety subscale demonstrated a positive relationship with test performance. This study provides a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between test anxiety and test performance. Implications for the provision of assessment and intervention for specific aspects of test anxiety are discussed, and directions for future research on the influence of anxiety on test performance are provided.

Keywords:

• test anxiety
• high-stakes testing
• educational accountability