Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Improving testing confidence

So, DD11 recently took the SCAT for CTY. She wanted to take the test and was invested in the results because of the college program she's thinking about. However, she doesn't have a lot of experience with standardized testing (one non-timed, in class, state mandated test in 3rd grade) and was extremely anxious and nervous. We made it clear that the results weren't important to us and that we would be proud of her for just taking the test. We also indicated that she could retest in the future if she wanted to.

She did well on the verbal (normed against 8th graders) and made it into both the CTY classes and camps. For math, she didn't do as well and the results didn't surprise us. She's technically in pre-algebra this year and doing fine, but she has a lot of math anxiety and stress that we are still working through. And frankly she's just not as strong in math.

In addition, there was some confusion on her part about the timing on the instruction part of the math test (she was concerned and asked the proctor). From some of the things she said, I think she just choked -- got nervous and promptly forgot everything she ever knew.

Of course she was upset that she didn't do better, but camp isn't on our radar for this summer anyway. So it's a learning experience and a starting point.

What we said to her about not caring about the scores is true, but we do care that she feel as confident and comfortable as possible with timed and proctored tests. After all, there's a whole academic future of this kind of testing ahead of her and I'd like her to test well or badly based on what she knows and not because of anxiety.

Apart from the obvious solution of taking more tests (and she'll soon be taking the 5th grade state standards test -- which should be a breeze, comparatively), what can we do to help her? Her school doesn't have a lot of tests -- they are very low pressure.

Any creative suggestions for reducing test anxiety appreciated.

Where does the anxiety come from? Is it perfectionism? Discomfort with challenge? I think helping her discover what it is that goes through her mind and identifying strategies to work past and desensitize her to them is the way.

If it is the challenge, maybe some online testing above her level where she might only know a quarter of the material could get her used to that.

If it is just timing, then online math games where you get more points for speed.

For any source having a test taking strategy can be helpful. Like doing a first pass where she does only the obvious ones, then a second pass for slightly harder, and such. Also, having an inner voice coach herself is a skill to develop; positive self talk, rational objective point of view, etc. Meditation is a way to discover that. Visualization exercises focused on test taking.

We've seen our DD struggle on timed tests when she didn't have a good sense of time, and how much work she could expect to complete in that time. She'd push herself at an unreasonable pace, fail to read directions thoroughly, and make bone-headed mistakes. What she needed was a reality check... finding out that she actually works much faster than most kids as a matter of course, the time limits are set to allow NT kids plenty of time to complete, and she has more than enough time to not only work through the material at her normal pace, but review her answers afterwards, check the bubbles on the scan form for complete darkening, stare at the clock for a while, look for any interesting bits that have lodged themselves in the carpet nearby, etc.

I'm pretty sure that MoN isn't advocating having a younger sibling inside of a backpack in the corner, btw.





DD has trouble with "pacing" and math-- she has to hit the sweet spot, or she makes a LOT of errors. The SAT was hideous that way for her. For whatever reason, that particular type of testing environment works against her in some very specific ways, and while she eventually figured out (by experimenting on practice exams) what she could do to generally improve (she went from 93%tile on SAT to 99th on ACT), it was still frustrating to her that she KNOWS how to do things that she gets "wrong" on that kind of test.

{shrug} I don't know what to tell her (or you) about that other than to note that it's not necessarily MATH ability that is being tested for kids like this-- it's computational accuracy under pressure, and it may not be the same thing. At all.

Thank you all so much for the good advice!

Zen, I really like the idea to look at the specific source of the anxiety. I think it's a combination of math anxiety and time issues.

Dude and MoN, love these ideas (and yes, I have to admit I pictured DD smuggling our dog and cat to the test in a bag!).

HK, I see what you mean about what they are really testing. In fact, I don't think DD is particularly bad in math, so much as she stresses herself out about it. So computation under pressure? Yeah, not so great.

She would like to retest and do better, because the science courses are the ones that really interest her.

Can anyone tell me from a test taking strategy perspective, specifically on the SCAT and how it is graded- if my DS is unsure of an answer, is it better that he guess or skip the question?

Hi lks9, the SCAT is an above grade level test. Your DS will be assessed on skills 2 to 3 grades above their levels (a 2-3 grader will be tested on 4-5 grade skills). There is no negative marking for wrong guesses so the strategy should be to attempt as many questions in the time allotted. My 5th grader recently took the SCAT test. He learned short-cut methods to solve problems faster (on the SCAT you get 55 questions to be solved in 22 minutes!!)and a lot of practice with online quizzes and practice tests.. That helped him get a 497 in Math.. Hope this helps