Undergraduate Research at FIU (URFIU) Conference

Adolescent Test Anxiety

GC Ballrooms

Standardized testing has been increasingly relied on by America's educational system to gauge student academic growth and success. Consequently, it has impacted both educators and students. Whether this impact has been generally positive or negative has been previously disputed. While it is necessary to evaluate student performance on a wide basis, expert psychologists have addressed both potential and observed effects high-stakes testing has on the psychological well-being of adolescents. One of these effects, termed adolescent test anxiety, has been analyzed in this study with particular respect to students within grade levels nine through eleven. A mixed methodology was implemented to ensure a holistic approach was used. A total of 129 students enrolled in a suburban high school were both sampled and willing to participate in the study. Each student completed a survey created by Richard Driscoll entitled "Westside Test Anxiety Scale." Within the same school, the licensed clinical social worker was interviewed using original questions in order to assess the interactions between mental health professionals and students. Despite having formulated positive results concerning the relationship between high-stakes testing and adolescent test anxiety, other studies need to be conducted to make separate and possibly comparable assessments on adolescents within different populations.