Testing Effort and Anxiety When Students Are and Are Not Subject to a Retention Policy

• In Event: Testing and Retention

Abstract

Introduction: The end of third grade is considered a bellwether for English-speaking students’ long-term reading and academic success (Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2013; Gaertner et al., 2019). It also marks the start in the U.S. of federally mandated summative reading tests. At least 18 U.S. states make progressing to Grade 4 contingent upon passing this assessment (ExcelinEd, 2024), which has raised concerns about the pressure placed on elementary students (Triplett & Barksdale, 2005). Both test-taking effort and anxiety can be related to construct-irrelevant variance, making scores less attributable to students’ true abilities (Wise, 2019). A test with high stakes can make students exert more effort (Rios, 2021), but anxiety over consequences might interfere with memory and attention (Howard, 2020). Nevertheless, the relation of these constructs to the state test performance of younger elementary students is understudied (von der Embse et al., 2018).

Research Question: This study aimed to identify the interplay of testing effort and anxiety among elementary students who were/not taking a state reading test under high stakes conditions. The research question addressed was: What are the relationships among students’ testing anxiety, effort, and their state reading test performance when they are and are not subject to retention based on their scores?

Methods: Data were collected from 210 Grade 4 students and their 22 teachers in 16 elementary schools. The state had a third-grade retention policy, but students could be promoted to Grade 4 if they met certain exemption categories or completed state-approved supplemental educational programs. Promoted students then had to demonstrate adequate growth on the Grade 4 state assessment or face retention that year. Thus, many students were at risk of retention in both Grades 3 and 4. Students completed surveys (adapted from Bonaccio & Reeves, 2010; Los et al., 2022) to report their testing anxiety and testing effort in the two weeks before the state test of English language arts and reading. After factor analyzing the measures, structural equation models (SEM) were built using a stepwise approach to assess the relationships among the latent variables (Testing Anxiety and Testing Effort) and their influence on the state test scores of students in two groups formed by retention risk. In the final model, an interaction term was incorporated to explore potential moderating effects of the latent variables.

Results: The SEM revealed that being worried about the consequences of the test generally made all students exert more effort and have higher test scores, but neither their worry nor their effort made a significant difference. Students who had anxiety related to their reading abilities tended to have lower scores, and when those not at risk of retention had higher anxiety about their abilities, they did not benefit from exerting more effort.

Conclusion/Implications: Overall, effort and anxiety made little meaningful difference in students’ scores, regardless of retention risk. However, the pattern of results suggested that students were sensitive to their own abilities. Families and educators who have concerns about student performance on high-stakes reading tests should focus on improving students’ reading abilities.

Author

• Deborah K Reed, University of Tennessee (Knoxville)
  Presenting Author