How to help students with test anxiety

Why this matters

A third grader can know how to subtract and still freeze when a word problem runs four lines long. The student skips the question, or adds the first two numbers and stops, and the mistake looks like a math gap. The teacher has to wait for the score report to find out which students froze and which ones didn't know the math.

What test anxiety is and what helps

Test anxiety is "a combination of physical symptoms and emotional reactions that interfere with your ability to perform well on tests," and its signs include a mind going blank and racing thoughts (UNC Learning Center). In a survey of 1,408 middle and high school students, 72% said classroom retrieval practice, such as low-stakes quizzes, made them less nervous for unit tests and exams (Agarwal and colleagues, 2014, Washington University in St. Louis). In four experiments with older students, a brief writing assignment about test worries right before an important test raised exam scores, most for students who were usually anxious about tests (Ramirez and Beilock, 2011, Science). During a test, the UNC Learning Center suggests breathing from the belly to calm the body.

1. Run short practice rounds that don't count for a grade
2. Ask students to name what feels hard, in words
3. Give each student one plan for test day, such as rereading the question or skipping and coming back

These steps are for ordinary nerves before a test. A student whose worry goes beyond test nerves needs the school counselor, and Flint is a practice tool, not counseling. In the Flint activity, each student does a 4-question practice round in the style of the state math test, and Sparky reads its replies aloud. Unlike a worksheet, Sparky answers a frozen student with one small move and asks how they got a wrong answer before giving a hint.

Sparky gets Hana from "skip the whole test" to a plan for test day

Hana goes from wanting to skip the whole test to naming her own plan for long word problems. Every student gets the same 4-question practice round, and Sparky writes each student's word problems about what they like and answers what that student types.

Sparky answers the freeze with one small move, out loudSparky asks how Hana got her answer, then points back to the problemSparky turns what felt hard into one plan for test day

H

Hana

Interest: GymnasticsStarting point: Freezes at long word problems, wants to skip the whole test

Sparky

At a gymnastics meet, Hana scored 8 points in the floor routine and 7 points in the beam routine. Her teammate scored 6 points in the floor routine and 9 points in the beam routine. How many more points did Hana score in all than her teammate?

Hana

thats so long i dont even know what its asking. can i just skip the whole test

Sparky

You can reread just the last sentence and find what it is asking, or skip this one and come back to it.

Hana

ok i read the last part. its asking how many more points. 8 + 7 = 15 so 15

Sparky

How did you get 15?

Hana

i added hanas floor and beam points. 8 + 7 is 15

Sparky

You found Hana's total, which is a great first step. Now look at the problem again. What do you need to do with her teammate's points too?

Hana

oh i forgot the teammate. 6 + 9 = 15 too. so 15 - 15 = 0. hana got 0 more points they tied

Sparky

You worked through all 4 questions, Hana. What felt hardest for you in this practice?

Hana

the long one with the teammate. i saw all the numbers and my brain kind of froze

Sparky

That makes a lot of sense, and many students feel that way. A good strategy for you on test day might be to read the last sentence first to find what the question is asking. Can you say in your own words what you will do when you see a long word problem on the test?

Hana

if its long i read the last sentence first so i know what its asking. then i do one part at a time and i dont skip the whole test

Finished all 4 questions and named her plan for long word problems

Hana is an example student, and Sparky's replies are shortened. Questions 1, 3 and 4 are left out.

What Flint did for Hana

• When Hana asked to skip the whole test, Sparky read aloud one small choice: reread the last sentence, or skip this question and come back.
• When Hana answered 15 and stopped, Sparky asked how she got it, then pointed her to her teammate's points without giving the answer.
• After the round, Sparky asked what felt hardest and turned "my brain kind of froze" into one plan for test day.

A teacher can't do this by hand for 30 students, and Sparky does it in every student's chat.

The activity page shows who froze and who stopped after one step

While the class practices, Needs attention shows the teacher which student is stuck and on which message. After three or more students submit, activity analytics lists what the class did well, where students went wrong, and a follow-up to practice next.

Set up the activity for free

Open the practice round in Flint's public library, select Use activity to copy it into a free Flint account, and assign it to a class. The activity has auto-grading off, so the practice round doesn't count for a grade. Sparky reads its replies aloud because the Language panel sets Sparky's communication to Writing and speaking (with autoplay), and students type their answers. To change either setting, see how to enable speech-to-text and text-to-speech.

For more test prep activities, see Flint for test prep.