Addressing Test Anxiety in a High-Stakes Environment: Strategies for Classrooms and Schools [Paperback]

Gregory J. Cizek (Author), Samantha S. Burg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 28, 2005 | ISBN-10: 1412908906 | ISBN-13: 978-1412908900

This research-based guide offers recommendations for dealing with test anxiety, and includes suggestions on reducing its effects and identifying situations in which it can actually be helpful.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This fascinating, well-researched book makes a wonderful contribution to the field. It provides helpful information on what test anxiety is and what we can do about it. This topic is as important today than ever due to education reform initiatives across the country."

(James Kelleher, Assistant Superintendent )

"The book offers answers to the most important question of all: If test anxiety can hinder our ability to make accurate inferences and good decisions for kids, what can we do to ease students' fears? As it turns out, researchers have answers, and the authors present helpful ideas for all of us-parents, educators, and students themselves." (Linda Wacyk, Trustee )

"This book provides a thorough, yet easy-to-read, nontechnical description of test anxiety. Most important, it provides specific actions that can be taken by teachers, parents, and students themselves to reduce test anxiety. In this era of high-stakes testing, this book is a must-read for all concerned parents and educators."
(William J. Brosnan, Superintendent )

"Cizek and Burg explore the construct of test anxiety . . . (with a) balance between the scholarly research base and the practical suggestions offered. These include strategies of how teachers can head off test anxiety, and how students can reduce test anxiety levels. This book should be required reading for all teachers, counselors, school psychologists, school principcals, district administrators and policy makers."

(Mary E. Yakimowski-Srebnick, Director of Assessments )

"Educators can use many of the techniques in their classrooms, including assessment and relaxation techniques before testing, preparation of the setting, study skills, and student preparation for testing day." (Childhood Education Magazine, Summer 2006 )

About the Author

Gregory J. Cizek is Professor of Educational Measurement at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. His background in the field of educa­tional assessment includes five years as a manager of licensure and certification testing programs for American College Testing (ACT) in Iowa City, Iowa, and 15 years of teaching experience at the col­lege level, where his teaching assignments have consisted primarily of graduate courses in educational testing, research methods, and statistics. He is the author of over 200 books, chapters, articles, conference papers, and reports. His books include Handbook of Educational Policy (Academic Press, 1998); Cheating on Tests: How to Do It, Detect It, and Prevent It (Lawrence Erlbaum, 1999); Setting Performance Standards: Concepts, Methods, and Perspectives (Lawrence Erlbaum, 2001); and Detecting and Preventing Classroom Cheating (Corwin Press, 2003). Dr. Cizek has served as an elected member and vice president of a local school board in Ohio, and he currently works with several states, organizations, and the U.S. Department of Education on tech­nical and policy issues related to large-scale standards-based testing programs for students in grades K–12. He began his career as an ele­mentary school teacher in Michigan, where he taught second and fourth grades.

Samantha S. Burg is a doctoral student in Educa­tional Psychology, Measurement, and Evaluation at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She holds a BS degree in engineering from the University of Oklahoma and an MA degree in mathematics education from the University of Georgia. Prior to beginning her doctoral program, she worked in the field of petroleum engineering in Alaska, served as a youth minister in Scotland, and taught high school mathematics in Georgia. Most recently, she has worked as a test development specialist for the state testing program in North Carolina. Ms. Burg first became interested in test anxiety when she was a student teacher and her class refused to take a test; this interest has persisted throughout her doctoral research, some of which examines the ways in which test anxiety may be transmitted in classrooms. Currently, she is a research assistant on a mathematics education pro­ject and is very much interested in completing her doctoral work soon, in order to support her tennis-ball-obsessed dog, Spencer, in the fashion to which he has become accustomed. Ms. Burg has presented her research at various professional conferences and is a member of the National Council on Measurement in Education.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Corwin Press (June 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1412908906
• ISBN-13: 978-1412908900
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 6.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #790,693 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Strongly recommended for the teacher &/or educator!, September 15, 2005

By 

Lee Say Keng "KNOWLEDGE ADVENTURER/TECHNOLOGY... (Ho Chi Minh City/Singapore) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Addressing Test Anxiety in a High-Stakes Environment: Strategies for Classrooms and Schools (Paperback)

This is a syntopic review of two books with similar topics but diverse approaches:

1. Taking the Anxiety Out of Taking Tests: A Step by Step Guide, by Susan Johnson;
2. Addressing Test Anxiety in High Stakes Environment: Strategies for Classroom & Schools, by Gregory Cizek & Samantha Burg;

The first book is written by a pracitising Buddhist & student of Eastern thought. So her book contains, in some areas, seemingly esoteric stuff (or `new agey' as some people may want to call it). Her book is targeted at laymen.

The second book is written by two testing specialists, better known in scientific circles as psychometicians.(They love tests!) Naturally, their approach is more methodical & clinical (despite the authors' denial at the onset). Their book is apparently targeted at fellow educators & school professionals.

My purpose of acquiring (& reviewing) these two books is to learn more about strategies to tackle test anxiety, as part of my work as a success coach to kids/teens/adults.

In the first book, the author has done a marvelous job of gathering the most effective awareness & relaxation techniques (a mixture of cognitive & behavioural) combined with effective study skills into one small paperback volume. The repertoire of techniques offered is very comprehensive. They are described in Chapters 2, 3, 4 & 5. Readers may find some of the techniques to be quite esoteric. The best way is to experiment with them & stick to those that work best for you.

In Chapter 6, she describes the process of procrastination. I like the author's opening paragraph in this chapter: "Almost everyone who suffers from test testing anxiety had developed the practice of procrastination into a fine art..." This is a very important chapter. The author continues by showing how the reader can more effectively manage self, set goals, organize priorities, plan strategy & take action to deal with procrastination.

In chapter 7, she describes the learning process & memory management. Her treatment of this area is excellent. I concur with her statement that the most important study technique is tracking your thoughts & the key to working though test taking is to develop awareness of your thoughts & physical sensations moment by moment. Her dovetailing of information to suit the student's intents & purposes is marvelous. This particular chapter should be read in conjunction with & by reflecting on the opening chapter 1, as the author talks about working with anxiety & fear.

At the end of the book, there is a goldmine of information, but the reader needs to acquire or maybe browse the Further Resources in a public library.

What I like about this whole book, on top of an unique distillation of proven techniques, is the author's logically structured exercises for stress management, as well as her step-by-step instructions to combat test anxiety. For the student reader, this is a boon.

In the second book, & in line with its intents & purposes set out by the authors, the treatment of the topic is very much broader as well as very much deeper. For a layman, this may seem to be a scholarly piece of work, in which the authors describe:

- Testing in a high stakes environment (chapter 1);
- What test anxiety is...& isn't (chapter 2);
- The effects of text anxiety on students & teachers (chapter 3);
- The causes of test anxiety (chapter 4);
- The measurement of test anxiety (chapter 5)(YES! there are tests for test anxiety! More details are given by the authors in the companion appendix);

In this respect, readers may have to contend with plenty statistical correlations.

Only in chapter 6 do the authors outline the tips & strategies for reducing test anxiety. Although the authors start off with a good overview of interventions for test anxiety, their treatment on study & test-taking skills as an intervention strategy is more of a broad-brush, when compared with the first book. Nevertheless, the author's exposition of Thirteen Testing Myths in this chapter is an excellent piece of work. In the eyes of the teacher or educator, I reckon this chapter would be highly rated, as the authors move on to highlight strategies for promoting a healthy (test) assessment environment.

In the concluding chapter 7, the authors provide useful checklists of intervention strategies, one for teachers, & one for parents.

The Appendix & References pages are a goldmine of useful information for the teacher or educator.

What I like about this book, on top of its straightforward explanations, practical suggestions & reasonable recommendations for addressing test anxiety, is the spotlight of key ideas, a total of eighteen, captured in boxed selections, & interspersed throughout the whole book. These help the reader to zero-in quickly on to the essentials.

To sum up my syntopic review, I would like to rate both books a 5 each for their respective content strength & reader friendliness. As far I am concerned, I have enjoyed perusing both books. In my view, they also meet the intents & purposes of the respective author - & definitely my expectations as a success coach to kids/teens/adults.

I therefore strongly recommend the first book for the student &/or parent (who wants to be a learning facilitator at home); whereas the second book is more appropriate for the teacher or educator.