High-Stakes Testing, Stress, and Performance

Chronic stress – due to neighborhood violence, poverty, or family instability – can affect how individuals’ bodies respond to stressors in general, including the stress of standardized testing. This, in turn, can affect whether performance on standardized tests is a valid measure of students’ actual ability.

This study collected data on students’ stress responses using cortisol samples provided by low-income students in New Orleans. The authors measure how their cortisol patterns change during high-stakes testing weeks relative to baseline weeks.

High-stakes testing does affect cortisol responses, and those responses have consequences for test performance. Those who responded most strongly – with either a large increase or large decrease in cortisol – scored 0.40 standard deviations lower than expected on the on the high-stakes exam.