Post by Moses on Mar 10, 2005 0:48:33 GMT -5
Ryan Pergeorelis isn't necessarily looking forward to going to school Thursday.
The sixth-grader at George Read Middle School gets so stressed about state tests he has undergone more than two years of weekly school counseling for frustration and anxiety.
"It's like the most important test I take," the 12-year-old said. "It determines whether or not I pass. I just try to relax my body."
As schools statewide gear up this week for the Delaware Student Testing Program, some children are feeling like Ryan, so gripped by test anxiety they can panic or feel ill.
Then there are students on the other end of the spectrum, who couldn't care less about the state test.
And in the middle are the thousands who view testing as a necessary evil, who feel everyday jitters about the "big test," but are taking the pressure in stride.
At Stanton Middle School in the Red Clay district, eighth-grader Melissa Hegesi is part of a group of students giving up part of their afternoons to review for the tests.
"I don't want to be held back or anything," she said. "I blank out usually for the DSTP. It's the pressure they put on everybody. I just want to get it done and over with."
Since 1998, Delaware students in grades two to 10 have been tested every spring in reading, writing and math. A failing score can result in remediation, summer school or failure to advance to the next grade. And as school standards increase nationwide, so do reports of test stress.
It's difficult to say how many children suffer from test anxiety. Some dread tests uniquely, while others feel anxious about many aspects of life.
Critics of high-stakes testing contend test stress is making children ill and turning off their love of learning. Proponents say high stakes are not to punish, but to make sure students have the skills they need to succeed in school.
Young children with test anxiety can cry, cling to parents, throw up or complain of belly aches, said Michael Ferrari, an associate professor of individual and family studies and psychology at the University of Delaware. Sometimes young and older children can become so anxious they are unable to attend school the day of the test.
"Standardized tests have been around for a long time," Ferrari said. "They're not all that unique to this generation. The concept of high-stakes testing is much newer. This cohort of children is being asked to take many more tests, and more difficult tests. The greater you raise the stakes, typically the more anxious the person may become."
Fourteen-year-old Jack Blackwell, a ninth-grader at Delmar Senior High School, admits he's a little antsy about the tests that begin Thursday.
Failure could mean taking remedial courses. And stakes are even higher next year, when his score could help determine what diploma he receives when he graduates.
"It's stressing everybody out," said Jack, who has added nearly an hour of extra study time each night in the last week to prepare himself for the tests. "Everybody's worried about it."
But he still finds time to play his electric guitar, go skateboarding or just hang out. His life has not become consumed with the state tests, he said.
"I think I'm pretty much ready," he said.
His mother, Cindy, said she's making sure he gets eight full hours of sleep each night. And in the morning, he has to have a good breakfast - at the very least a bowl of sugar-packed Frosted Flakes - before setting out.
"I'm not against the test, because I think it is a good assessment of the students and what they're learning," Cindy Blackwell said. "It helps to keep parents informed."
School standing also at stake
It's not just students and parents who fret in these days leading up to the test. Teachers and principals are anxious, too, because student test scores can raise or lower a school's standing.
In Delmar, the district's two schools, Delmar Middle and Senior High School, were rated superior last year. Mark Holodick, principal of the schools, doesn't want to see that rating slip.
"If they're not getting it done," Holodick said of students, "we're not getting it done."
That's pressure that is felt by just about every teacher.
"There is a lack of sleep," said Jane Phillips, a seventh-grade math teacher at Delmar Middle School, which shares the building with Delmar Senior High School. "You wake up in the middle of the night and wonder, 'Did I do that? Did I do this?' "
"It's almost like you have a clock ticking in your head," added Angie Bucy, a seventh-grade English teacher at Delmar Middle.
Teachers, though, said they worry most about what high-stakes testing does to students and their ability to learn, and how they cope with the added stress.
Kathie Noonan, a Delmar math teacher for grades 10 through 12, said she has seen students shout out in anger, cry and toss papers in frustration as they prepare for and take the test.
She's had parents call her, including one whose child has twice been in summer school. The parent wanted to know how Noonan thought the child would perform on the test.
"It is a stressful time," Noonan said. "When people say it's March Madness, it really is March Madness, but for a different reason."
Preparation is key
Educators try to do what they can to ease the minds of students and parents.
In Delmar, officials last month held an information night where parents could get sample questions, talk to teachers, learn about potential consequences and find out how to help children prepare.
Stanton Middle School offers after-school instruction in math and language arts year-round, as well as Delaware Student Testing Program prep in the six weeks leading up to the test for any student who wants it. Students who failed the previous year must take an extra period of instruction during the school day.
"The best thing to help alleviate their fear is preparation," said Principal Carolyn Zogby.
Keiwoun Brown, 13, said what was on the minds of most eighth-graders at the after-school math review session.
"I want to go to ninth grade," he said. "I'm a little nervous if I'm going to pass or not. I study before the test so it will be fresh in my mind."
Even in the youngest grades, most children are aware failing the test could lead to retention.
"We try not to focus on that," said Laurie Wicks, a third-grade teacher at Silver Lake Elementary School in Middletown. "The calmer and more confident you stay as a teacher, the more comfortable they will be."
'They're A students'
Ryan Pergeorelis first began manifesting test anxiety in second and third grade, when he dreaded going to school and lashed out at his parents.
Finally, he admitted the problem to his mother. Ryan was afraid of failing the state tests.
"He'd come home crying, literally crying," said his mother, Daneta Wiseman of Wilmington Manor. "He was scared to death he was going to fail."
Ryan, who is diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, did not pass the tests in third grade - nor at the end of summer school. Wiseman fought to prevent him from being held back. Because he had begun treatment for ADHD, the school district agreed to advance him with an improvement plan. In fourth grade, Ryan passed in every subject.
Though testing in sixth grade won't determine whether he moves on, he still feels worried.
Ryan and his two older siblings - all honor roll students - struggle each year with the state tests, said his mother, who argues one test shouldn't carry so much weight.
"They're A students, and even to this day they pass by the skin of their teeth," Wiseman said. "I tell him, 'Do your best. It's just another test.' "
Contact Cecilia Le at 324-2794 or cle@delawareonline.com.
— Cecilia Le
The News Journal
2005-03-09
www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/local/2005/03/09studentssweathi.html
The sixth-grader at George Read Middle School gets so stressed about state tests he has undergone more than two years of weekly school counseling for frustration and anxiety.
"It's like the most important test I take," the 12-year-old said. "It determines whether or not I pass. I just try to relax my body."
As schools statewide gear up this week for the Delaware Student Testing Program, some children are feeling like Ryan, so gripped by test anxiety they can panic or feel ill.
Then there are students on the other end of the spectrum, who couldn't care less about the state test.
And in the middle are the thousands who view testing as a necessary evil, who feel everyday jitters about the "big test," but are taking the pressure in stride.
At Stanton Middle School in the Red Clay district, eighth-grader Melissa Hegesi is part of a group of students giving up part of their afternoons to review for the tests.
"I don't want to be held back or anything," she said. "I blank out usually for the DSTP. It's the pressure they put on everybody. I just want to get it done and over with."
Since 1998, Delaware students in grades two to 10 have been tested every spring in reading, writing and math. A failing score can result in remediation, summer school or failure to advance to the next grade. And as school standards increase nationwide, so do reports of test stress.
It's difficult to say how many children suffer from test anxiety. Some dread tests uniquely, while others feel anxious about many aspects of life.
Critics of high-stakes testing contend test stress is making children ill and turning off their love of learning. Proponents say high stakes are not to punish, but to make sure students have the skills they need to succeed in school.
Young children with test anxiety can cry, cling to parents, throw up or complain of belly aches, said Michael Ferrari, an associate professor of individual and family studies and psychology at the University of Delaware. Sometimes young and older children can become so anxious they are unable to attend school the day of the test.
"Standardized tests have been around for a long time," Ferrari said. "They're not all that unique to this generation. The concept of high-stakes testing is much newer. This cohort of children is being asked to take many more tests, and more difficult tests. The greater you raise the stakes, typically the more anxious the person may become."
Fourteen-year-old Jack Blackwell, a ninth-grader at Delmar Senior High School, admits he's a little antsy about the tests that begin Thursday.
Failure could mean taking remedial courses. And stakes are even higher next year, when his score could help determine what diploma he receives when he graduates.
"It's stressing everybody out," said Jack, who has added nearly an hour of extra study time each night in the last week to prepare himself for the tests. "Everybody's worried about it."
But he still finds time to play his electric guitar, go skateboarding or just hang out. His life has not become consumed with the state tests, he said.
"I think I'm pretty much ready," he said.
His mother, Cindy, said she's making sure he gets eight full hours of sleep each night. And in the morning, he has to have a good breakfast - at the very least a bowl of sugar-packed Frosted Flakes - before setting out.
"I'm not against the test, because I think it is a good assessment of the students and what they're learning," Cindy Blackwell said. "It helps to keep parents informed."
School standing also at stake
It's not just students and parents who fret in these days leading up to the test. Teachers and principals are anxious, too, because student test scores can raise or lower a school's standing.
In Delmar, the district's two schools, Delmar Middle and Senior High School, were rated superior last year. Mark Holodick, principal of the schools, doesn't want to see that rating slip.
"If they're not getting it done," Holodick said of students, "we're not getting it done."
That's pressure that is felt by just about every teacher.
"There is a lack of sleep," said Jane Phillips, a seventh-grade math teacher at Delmar Middle School, which shares the building with Delmar Senior High School. "You wake up in the middle of the night and wonder, 'Did I do that? Did I do this?' "
"It's almost like you have a clock ticking in your head," added Angie Bucy, a seventh-grade English teacher at Delmar Middle.
Teachers, though, said they worry most about what high-stakes testing does to students and their ability to learn, and how they cope with the added stress.
Kathie Noonan, a Delmar math teacher for grades 10 through 12, said she has seen students shout out in anger, cry and toss papers in frustration as they prepare for and take the test.
She's had parents call her, including one whose child has twice been in summer school. The parent wanted to know how Noonan thought the child would perform on the test.
"It is a stressful time," Noonan said. "When people say it's March Madness, it really is March Madness, but for a different reason."
Preparation is key
Educators try to do what they can to ease the minds of students and parents.
In Delmar, officials last month held an information night where parents could get sample questions, talk to teachers, learn about potential consequences and find out how to help children prepare.
Stanton Middle School offers after-school instruction in math and language arts year-round, as well as Delaware Student Testing Program prep in the six weeks leading up to the test for any student who wants it. Students who failed the previous year must take an extra period of instruction during the school day.
"The best thing to help alleviate their fear is preparation," said Principal Carolyn Zogby.
Keiwoun Brown, 13, said what was on the minds of most eighth-graders at the after-school math review session.
"I want to go to ninth grade," he said. "I'm a little nervous if I'm going to pass or not. I study before the test so it will be fresh in my mind."
Even in the youngest grades, most children are aware failing the test could lead to retention.
"We try not to focus on that," said Laurie Wicks, a third-grade teacher at Silver Lake Elementary School in Middletown. "The calmer and more confident you stay as a teacher, the more comfortable they will be."
'They're A students'
Ryan Pergeorelis first began manifesting test anxiety in second and third grade, when he dreaded going to school and lashed out at his parents.
Finally, he admitted the problem to his mother. Ryan was afraid of failing the state tests.
"He'd come home crying, literally crying," said his mother, Daneta Wiseman of Wilmington Manor. "He was scared to death he was going to fail."
Ryan, who is diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, did not pass the tests in third grade - nor at the end of summer school. Wiseman fought to prevent him from being held back. Because he had begun treatment for ADHD, the school district agreed to advance him with an improvement plan. In fourth grade, Ryan passed in every subject.
Though testing in sixth grade won't determine whether he moves on, he still feels worried.
Ryan and his two older siblings - all honor roll students - struggle each year with the state tests, said his mother, who argues one test shouldn't carry so much weight.
"They're A students, and even to this day they pass by the skin of their teeth," Wiseman said. "I tell him, 'Do your best. It's just another test.' "
Contact Cecilia Le at 324-2794 or cle@delawareonline.com.
— Cecilia Le
The News Journal
2005-03-09
www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/local/2005/03/09studentssweathi.html