Those rigorous tests are discouraging teachers from being creative and forcing them to teach to the test. (Engel) The rigorous tests are making not only students nervous and stressed, but teachers and administrators as well. Now that the standards testing results can be compared with other states’ results, the stakes are higher. Tests and quizzes are important in a school setting, no doubt about it. But with Common Core the pressure of doing very well on tests is extremely high for both the student and teacher. The student is concerned about his or her grades and GPA, while the teacher or administrator is concerned of getting booted or the school closed down because the expected results of their teaching might or will fail when the students test. Standardized testing brings great anxiety. Many educators are leaving the education system due to the anxiety, stress, and pressure the high-stake standards tests are putting on them.
Shannon Miller, school psychologist with the Germantown Teachers Association, says overall student anxiety is on the rise, especially in the wake of new Common Core standards and the high-stakes tests attached to them. Like many other educators and school health care professionals, she is bringing new coping skills to students. Students also can feel pressured by their inner drive to succeed, a quest for perfection or a fear of failure, especially if they may be unfamiliar with the English language or are not yet up to the reading or developmental level of the test in front of them.