We examine how students' physiological stress differs between a regular school week and a highstakes testing week, and we raise questions about how to interpret high-stakes test scores. A potential contributor to socioeconomic disparities in academic performance is the difference in the level of stress experienced by students outside of school. 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. We collect data on students' stress responses using cortisol samples provided by low-income students in New Orleans. We measure how their cortisol patterns change during high-stakes testing weeks relative to baseline weeks. We find that high-stakes testing is related to cortisol responses, and those responses are related to test performance. Those who responded most strongly – with either increases or decreases in cortisol – scored 0.40 standard deviations lower than expected on the high-stakes exam.

中文翻译：

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测试，压力和表现：学生如何对高风险测试进行生理反应

我们研究了正常上学周和高考周之间学生的生理压力有何不同，并且提出了有关如何解释高考成绩的问题。导致学业成绩出现社会经济差异的潜在因素是校外学生承受的压力水平差异。由邻里暴力，贫困或家庭不稳定引起的长期压力会影响个人身体对压力源的总体反应，包括标准化测试的压力。反过来，这可能会影响标准化考试的成绩是否是对学生实际能力的有效衡量。我们使用由新奥尔良低收入学生提供的皮质醇样品收集有关学生压力反应的数据。我们测量在高风险测试周相对于基线周它们的皮质醇模式如何变化。我们发现高风险测试与皮质醇反应有关，而这些反应与测试性能有关。回答最强烈的患者（皮质醇升高或降低）的标准偏差比高分考试的预期低0.40。