Why is it that some people don't test well?

[LisaR]

I hear people say all the time, "My kid just doesn't test well." I have one of those kids, too.

DS is incredibly smart. I would never say this out loud but he is ten times smarter than his sister. You would never know it when it comes to his test results. Even a simple test, administered at home where there isn't any pressure and it isn't timed can result in below average results. One of his problems is that he gets off track on the bubbles. So he will put the answer for #3 in bubble #4 and now the entire thing is off. But other times he simply picks the wrong answer when he knows the correct one. I will read the question to him when he is done and he will know the answer and insist he picked the right answer but he didn't. He is dyslexic and I can't figure out if this is "his normal" or if there is something else going on.

DD is an average, normal kid. She does fine on tests. Her weakness in math will show through on a test but that is to be expected. She is great at all things language arts and that shows in the test results. DS can't pass a test to save his life, it seems.

 

[budmonster]

DS14 is the same way he works himself into a frenzy a few days before the test and the night before is really bad. He is an honor roll student, always has been, but when it comes to test he just convinces himself that he's not going to do well. Sometimes to the point that he cries, he would kill me if he knew I posted this.

Then when all is said and done, for the most part, he ends up doing pretty good on the test.

 

[daughter_of_amid_chaos]

I am and have always been a bad tester. As a PP said, I work myself into this huge frenzy, cause a panic attack crying until I throw up, knowing that I will not do well. For me, poor testing is all about the anxiety. I have an anxiety disorder so it should not be surprising LOL
I am more worried about not doing well for my parents then for myself.

 

[castmember19]

With state-mandated tests in grade school I always did wonderfully! Of course, they were easy peasy to me. Now in college I've been known to study for weeks and still fail. Meanwhile, my boyfriend can study for an hour and ace a college exam.

I kind of resent him for it sometimes.

Meanwhile, I have no idea why my test scores come out so terribly even when I feel confident. I use the excuse "maybe I don't test well" because I don't know what is the problem.

 

[Christine]

My daughter is a poor tester and it has held her back in so many ways. She is almost 20 and we have never been able to figure out what to do. We don't even really know her issues. It's not anxiety. It's not the scantron sheets. Many of her high school classmates were "scantron exempt" for the very reason you described in your first post--difficulty filling in the appropriate bubble. That's not her problem.

She claims that she has an absolute horrible time with multiple choice. She reads the questions and all the possible answers and then gets horribly flustered. She said that all the answers end up sounding correct, yet after it's over she can clearly see where she was wrong.

Also, while she's very good in English, she has terrible reading comprehension under timed events. She reads it and probably needs to reread but doesn't have the time.

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

I actually JUST had this conversation with my dd's teacher this afternoon!! It's very frustrating!

DD is in an AIG (Academically/Intellectually Gifted....which I HATE to mention because I don't consider her "gifted" at all!) class for reading and math. She does well in her class but once in a while, she'll get a crazy low test score. It drives her teachers bonkers because they can't predict what she'll do. They did Mock EOGs this week and her reading (which is her best subject) was quite low. All of her teachers have always agreed that she simply is over confident while taking the test. She is so SURE that she's going to do fine and doesn't slow down enough.

DS is the exact opposite!! That child works himself into a frenzy and convinces himself that he's going to fail. . This week took mock EOG tests and was tested for possible AIG next year. Both teachers remarked that he was VERY aggitated before the test and he didn't do as well as they expected. They were able to retest him on some things and it was night and day MUCH better.

 

[dngnb8]

There are numerous theories. I was one as well. My science teacher discovered it. During class, I knew all the answers.

One day after a test, he graded me during class. I did fair, but not like I do in class. He held me after, and during the discussion, verbally asked the questions.

I got them all right. He asked why I answered wrong on the test, and I couldnt help

Ive never done well with written tests. I dont learn well from text books. In short, I learn differently then most people and the system didnt deliver the information in a way that was conducive to that learning style.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

My younger dd who is 14 & in 8th is a verbal learner for sure. We have established that at least.

She is going into HS next yr and she is going to have to learn how to take notes and listen in class. Right now she has a "photographic memory" with verbal learning.

For example, she is stumped as to why kids do not remember elementary school and all the basic facts that they do over and over. She already knows it because she remembers it.

Here is the kicker, she has anxiety however she can do well under test pressure and loves public speaking. You would think that she would not test well.

Well the true test comes next yr.......She will be in all honors plus an above honors english class. As well as debate and oral communication.

Scares me because of her anxiety issues however she is looking forward to it because she wants to learn. She will either crash and burn or excel into orbit.

Stay tuned.

 

[The Princess]

My dd is the same!!! Took her SAT 6 times and the score hardly changed!! She was able to get into the college she wanted just was trying to get a higher score for more $$$....oh well!!

 

[stm61]

My daughter is a poor tester and it has held her back in so many ways. She is almost 20 and we have never been able to figure out what to do. We don't even really know her issues. It's not anxiety. It's not the scantron sheets. Many of her high school classmates were "scantron exempt" for the very reason you described in your first post--difficulty filling in the appropriate bubble. That's not her problem.

She claims that she has an absolute horrible time with multiple choice. She reads the questions and all the possible answers and then gets horribly flustered. She said that all the answers end up sounding correct, yet after it's over she can clearly see where she was wrong.

Also, while she's very good in English, she has terrible reading comprehension under timed events. She reads it and probably needs to reread but doesn't have the time.

Some people do bad on tests because they over-think the questions. They think to much and convince themselves that the wrong answers could be correct. What they told us in college was, if there are 4 answers, 1 is way off, 1 is not as obvious but it's pretty simple to see that it's wrong, and 1 is very close to the correct answer. Most people eliminate the first 2 quickly, then have to consider the other 2 before picking the correct one. Some people read more into the answers, seeing different angles or different word meanings, and convince themselves that all the answers could be true.

 

[OceanAnnie]

I've been trying to help my kids with the same issues. There are books and videos on test taking strategies. I got some a few weeks ago from the library, but most of what I found were for older kids. One video I looked at was test taking strategies for reading comprehension. It talked about the type of questions asked, how to focus on key elements of questions and how to eliminate multiple choice questions. It was an interesting video. They have the same type of videos for math too. (I'll be keeping them in mind for later.)

 

[ols386]

My grown son never tested well. He tested horrible on the ACT just prior to college. But he did pretty well during college.

 

[tasha99]

Tests not only measure what they intend to on a subject matter, but also things like time management, the ability to visually track correctly on the paper, reading speed, the ability to make reasonable choices and eliminations (for multiple choice), and the ability to stay calm and collected under pressure.

The best test takers also are able to learn from the test. I was able to do that on my praxis 2 for speech pathology--I think I picked up 5-10 points just from questions I had being indirectly answered in later questions.

 

[scbelleatheart]

I hope this is a consolation for you. Our middle son could not get reading at all. We took him to get tested at a large childrens hospital. After all the tests, the DR told us an amazing story. He said all children have strong points. He said the electrical engineer that designed the entire hospital's electrical system had a 2nd grade reading level but he had to see things visually and hands on. This sounded strangely like our son. He is now an accountant. During college he made huge amounts of tips because he could relate to the customers. Not worried about him anymore.
Good luck! It will all work out.

 

[tvguy]

At the college level is have become such an problem, that colleges are moving away from the ACT and SAT, and using other criteria to decide who to admit.
My daughter started in the California State University System in 2009. That entering freshman class had the highest GPA , SAT and ACT scores in university history........and the highest number of students needing to take remedial english and math classes because they could not perform at a college level in those subjects. Go figures.

 

[Feralpeg]

My daughter has never tested well. She over analyzes everything. If she goes with her first thought, it is usually correct. When she agonizes over the answers, she talks herself into the wrong one.

 

[low-key]

I never tested well but it was because I never knew anything

 

[luvthatduke]

I had a kind teacher in high school similar to another
post where my teacher recognized what I knew vs. how poorly I tested.
I didn't have any of the issues others have shared,
I simply blanked when presented with test papers.
I wasn't scared, nervous, etc. and I wasn't overconfident.

When I failed or nearly failed several tests in
Social Studies my teacher kept me after class and
asked what was going on - she knew I raised my hand
to answer almost every time in class, and she knew
from worksheets that I could express myself well.
She told me that she didn't want me to fail because
she knew what I knew, so she gave me verbal tests
the rest of the year and I did very, very well each time.
She is one of several teachers in my life that I am so thankful for!

 

[Topper]

Is this multiple choice? If so, I choose:

C

 

[dismom2]

I had a kind teacher in high school similar to another
post where my teacher recognized what I knew vs. how poorly I tested.
I didn't have any of the issues others have shared,
I simply blanked when presented with test papers.
I wasn't scared, nervous, etc. and I wasn't overconfident.

When I failed or nearly failed several tests in
Social Studies my teacher kept me after class and
asked what was going on - she knew I raised my hand
to answer almost every time in class, and she knew
from worksheets that I could express myself well.
She told me that she didn't want me to fail because
she knew what I knew, so she gave me verbal tests
the rest of the year and I did very, very well each time.
She is one of several teachers in my life that I am so thankful for!

That is a really great story, and a really great teacher!