Every spring, I watch the same thing happen in schools across Wisconsin. The calendar flips to testing season and something shifts in the building. The hallways get a little quieter. Kids who were thriving in March start complaining of stomachaches in April. Bulletin boards get covered in motivational slogans. And well-meaning adults, trying their best to prepare students, sometimes inadvertently turn up the pressure.
I get it. There is real weight attached to standardized assessments. But after years of working with students, educators, and families on social emotional health and behavior, I have come to believe something firmly: the way we frame and structure testing season matters just as much as any academic prep we do beforehand.
A healthy testing environment is less about decorations or pep talks and more about predictable routines, honest communication, and giving students concrete tools they can actually use when stress shows up. Here is what that looks like in practice.
What Test Anxiety Actually Looks Like
Before we can support students, we need to recognize what we are seeing. Test anxiety does not always look like a student crying at their desk. More often, it shows up as avoidance ("I feel sick, I can't go to school today"), irritability, disrupted sleep, difficulty concentrating, or repeated trips to the nurse in the days leading up to an assessment.
These are stress responses, not behavior problems. And they respond to the same things most stress responses do: safety, predictability, and a sense of agency. When we build testing environments with those three things in mind, we change the experience for a lot of kids.
Supporting Students: Tools They Can Actually Use
The most effective strategy I share with students is this: do not wait until you are overwhelmed to think about what helps you. Build the plan before you need it.
That means helping students name their emotional state and pair it with a coping response. "When I feel nervous, I will take three slow breaths before I pick up my pencil." "When I feel stuck, I will skip the question, mark it, and move on." Simple, specific, practiced in advance.
A few strategies that translate well into testing contexts include box breathing (inhale for four counts, hold for four, exhale for four, hold for four), the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique, and quiet sensory supports like pressing feet firmly into the floor or isometric hand pressure. These are not gimmicks. They are physiological regulation tools that interrupt the stress response and bring students back into a state where they can think clearly.
Self-talk scripts are equally powerful. Help students write two or three statements they can repeat quietly to themselves: "I do not have to be perfect; I just need to try my best." "I have handled hard things before." "I can skip and come back." When students rehearse these statements ahead of time, they are far more accessible in the moment.
After the test matters too. Debrief the process, not just the outcome. Ask students which strategies helped, when they felt stress rising, and what they did about it. That reflection builds the metacognitive muscle that serves them long after testing season is over.
Supporting Families: The Messages That Protect Kids
Caregivers are a powerful buffer against test anxiety, often without realizing it. The language families use at home in the days around testing either amplifies stress or absorbs it.
The most protective thing a caregiver can do is communicate that their child's worth is not on the line. That sounds simple, but it requires navigating a middle path between two unhelpful extremes: "This is the most important test of your life" and "This doesn't matter at all." Neither message is accurate or helpful.
A more grounded framing might sound like: "This is one way your school sees what you have learned and what they still need to teach. Your job is to try your best. The adults will use the information to help."
On the practical side, sleep is more protective than late-night cramming. A familiar breakfast, a few extra minutes in the morning, and a calm send-off do more than any last-minute review session. And inviting children to name their worries, especially the secret ones ("Will I fail my grade?" "Will my teacher be disappointed in me?"), gives caregivers the chance to correct misconceptions before they fester.
Supporting Staff: How Adults Shape the Climate
Educators set the emotional tone of testing season, whether they intend to or not. A few small shifts in language and structure can make a significant difference.
Start with the narrative. Language like "crush the test," "our scores are on the line," or "high stakes" sends a signal to students, even if it is meant to motivate. More accurate and less anxiety-producing framing emphasizes that a test is one snapshot of learning, not a verdict on a student's potential or a teacher's worth.
Structure the environment to support regulation. Clear the visual clutter around seating areas. Post a predictable schedule for testing day so students know what to expect from arrival through dismissal. Build in intentional movement or stretching before testing begins. Plan for brief breaks in longer sessions where testing rules allow.
Teach test-taking skills the way you teach any other skill: explicitly and without pressure attached. Students benefit from direct instruction on how to read directions carefully, how to manage time by mentally chunking a test period, and what to do when they hit a question they do not know. Practice these strategies before the test, so the routine is familiar when it counts.
Finally, identify students with higher levels of anxiety before testing season begins. Know who will check in with them on testing morning, where they will be testing, and what the plan is if they become overwhelmed. Proactive coordination is far more effective than reactive troubleshooting.
A Note on What We Are Really Teaching
When we help students manage test anxiety, we are teaching them something that extends well beyond assessment season. We are teaching them that stress is a normal part of challenging work, that they have agency over how they respond to it, and that asking for support is a sign of self-awareness, not weakness.
Those lessons matter in fifth grade. They matter in high school. They matter in adulthood.
Wisconsin's students are capable and resilient. Our job is to build the conditions that allow them to show it, not just on a test, but every day.
Resources for Healthy Testing Environments
The following resources offer ready-to-use strategies for students, educators, and caregivers navigating testing season.
For Students (Grades 3–12)
- Child Mind Institute – "Test Anxiety Strategies and Study Tips for Kids": practical coping skills, realistic self-talk, and study routines students can try right away.
- Fairfax County Public Schools – "Ten Tips to Ease Test Anxiety": short, student-friendly ideas perfect for classroom posters or morning announcements.
For School Staff
- Edutopia – "Helping Students Beat Test Anxiety": concrete classroom strategies to normalize nerves, reduce pressure, and structure calmer test days.
- Soliant – "A School Counselor’s Guide to Helping Students with Test Anxiety": a practical playbook for small groups, one-on-one support, and staff professional development.
For Caregivers
- Kids Mental Health Foundation – "Helping Kids with Test Anxiety": parent-friendly tips for home routines, validating feelings, and practicing calming strategies together.
- PrairieCare – "Understanding Teen Testing Anxiety: A Practical Guide for Parents": especially helpful for caregivers of teens, with concrete language to use before, during, and after tests.
A simplified bulleted version of this blog post is available for download here.
Elizabeth Langteau, Director of Student Behavior & Wellness, has 30+ years of experience as an occupational therapist, student support specialist, and system change agent. She has supported dozens of schools in developing mental health support systems while guiding neurodiverse students on their education journeys.
Comments