Student Reactions to Being Wrongly Informed of Failing a High-Stakes Test

How do students react to being told that they have failed a test required for high school graduation? In 2000, 7,989 students were wrongly informed that they had failed the Minnesota Basic Standards Test in mathematics. The authors conducted a survey of 911 of these students to assess the psychosocial impact of this event. More than 80% of students reported that they increased studying, and nearly half reduced their extracurricular activities. Students reported a range of adverse emotional reactions, with more than 80% reporting that they felt depressed, worried, or embarrassed. About half said that they felt stupid and less proud of themselves. About 4% reported that they dropped out of school as a result of being told that they failed the examination. These findings point to the largely unaddressed need to study student reactions to failing high-stakes tests.