Big fish in big ponds: A multilevel analysis of test anxiety and achievement in special gifted classes

Abstract

This study analyzes the effects of individual achievement and achievement level of student reference group on test anxiety in a national sample of 769 gifted Israeli students (grade levels 4Á9), which was previously investigated by Zeidner and Schleyer (1999a). We hypothesized that when controlling for individual achievement, students' experiences of test anxiety should increase with the increasing ability level of their peer reference group. It was assumed that this effect was largely mediated by reference group effects on academic self-concept (big-fish-little-pond effect). Zeidner and Schleyer found that gifted students within a gifted peer reference group showed higher levels of test anxiety than gifted students within a non-gifted peer reference group. Of note, the present study focused exclusively on gifted students attending special gifted classes. The main research question was whether or not the assumed effects of individual and class achievement can be found for gifted students in special gifted classes when taking the variance of achievement level (grades) of the special gifted classes into account. Using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) methodology, the assumed effects were vindicated for this special group of high ability students. Thus, in line with previous results, the Worry component of test anxiety was more highly reactive to the effects of individual achievement than the Emotionality component. Also, in line with our theoretical assumptions, achievement/anxiety relations were largely mediated by the effects of academic self-concept.Keywords: Test anxiety, worry, emotionality, academic self-concept, achievement, big-fish-little-pond effect, gifted education Numerous studies have investigated the complex pattern of relations between achievement and test anxiety (Zeidner, 2007). Test anxiety has been found to interfere with achievement both in laboratory settings as well as in true-to-real life testing situations in school or collegiate settings (see Zeidner, 1998, for review). While the vast majority of these studies analyzed relations between students' experiences of anxiety and their individual achievement, little research has been conducted on achievement-related peer reference group effects on test anxiety. The present study investigated achievement/test anxiety relations by taking both individual achievement as well as the achievement level of the peer reference group into account. In the next section, we give a brief general description of the nature of the performance/anxiety relationship, and discuss the role of academic self-concept as a

The Relationship Among State-Trait Anxiety, Foreign Language Anxiety and Test Anxiety in an Efl Setting

“…"Worry" refers to concerns and inner thoughts about failure in respect to self esteem, self focus and self-related thoughts while "emotionality" refers to physiological responses to the test, similar to Liebert & Morris' (1967) concepts of worry and emotionality. It is a well known fact that test anxiety impairs performance and data suggest that both worry and emotionality have negative effects on performance, though worry's are more prominent (Cassady, 2004;Minor & Gold, 1985;Goetz et al, 2008;Lee & Vaughan, 1996;Zeidner, 1998;Zeidner & Matthews, 2005).…”

Counseling Gifted Students: School-Based Considerations and Strategies

“…When gifted students are in programs with only other gifted students, comparisons with their peers may shift, such that the student is no longer the highest achiever in his or her class. In gifted-centered classes or programs, gifted students may even have a heightened awareness of the achievement of their peers and how it compares with their own (Wang, Fu, & Rice, 2012), and these students tend to exhibit higher levels of anxiety reasons for anxieity in this population: competition with other gifted students, real or perceived pressures for success or achievement placed upon them by others (Aljughaiman & Tan, 2008;Goetz et. al., 2008;Zeidner & Schleyer, 1999).…”

“…Skill building can include teaching study or test-taking skills (Goetz et al, 2008). Counselors and other professionals working with gifted youth in educational settings accidently overlook the need for these skills in gifted youth when a student has displayed a pattern of high achievement.…”

“…Other counseling strategies for coming with the anxiety associated with perfectionism include relaxation strategies, skill building, and guiding students through real or imaginary failures in a safe way (Cross & Cross, 2015;Goetz, Preckel, Zeidner, & Schleyer, 2008). Skill building can include teaching study or test-taking skills (Goetz et al, 2008).…”

Predicting university students' learning progress in English language based on their test anxiety, attitude and motivation

“…Test anxiety, which is a type of anxiety, is the consequence of the debilitative aspects of anxiety and shows itself when one is getting ready for an exam or is in the process of taking it (Onyeizughbo, 2010) Ziedner (1998 cited in Chamorro, Permuzic, Ahmetoglu & Furnham, 2008) defines test anxiety as a set of phenomenological, physiological and behavioral responses that accompany concern about possible negative consequences or failure on an exam or similar evaluative situation. There are many researches, both in the laboratory settings and environments such as universities and schools have shown that test anxiety hinders people's academic progress (Goetz, Preckel, Zeidner, & Schleyer, 2008). Moreover, Du introduces a type of anxiety and calls it language anxiety.…”