How to Help Students Overcome Test Day Frustrations
Updated on June 15, 2023
Test prep can be a bumpy road for students. SAT® and ACT® prep task students with learning and honing a whole gamut of skills all in service of a single test day performance. Moreover, the stakes are high. Doing well can pave the way to acceptance letters and dream schools while subpar scores may mean preparing for retakes or bracing for rejection letters.
For students, having access to an exceptional test-prep curriculum in the hands of great test-prep tutors can go a long way—but even with the best prep, test day frustrations can still creep in.
Thankfully, there are ways that tutors can help students overcome these common testing frustrations. By equipping students with the tools to face these stressful moments during their test-prep sessions, it increases the likelihood that these coping strategies will carry over to test day.
Eliminating Writer’s Block
Writer’s block is real; and it’s an awful situation to be in when you’re being timed and the pressure is on.
During test prep, do whatever it takes to get students to practice writing. Writing is a skill that needs to be exercised. Allowing students to succumb to writer’s block can derail that endeavor in a big way.
That said, every student is different. Writer’s block is a personal issue that requires a personalized approach. In most cases, simply finding the tactics and motivations to encourage students to dive into a practice writing task can make a huge difference for when the pressure is on.
If you are working with a student who freezes up or tunes out during writing time, here are some proven strategies to try:
Diagnose the cause of the problem - Purdue’s Online Writing Lab has compiled a useful list of different symptoms of writer’s block with suggested cures. The follow-up post has even more strategies to try.
Establish the writing time routine – Entrepreneur contributor Brandon Turner suggests treating writing like a basketball free throw. Help students find a way to get into their zone, and then turn those steps into the routine every time it’s time to write.
Consult the pros - Last year, Medium published a piece quoting famous authors’ strategies for overcoming writer’s block. Not only are the suggestions practical, but they also show students that even the best writers get jammed up sometimes.
It's worth noting that several strategies included above won’t fly in a testing room (i.e., walking away, talking it out, asking for a new topic, or consulting a tutor). However, they still may help during test prep to make a breakthrough with a student struggling while practicing writing. When all is said and done, building students’ confidence in their abilities to engage with writing tasks during test prep will undoubtedly translate to success on test day.
Prepping for the Logistics of Test Day
Test day doesn’t start with the first question in the first section—it starts the night before.
It’s a proven fact that lack of sleep can increase stress levels and, in turn, leave us more susceptible to bouts of frustration. Likewise, a poor diet can create challenges for focus and positive energy levels.
Test-prep tutors should work with students to help them walk into their testing centers as prepared as possible for the task ahead of them—mentally and physically as well as content-wise. This means establishing sleep, diet, and even exercise plans to make sure that students have the energy and stamina they need to endure the entire test.
Also, tutors should make a point to eliminate as much mystery about test day protocols as possible. Testing protocols are usually listed on the testing center’s website. Students can also contact their testing center to have their questions answered. Some questions to consider include:
Do students know where their test centers are?
When and where can students enter their test centers on test day?
What do students need to have handy for a speedy registration?
What are acceptable/unacceptable items to bring into a testing center?
How many breaks can students expect once testing begins?
Should any of these issues become frustrating test day surprises, it could erase hours, days, and months of test-prep efforts! Make sure they’re prepared for what to expect.
For more keys to preparing your students for a successful test day, check out our free Illustrated Test Day Checklist!
Relieving Stress Between Test Sections
The SAT® and ACT® are long tests. Students are confined to their assigned seats for hours with limited opportunities for breaks.
While test-prep sessions shouldn’t be as long or arduous, they can be the perfect staging ground for helping students plan and try out decompression strategies for test day.
Some practical de-stressing suggestions that won’t lead to invalidated scores include:
For students with deeper anxiety issues, more help may be needed that you can provide as a test-prep tutor. Knowing these signs and what strategies work can make sure that students have the optimal support and coping mechanisms in place before test day.
Dealing With the Unexpected
Standardized tests are supposed to be just that—standardized. The experience should be the same for every test taker regardless of their testing location.
But this is the real world. No matter how scripted and structured a testing manual may be, irregularities are bound to happen. It can be frustrating for students trying to perform their best with jackhammers pounding away outside the building or when a stray dog wanders into the testing room (true story —that actually happened!).
Some more common issues include:
no visible clock
the proctor fails to follow the testing script or issue the required 5-minute warnings
disruptive test takers are not dealt with appropriately
unauthorized devices or materials in the testing center
not allowing the use of an approved calculator
problems with testing devices or testing materials
If your students have any issues or irregularities in their test-day experience, be sure that they report them. Both the SAT® and ACT® have phone numbers for this very purpose. Both the ACT and College Board take these issues very seriously.
How to Report SAT® & ACT® Test Site Irregularities
SAT® irregularities can be reported to the Office of Testing Integrity by phone at 609-406-5430 or 800-257-5123 (on test day only), or by email at testsecurity@info.collegeboard.org.
ACT® irregularities can be reported using the ACT’s Test Security Hotline at 1-855-382-2645 or by using the online submission form.
Both the College Board and ACT will (at their discretion) offer score cancellations and/or free retests in the case of extraordinary disruptions or test center issues. This isn’t much help during the test, but it can be reassuring for a test taker to know that there is some available recourse for an unfairly frustrating testing experience.
Test prep is as much about preparing students for learning how to take tests as it is actually taking tests. During test prep, help students to identify their frustrations in the moment, and provide them with the an array of strategies to overcome them.
