Test Anxiety

I gave my honors 11 students a test the other day. Before the test, I was confident in my teaching and I "personalized" the test so that it highlighted our class discussions. I gave them a review sheet and told them how to study, but I gave them the responsibility of actually reviewing. I even talked them through my rationale for that: they are honors students and need to practice reviewing in the ways that work best for them. When I gave the test though, most students said they thought they'd failed, but didn't seem to blame me. Upon seeing their grades (spread out in the A to D range), I immediately took responsibility and thought I'd done something wrong. Then I talked to Mr. Conrad who said that the range was predictable and reflected a grade spread that was fairly stable from year to year. Then I spoke briefly with some students who scored below a 70% and reviewed their studying skills/methods. Many of them indicated that they had studied superficially, but had not made sure they really understood the content.