Hey my name is Tony Burroughs and this my official action research proposal

AREA OF FOCUS The purpose of this study is to determine if there is a difference in stress & anxiety levels amongst students who take standardized tests than students who take teacher initiated day-to-day tests in the classroom. Standardized tests are comprehensive and measures what the student has learned over a grading period. Classroom test measure what the student has learned over a short period(Bradley, 2014).

RELATED LITERATURE Due to NCLB many researchers suggests that very rigid expectations may have caused a great deal of stress & anxiety in students making it difficult to focus in the classrooms with their regular studies(Bradley, 2014). State & federal mandates direct what is tested, when to test and level of those tests(Bradley, 2014).

REFLECTIVE STANCE There will be about 26 students ranging from 3 rd to 8 th grades taking standardized tests and another 26 students taking random day-to-day tests in the classroom.

RESEARCH QUESTION To answer if there is a significant gap between stress & anxiety levels of standardized test takers and random day-to-day tests in the classroom(Mills, 2014). Standard testing is sometimes referred to as “high stakes testing.” They are rigidly timed, the instructions are complicated and the rules are inflexible(Clovis, 2014).

LOCUS OF CONTROL This intervention is implemented to differentiate strategies that will alleviate the stress & anxiety as a result of standardizes testing in students and create a learning atmosphere that is less rigid and extreme as well as allow students to communicate their frustrations to the classroom.

DATA COLLECTION The plan is to collect qualitative data from students throughout the curriculum which will include interviews, surveys, as well as assessments on behavior and overall attitude towards classroom participation and learning habits as a result of standardized testing.

ETHICS There are some ethical concerns such as parental consent to do the interview with students. In addition the students have to be willing to participate in the assessments. More importantly the parents as well as the students need to have a clear understanding of what the assessments, interviews, are all about. All in all the results may have a profound effect on the future of standardized testing.

ACTION The analysis will be conducted on those students selected to share their data and theory on standardized testing and random day-to-day teacher initiated testing in the classroom on basic subjects such as math, reading, and science.

ACTION DATA CONNECTION The students in both groups will be interviewed and surveyed based on the same questions. There will be students of a diverse group of students of various cultures, and backgrounds and orientation to make up 26 students. That is the average class size I teach today. Each student will voice or write their thoughts on the subject matter, their feelings towards standardized tests stress & anxiety levels and day-to-day testing in the classroom as well as how they feel about the quality of their education and teaching methods. The scales will range from 1-3 not satisfied, somewhat satisfied and very satisfied.

Results Data will be collected before and after the school year starting from Oct to April.

REFERENCES Bradley, K. (2014). The similarities & Differences of Classroom test & standardized achievement test. E How contributor. Clovis, D. (2014). Take out your no. 2 pencils: Taking the stress out of standardized tests. Mills, G. E. (2014). Action research: A guide for the teacher researcher 5 th edition southern Oregon university.