Working Paper: NBER ID: w25305
Authors: Jennifer A. Heissel; Emma K. Adam; Jennifer L. Doleac; David N. Figlio; Jonathan Meer
Abstract: A potential contributor to socioeconomic disparities in academic performance is the difference in the level of stress experienced by students outside of school. Chronic stress – due to neighborhood violence, poverty, or family instability – can affect how individuals’ bodies respond to stressors in general, including the stress of standardized testing. This, in turn, can affect whether performance on standardized tests is a valid measure of students’ actual ability. We collect data on students’ stress responses using cortisol samples provided by low-income students in New Orleans. We measure how their cortisol patterns change during high-stakes testing weeks relative to baseline weeks. We find that high-stakes testing does affect cortisol responses, and those responses have consequences for test performance. Those who responded most strongly – with either a large increase or large decrease in cortisol – scored 0.40 standard deviations lower than expected on the on the high-stakes exam.
Keywords: high-stakes testing; cortisol; stress responses; academic performance
JEL Codes: I21; I24
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| high-stakes testing (C12) | cortisol levels (I19) |
| cortisol levels (I19) | test performance (C52) |
| high-stakes testing (C12) | test performance (C52) |